a cup of pure Baikal water

Lake Baikal was the target destination of our 2019 Russia adventure. This, combined with travelling on the Trans-Siberian Express, had been the main aim. At Lake Baikal, we stayed in a very fine private lodge in Listvyanka (Листвянка), which is a small settlement, tourist base, on the shore of Lake Baikal, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Irkutsk, near the point where the Angara River leaves Baikal. Baikal contains nearly a quarter of the world's fresh surface water, more than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. It is the world's deepest lake, with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (more than a mile deep), and it is the world's oldest lake at 25–30 million years. Its area is slightly larger than the area of Belgium. Lake Baikal is in a rift valley, where the Earth's crust is slowly pulling apart. Geologically, the rift is young and active – it widens about 2 cm (0.8 in) per year. The fault zone is also seismically active; hot springs occur in the area and notable earthquakes happen every few years.* In September 2020, an earthquake of almost magnitude six occurred on Lake Baikal. We had visited the year before, when we were lucky - there was no earthquake while we were there. It is one of the exceptional places on Earth, and it had been one of my great dreams since childhood to go on a boat trip on Lake Baikal, about which I had read a lot and learned at school too. With an adventurous wife like Thelma it was easy and super fun. Baikal is also famed for its exceptionally pure water. We both drank straight from the lake. (also watch the video clips "Listvyanka", "boat trip on Lake Baikal" and "Thelma on the 'Circum-Baikal' sightseeing train") ......... *source: Wikipedia