Russia

Besides enjoying the natural scenery, summertime travelers to Lake Baikal can hike, enjoy hot springs, and even swim during their journey.

From forests and ice walls to 16th-century wonders of the world, the freshwater dive sites of Asia are spectacularly unique.

After exploring the charming Siberian cities of Tomsk and Novosibirsk for a day apiece, I prepared to plunge deep into the Altai mountains, a majestic range that runs along the borders of Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan.

Here is a collection of our favorite natural sites from Siberia – one of the most expansive and sparsely-populated regions of our planet.