At the height of summer, Lake Burlinskoye transforms into a bright pink expanse – a sight that attracts tourists from all over the world.
Some come to bathe in its supposedly medicinal waters, while others come to see a sight which is unlikely to be seen anywhere else on earth – a train skimming directly across its surface.
Located in Siberia, Russia, near the Kazakhstan border, the lake’s population of tiny brine shrimp – Artemia salina – spikes their haemoglobin (red blood cell protein) pigmentation, visibly dying the waters.
The sight of a train floating across the thin layer of water repeats itself several times a day, with a short train travelling across tracks that were laid during the Soviet era.
The presence of the freight train is explained by the fact that the lake has a remarkably high amount of salt in its water, with a density so high that it could even beat the famous Dead Sea. Peter the Great is said to have named it “the royal salt shaker”.
As such, no vegetation survives in the water of Lake Burlinskoye, though clubmoss and sedges, such as Cyperus fuscus and Blysmus rufus, grow in some areas near the shore. These are known as halophytes – a variety of plant able to tolerate highly saline and arid conditions.
Salt extraction in the lake started in 1762 and was given an upgrade during Soviet times. The shallow depth of the lake makes the unique submerged railway possible. The train’s wheels traverse through the water, creating the impression that the train is floating.
The train is equipped with harvesting tools that disturb the lake bed and collect the stirred up sediment in the cars towed behind.
Now mechanised, Burlinskoye’s salt harvesters reportedly produce 65,000 tons of the mineral annually, or enough to cover all of humanity’s dietary intake for three to four days.
Besides the magnesium-rich water, the mud on the shores has plenty of healing properties and is widely used as a skin treatment.
While the most well-known salt lakes of this colour are found in warmer climates – in countries like Australia and Senegal – Burlinskoye lies in the Kulunda Plain, part of the West Siberian Plain. Covering a area of 12.1 square miles, its maximum length is 4.8 miles while its width is 2.9 miles. The lakeshore is flanked by steep three to five metre high cliff-like banks in the north, west and south, but is flat and swampy on the eastern side.
The lake itself is two-and-a-half metres deep, and you have to walk over a mile before you are submerged up to your waist. There is no need to worry about swimming, however, as you would be floating.
The bottom of the lake is covered in crystals, so shoes are a must if you want to venture into the water.
It is no easy journey to reach Lake Burlinskoye, however. It does not have any tourist infrastructure around it and the journey from Novosibirsk takes five to six hours. Most of the visitors who come to the lake arrive from the town of Yarovoye, a 45-minute drive away, and stick around only for a few hours.
