ADVENTERE / BAIKAL Biking across Baikal’s largest island

Morning arrival in Irkutsk from Moscow, meeting and assistance at the airport or railway station. Departure towards Baikal – to Listvyanka settlement (70 km), with a stop on the way next to the Shaman Rock at the source of the Angara River. Accommodation in twin rooms in a guesthouse with welcoming hosts. Time at leisure after a long flight, lunch. Explore Listvyanka, visit the Baikal Limnology Museum to learn about the lake and its endemic flora and fauna, walk to enjoy a marvelous view of the lake from the Chersky Hill.

Dinner and overnight in the guesthouse.

Early breakfast. Transfer to the Listvyanka quay to leave by hydrofoil for Baikal voyage to the very heart of the lake – the Olkhon Island. Arrive in the Zagli Bay and change the hydrofoil for Russian off-road cars to get to the settlement on the island. Accommodation in wooden houses in rooms for 2-3 persons in Khuzhir (facilities outside, banya and shared shower with sun-heated water available) or in ger camp in Kharantsy. Siberian Banya, dinner and overnight.

Breakfast, equipment check-up and outfitting. An introductory biking tour of the village Khuzhir and its picturesque surroundings. Visit the Local Lore museum to listen to the story of the island formation and the worship of locals. Stop at the Shaman Graig, which is an object of numerous legends, a holy site for Shamanists and Buddhists alike. Bike along the track down to a fine sandy beach framed by bizarre-shaped larch trees, walking or biking uphill and return to the guesthouse.

Lunch. Free time for enjoying Baikal and its 4-km long sandy beach or biking on your own in the picturesque surroundings of Khuzhir. Dinner and overnight

Day biking distance: 10+ km, dirt road

Breakfast. Start your biking adventure to the North of the island, towards the rocky Cape Khoboy. Bike along a mud track through the steppe landscape, light relic forest, sand dunes, with a view of Baikal and the mountains on the opposite shore. Stop at the Three Brothers Cliff to listen to a legend. Lunchbox on the way. Set a tent camp in the afternoon and enjoy walks along the Baikal shore. Dinner cooked over campfire, overnight in tents under the starry skies of Baikal.

Day biking distance: 35 km, dirt road, sand

Breakfast. We will start this day with a walk around the Khoboy Cape with a spectacular view of the Small Sea and Great Baikal, a great spot for meditation. Being lucky you could spot a Baikal seal basking in the sun. Bike to the eastern shore of Olkhon to the Uzury settlement where a weather station is located. Lunchbox.

Change bikes for off-road cars to come back to Khuzhir. Accommodation at the familiar guesthouse, banya, dinner, overnight.

Dinner is followed by a special meeting with the local shaman who will tell about the traditions of the Shamanism belief and Buryat culture.

Day biking distance: 15 km, dirt road, sand

Breakfast. Set off by bike for the Tashkiney Fold along an abandoned dirt road leading from the western part of the island to the east through the steppe part of the island, forest, meadows covered by a carpet of bright flowers. After passing the rocks we will reach the shores of the Small Sea (a part of Baikal separating the island from the mainland). Lunchbox. On the way back we can drop by the lake Shara-Nur to sunbathe, dip into its healing waters and put its medicinal mud on the skin. The day trip will take 7-8 hrs with stops at all beautiful places and relaxing. Farewell dinner, overnight.

Day biking distance: 36 km, dirt road

Breakfast. Leave for the ferry and further way to Irkutsk by coach (5-6 hrs). Stop on the way at a local roadside café to taste boozy (Buryat national dish). Arrival in Irkutsk and accommodation in twins in a hotel. A brief city tour of Irkutsk, a charming Siberian city on the bank of the Angara river, to get to know the history of its foundation and Decembrists exile. Gala dinner. Overnight.

Breakfast. Transfer to the airport for departure by morning flight to Moscow (or free time and departure by train)