ADVENTURE / BAIKAL Baikal voyage

 

Morning arrival in Irkutsk from Moscow, meeting and assistance at the airport or railway station. Time to take a cup of Siberian tea infused on taiga herbs. Check-in at a hotel (***, in double rooms) in Irkutsk.

In case of an early arrival, we will have a brief tour of the city and breakfast.

Half-day trip to Listvyanka settlement located on the shore of Baikal (70 km, 45 min), with a stop on the way next to the Shaman Rock to listen to a legend. Lunch. Visit by bus to the open air Taltsy Ethnography Museum to get to know the traditions of Siberian wooden architecture in 17-19c. Free time to explore on your own Listvyanka village with its St Nicholas church and local souvenir market.

Return to Irkutsk to the hotel dinner. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast and check-out. Transfer to the mooring, where we’ll board a hydrofoil to take us to the Olkhon island, the largest island of Baikal Lake, from the south to central Baikal (370 km). We will pass along the western shore of Baikal past Peschanaya (Sandy) Bay. Lunch (lunch box) aboard.

Arrival in the central settlement of the island – Huzhir. We will be taken to Nikita Bencharov’s estate. Accommodation in wooden houses (in double and triple rooms). Time at leisure, dinner, overnight.

Breakfast. A walk through the Khuzhir settlement with a visit to the local lore museum, which exhibits a collection of antique objects representing the way of life and the culture of the island’s inhabitants. Visit to the Shamanka Rock, also known as Burhan Cape, subject of numerous legends and veneration by all Baikal and Mongolian shamans, and a place for religious rites of the Buddhists.

Lunch back at the estate. Leisure time. A marvelous sandy beach, stretching North from the village on the shore the Saraiskiy Gulf, is all yours. Dinner and overnight.

Breakfast. Full-day trip to the Northern tip of the Olkhon island, Hoboi Cape. The cape overlooks the widest place of Baikal and is a ground, where all-Olkhon shaman tailagans used to be conducted. Nerpa, the unique Baikal seal, can often be spotted here. The way towards the northern tip of the island will be like a jeep-safari in a Russian UAZ all terrain vehicles since it runs through woods, sandy fields and steppes.

Lunch as a picnic with delicious fish soup and local-style fish baked on sticks over the fire.

Continue to the eastern part of the island, where we will find a small village of Uzuri. The village hosts one of the meteorological stations monitoring lake Baikal. Walk to one of the cliffs with an excellent view of steep rocky eastern shore of Baikal stretching away in the distance.

Return to Khuzhir, dinner and relaxation. Overnight.

The agenda of this day will be up to you. You will either just relax and sunbathe on a sandy beach, bathe or explore the surroundings.

Optional services (extra charge): kayaking for going around the Small sea; horse riding; biking; net fishing with locals. Of special popularity are UAZ 4x4 tours to the medicinal mud lake Sharanur, Tashkiney fold and to the fortification ruins of the Kurikan ancient civilization.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and overnight at the estate.

Breakfast. Continue by the hydrofoil across Baikal to the North of the lake to the city of Severobaikalsk, born thanks to the construction of the Baikal-Amur railway. Arrival in Severobaikalsk at about midnight. Meeting at the mooring, transfer by coach to one of the town’s hotels, check-in, late dinner and overnight.

Breakfast, transfer to the mooring to continue our water travel on Baikal. A boat will get us to Khakusi Bay (2.5 – 3 hours), one of the most exciting places on the Eastern shore of Baikal. The inlet Khakusi has 4 km of sandy beach, a spa center, beautiful landscape, vivid vegetation – pines, larches, silver pines, cedars and lots of relic blossoming herbs. Dive into a thermal pool, take a hot bath and walk about. Lunch aboard.

Further travel by boat to Aya Bay. Dinner aboard, overnight aboard or in tents.

Breakfast. We will devote this day to a small hiking trip to the scenic glacier Frolikha lake in the mountains 8 km from Aya Bay. Picnic on the shore of the lake and a rest on its beach.

Return to the boat to go back to Severobaikalsk (3 hours). Dinner aboard. Transfer to the hotel and check-in.

Breakfast and leisure time till lunch. A city tour and a short walk around. After dinner in a restaurant or a café, we will board the train taking us to Irkutsk by the famous Baikal-Amur railroad. Overnight in 4-berth compartments.

Today we spend the whole day on train to learn all the aspects of traveling by Russian trains. First we will follow the Baikal-Amur railroad to the station of Taishet and then turn onto the Transsiberian railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route, a railroad across the entire continent connecting Moscow and the European part of Russia with its middle (Siberia) and eastern (Far East) regions.

Meals on train – in a dining car (at own your choice and expense).

Arrival to Irkutsk early in the morning, transfer to the airport and morning departure for Moscow.