ADVENTURE / BAIKAL Down the wild Oka Sayanskaya River

Meeting at the airport. Welcome with a cup of fragrant Siberian tea brewed on the local herbs, long transfer down to the Mongolian border where our whitewater rafting adventure will start. First transfer by coach to Kultuk settlement, the southernmost point of Lake Baikal, with a stop on the way to enjoy a magnificent view of Baikal, the deepest and purest freshwater lake on earth, and taste smoked local fish.

Further transfer along the Tunka valley between the soft curves of the Khamar Daban mountain range and Tunka Goltsy towards the sharp ridges of the Eastern Sayan. Go past Arshan village, a local spa resort, and small Mondy settlement to Orlik village next to the border with Mongolia, and finally to Khara-Khuzhir and observe on the way how the Oka river changes from a small creek into a tumultuous whitewater river.

Lunch in a road-side café on the way

Set up a tent camp. Dinner cooked over campfire and overnight in tents.

Breakfast. Safety briefing, packing, outfitting. Practice to work in team to manage your cataraft on the relatively smooth and calm part of the river till the mouth of Zhom-Bolok creek. Enjoy impressive views of pristine nature, old lava shores 20-30 m high, and a 20 m high waterfall. Lunch and angling

Dinner (hopefully of fresh fish!), overnight in tents

Breakfast. Continue rafting to the canyon Orkha-Bom. The narrow canyon that expects us tomorrow is 60 km long and boasts most challenging water hurdles. There are in total 100 water barriers, 11 of them ranking IV and V degrees of difficulty.

Stop for the night next to the canyon mouth. Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents.

Breakfast. Start the most difficult and exciting day of rafting. Experience the whole gamma of emotions going through the following rapids in Orkh-Bom canyon: Three Geologists (4th grade), Pronesi Gospodi 1 (“Have-merci-upon-me-Lord-1”, 5th grade), Kalandrashvili (5th grade), and Okinski (where waves are 3 meters high in quite water, in wild they reach 6 m).

After the Buryats’ rapids we stop for lunch and walk around the so-called souvenir museum in the open air – a place where local expeditions used to leave their souvenirs. Have a rest and continue rafting through the rapids: Pronesy Gospodi 2, Ary Burye (1,5 km long), Bezymyanny (5th grade), Khorogolski (5th grade).

Stop for the night, angling. Dinner, overnight in tents.

Well-deserved rest day. Time at leisure for bathing, suntanning, walks, and/or participation in competition for the titles of The best fisherman and The best whitewater rafter. In the evening we bring the offers to the river gods.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner at the tent camp. Overnight

Breakfast. Experience new excitement and have fun going through more rapids: Khorogolsky (5th grade), Melica (5th grade), and Centrifuge (5th grade). In addition to rapids we encounter all kinds of water urdles such as whirls, waves 2 meters high, etc. At the end of the canyon Okha-Bom there is a place of three Oka rivers confluence: Oka, Khoyto-Oka and Udru-Oka. At this unique place we take the night rest.

Lunch, dinner overnight in tents

Breakfast. Continue rafting. The river becomes more still; but rafting does not become boring as we continue fights with the waves and rocks along our way. Stop for camping and fishing in a cozy cove.

Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents

Breakfast. This is our last day on the wild Oka river. We relax and float down to the village of Verkhneokinsk where we will meet first civilized persons and make farewell campfire.

Lunch, dinner, overnight in tents

Breakfast. Packing and bidding farewell to hospitable area. Transfer to Irkutsk (350 km). Lunch in a road-side café on the way at your own expense.

Arrival in Irkutsk in the afternoon, check-in at a hotel. Time at leisure or city tour of Irkutsk (optional). Dinner at your own expense

Breakfast and transfer to the airport for departure by flight to Moscow