Tour: To the springs of Siberian mountains

Day 1

Arrival and meeting in Irkutsk, breakfast

5 hours’ transfer by coach to the starting point of our trekking trip – Nilova Pustin health  resort.  Lunch en route. Upon arrival check in at one of the sanatoria of Nilova Pustyn, which has its own mineral springs.

Dinner in the cafeteria (Buryat traditional dishes with meat). (vegetarian menu available on your prior request).

Visit the Datzan – buddist temple, dinner. Overnight.

Day 2

Breakfast, start of the trekking trip. First we will cross the bridge over the Ekhe-Ukhgun' River 1 km from Nilova Pustyn' and then will trek along an old forest road that leads to the very foot of the mountain range (8 km).  From here and for the rest of the day we shall be going uphill. A rocky path milled by horses’ hoofs requires proper footwear.

Lunch and short break near a small mountain lake. Trekking till the tree line, setting up our first tent camp, dinner over the campfire while watching sunset. Overnight in tents

Day 3

Breakfast. A difficult day - going up to the Shumak Pass, the highest point of the trail  from Nilova Pustyn' to the Shumak River Valley (2500 m above sea level). Trekking time 4-5 hours. Lunch box en route.

Great panoramic views of the Shumak River valley from the pass. If you climb a few hundred meters higher to the highest point on the ridge just west of the bottom of the Shumak Pass, you will take the above 360 degree panoramic view of the tops of the Sayan Mountains extending into Mongolia.

Trekking to and along the Shumak Valley, short break, trekking to the tree line. Dinner over the camp fire near a waterfall (30 meters). Overnight in tents.

Day 4

Breakfast.  4-5  hours trek down to the Shumak springs, in dense cedar taiga forest, along the Shumak River. Lunch en route.

Finally we will arrive to the Shumak springs. Altogether, there is over 120 small and large various mineral springs believed to cure all kinds of ailments.

Here you can see gifts to Shumak left by those who were thankful for being healed and  some basic info about the springs prepared by the volunteer friends of this beautiful place which has no permanent residents (it's 1500 m above sea level), no governing bodies, it is a so rare in Russia phenomenon of self-organization by the local visitors.

Visit to mineral springs. Dinner. Overnight in old huts or in tents.

Day 5

Full day at leisure at the Shumak springs. (full board).  You can visit the hut containing a little pool of hot (15°C) radon bath which can be enjoyed in the privacy or cover yourself all over with mineral mud and lie in the sun for an hour or so waiting for the mud to dry.

Or take a 2 hours hike to the Sand pillars situated 7 km down the Shumak river.

Overnight as on the previous day.

Day 6

Return trip. Familiar trail, light backpacks and already a perfect physical shape by the end of the trip make the way back a lot easier. Lunch box.

Camp for the night in the proximity of the pass, only when the Sun is disappearing behind the tooth-like Sayan ridges. Dinner over the campfire. Overnight in tents

Day 7

Early breakfast, the Shumak mountain pass ascent. Multitudes of streams and the reddish Mongolian cows is the typical scene on the southern (Nilovka) slope of the Pass.

Lunch next to a small creek. Easy hike down.  Camping on a flat meadow way down below the Pass. Overnight in tents.

Day 8

Last trekking day. Going down the river valley to Nilova Pustyn health resort. Lunch en route. 

Dinner in the cafeteria. Overnight in the sanatorium as on the first day.

Day 9

Breakfast, transfer to Irkutsk. On our way we will pause at the Kultuk serpentine road. Lunch.

Check-in at the hotel. Enjoy some time at leisure before Farewell Gala Dinner.  Overnight at the hotel.

Day 10

Check out from the hotel after early breakfast, transfer by coach to Irkutsk airport, and departure from Irkutsk

The Tour Operator reserves the right to introduce alterations to the itinerary due to weather conditions or other factors out of control by the Tour operator.