Journey to Olkhon and Buryatia

Day 1 Old Irkutsk

After meeting at the airport you will be taken to the hotel. Here you could rest after the flight and have lunch in the restaurant.

Afternoon you will have an excursion with the guide in the center of Irkutsk. You will visit the most worth seeing places: the Decembrists' museum, Orthodox churches, the quay of the Angara river, wooden houses, central markets. You will feel the particular atmosphere of the city, listening to the bells ringing in the Church of the Savior. Also, you will visit the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Church of the Epiphany.

In the evening you will go back to the hotel and have dinner (extra charge).

Day 2 Taltsy museum and the first meeting with Lake Baikal

After breakfast, you will meet with your guide and driver and depart to Listvyanka village situated on the bank of Lake Baikal near the mouth of the Angara river.

Then you will visit the open-air museum Taltsy, which represents a typical Siberian village of the XVIII-XIX century. The museum has become the place of the conservation of popular culture monuments.

After lunch (extra charge) you will take the chair lift to the Chersky rock 728 meters above sea level. It offers a breathtaking panorama: Listvyanka village, Angara river's source and the skyline flowing with the Baikal waters.

Upon arrival to Listvyanka village, you will be accommodated in the hotel. After that, you will have free time to get acquainted with the village, visit the fish and souvenir markets.

Optionally and for an additional fee, you can go to the nerpinarium (seal park show) or take a boat excursion. Also, it is possible to visit The Church of St. Nicholas that was built at the beginning of the XIX century. In the evening you will return to the hotel and have dinner (extra charge).

Day 3 Excursion to the Ethnographic Museum and meeting with a shaman

After breakfast, you will check out and depart to the Olkhon island by private car. On the route you will stop to blandish the local spirits, to ask their benevolence during the trip.

Then you will visit the ethnographic complex, where you can get acquainted with the culture of the Baikal Buryats. After the excursion, you will have a meeting with a shaman, during which you will take part in the rite of purification, get acquainted with the local spirits, and ask them to bless our travel.

Lunch will be in the cafe en route, where you can taste the national dishes of the Buryat cuisine. Upon arrival to Khujir, you will check-in in the tourist resort and have free time to walk around the village. You can visit the port and discover the famous Burkhan Rock. It is considered to be a residence of the Baikal God and one of the nine sanctuaries of Asia. In the evening you will have dinner and rest. 

Day 4 A tour to Ogoy island

After breakfast, you will go to the port of Khujir village and embark on the speed boat. You will be navigating for 2 hours along the Maloye More strait and then will go ashore and walk to the sacred water source. This source was divided by one powerful shaman into parts: male and female. The water of the source is of a high silver-ion concentration and it is considered as healing.

Then you will return to the boat and have a snack with hot tea on board. The next stop will be at Ogoy island, the biggest island of the Maloye More strait. The island is considered a "pure" place: people have never lived there and the is no negative energy. It is famous for the Buddhist Stupa of Enlightenment raised at the highest spot of the island. A Buddhist stupa is an object of worship and means "a support for gifts". It is believed that if you go around the stupa three times expressing your respect to it and make a wish, it will come true.

After the excursion, you will return to Khujir village, have dinner and rest at the resort.

Day 5 Sacred sites for shamans

After breakfast, you will have an excursion by 4X4 (UAZ) to Khoboy Cape, the northernmost point of Olkhon, the sacred place of the shamans. The trip will allow you to discover the beauty of the Maloye More (Small Sea) and its islets, also places of worship of shamans.

You will stroll towards the cape and have lunch outdoors. Then you will return to Khuzhir. On route, you will visit the Uzury area and observe the meteorological station located here. The road passes through steppes, beaches and taiga.

In the evening you will have dinner and rest.

Day 6 Baikal crossing from West ro East

After breakfast, you will move to the port and board on a private comfortable boat. You will be sailing for several hours before reaching the village of Ust-Barguzin. During this cruise, you can admire the picturesque views of Lake Baikal and of Svyatoy Nos peninsula. On the board, you will have a picnic (lunch-box). 

You will cross Lake Baikal in its widest part. This great cruise will really allow you to sail in the geographical center of the lake.

At 4 pm you will arrive in Ust-Barguzin village, located on the bank of the Barguzinsky gulf, the deepest and the largest one on the whole area of Lake Baikal. Here you will stay at the local guest house. In the evening you will visit the Russian banya and have a homemade dinner.

Day 7 Barguzin valley

Today you a full-day excursion by 4x4 (UAZ)across the Barguzin valley is waiting for you. By the prairies of the Barguzin valley, you will go to the Barguzin Datsan where in 2005 the image of the Saint Yanjima appeared on the big boulder near the Datsan of Barguzin in the Siberian taiga. Now, this place became the pilgrimage destination of the faithful and tourists.

You will have lunch outdoors and then will come back to the guest house in Ust-Barguzin village. In the evening you will have dinner and rest.

Day 8 Center of Buddhism in Russia

After breakfast, you will depart to Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryat Republic, by private car. On the route, you will stop to have lunch in the cafe of Buryat cuisine.

Then you will visit Ivolginsky Datsan. It is the main Russian Buddhist temples complex outside the city located in a picturesque steppe. Here you could get acquainted with the Buddhist culture. This Datsan serving the most important place of worship in Buryatia is the center of Buddhism in Russia.

Next, you will return to Ulan-Ude, leave your luggage in the office of the railway station and go for a walk along the city center. At 10:30 pm you will depart to Irkutsk by night train.

Day 9 Departure

At 7 am you will arrive in Irkutsk. Then a group transfer to the airport will be organized.