Itinerary
Day 1: Irkutsk - Olkhon Island (Khuzhir village)
Stop At: Cape Burkhan/Shamanka Rock, Western bank of Olkhon island, Olkhon Island 666137 Russia
The tour starts in Irkutsk at 9 am. The road to Olkhon takes 3 hours by asphalt road, then 40 minutes driving on ice, and voila, we are in Olkhon Island.
During 3 hours of asphalt road to Olkhon we will see endless snowy steppes, impenetrable forests, salt lakes, Tazheran steppes, and we will meet the following settlements and sights:
1) Ust-Orda village with its famous monument "Gesser" - Buryat hero
2) Bayandai village is a typical Buryat village - half of the way
3) The border of the Olkhon region (we will stop there to "burhanit", that means to greet spirits of this land). Usually people "burhanit" with silver coins, rice, matches and cigarettes.
4) Elantsy village is the capital of the Olkhon region. If someone is hungry, we will stop here and eat in a Buryat cafe.
5) Ice road is official road from main land to the Island. It longs 11 km and it works 2 month (February and March).
Check-in. We will live in a guest house. 30 minutes rest after a long and hard road.
After we will go for a walk around Khuzhir. The main sights of Khuzhir are the Shamanka rock and the "Serge" pillars. On the way to these sights we will see a post office, rural shops, a wooden school, hospital and various guest houses. Usually we come to the Shamanka rock at the time of sunset, so be ready for your awesome photos of Winter Baikal.
After walk, we return to the guest house, where dinner awaits us. After dinner, optionally we can book Russian banya (sauna), or go to rest for tomorrow.
Duration: 2 hours
Meals included:
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight in a Guesthouse with sharing facilities /
Overnight in a Hotel accommodation
Day 2: Olkhon Island (Khuzhir village) - Cape Khoboy - Irkutsk
Stop At: Khoboy, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, 666137
Breakfast at 8 am. At 9 am our driver for today excursion will wait us with a special "Olkhon" off-road vehicle - UAZ "Bukhanka". And we will begin our excursion to Cape Khoboy - the most northern point of Olkhon, where you will see open Baikal. The whole trip will be on ice. On the way to Cape Khoboy you will have 4 stops:
1) Kharantsy Island, where we will see a lot of caves and grottes, ice walls and ice breaks.
2) Lion Island. It names after it's shape.
3) Cape "Three Brothers". That's mythical place with its legends.
Here you can see amazing ice splashes.
4) Cape Khoboy. During the stop near Cape Khoboy, our driver will prepare for us a lunch from fresh omul.
After we return to Khuzhir. Check-out. Return to Irkutsk.
Duration: 40 minutes
Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch: Today you will have soup from endemic fish - Omul.
No accommodation included on this day.