The two winter shores of Lake Baikal are two cultures. Olkhon Island + Buryatia
Description:
Day 1
- Irkutsk
- Cape Uyuga
Included: lunch, dinner
Meeting in Irkutsk at 10.00 a.m. Irkutsk is a beautiful city with more than three hundred years of history. If you are interested in the capital of the Angara region, we recommend to arrive a day earlier, in order to stroll through the old streets. If you arrive on the day of the start of the tour, choose tickets with the arrival time until 10.00 h., as exactly at 10.00 local time we go on a trip. Our goal is the Strait of the Little Sea separating Olkhon Island from the mainland. Since we will go to the native Buryat lands, we just need to visit the Golden Horde. We look into the yurts, in which you can see the traditional way of life and way of Buryats. Guests of the ethnographic center can participate in national rituals and games. Admiring folk dances, bright national costumes, appreciating the art of throat singing, we will be able to taste national dishes and drinks. Next, we will continue our movement to Baikal, stopping in interesting and significant places, learning new terms and their meaning. Arriving on the coast of the Small Sea, we will drive to the Hagdan-Dalai Bay, where we will be accommodated in two-bed houses of the park-hotel "Uyuga" The hotel is located near the beginning of Cape Uyuga, far out in the waters of the Small Sea, and a long pebble spit covering the warm bay from the north. After rest, we will go for a walk on the ice of the Strait. Clear clear ice, through which you can see the bottom. In the evening at the recreation center, dinner and rest.
Day 2
- Cape Uyuga
- Small sea
- olkhon
- Ogoi Island
- The Enlightenment Stupa
- Cape Uyuga
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
We suggest getting up in the dark today and going to meet the sunrise. This action is magical anywhere, and especially on Baikal. The very first rays paint the entire space around in all shades of red, smoothly turning into the color of molten gold, and everything around takes on an unrealistic appearance. After breakfast, we have a long tour of the islands of the Small Sea. On the tour, we will be taken by a hovercraft - a hivus. On it we will conquer the ice expanses and explore the mysterious islands. At the beginning of winter, Baikal reluctantly succumbs to universal torpor. It rages, trying to resist frost, splashes waves on frozen shores, and leaves splashes on icy rocks and rocks. In winter, when everything calms down, it looks unrealistically beautiful. Opposite Cape Uyuga in the Small Sea is the island of Ogoi. His Buddhists chose to store the stupa of Enlightenment. The symbolism of the stupas, or Suburgans, is associated with the life of the Buddha. The classical stupas of Enlightenment symbolize the unfoldment of all the faculties of the mind, liberation from all disturbing feelings. We will drive to the island of Izhilhei, a small rock protruding over the ice, in profile resembling the triangle of Napoleon. Right at the rock, a scattering of ice plates mixed with clean areas of ice. Great place to take pictures. We'll have a picnic on the ice this afternoon.
Day 3
- Cape Uyuga
- olkhon
- Hoboi Cape
- Barguzin Bay
- Ust-Barguzin
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
After breakfast we have a trip. First, by local SUV we will go to the northern part of Olkhon Island. The northernmost point of the island is Cape Khoboy, in Buryat - Fang. The reddish-colored rock, pointed upwards and slightly bent toward the island, actually looks like the fang of an unknown animal. This holy place on Olkhon, every spring near the Cape, shamans from all over the world come to festivities with sacrifices. When looking at the cape from the west side, one of the rocks resembles the silhouette of a woman in profile. In the area of Cape Khoboy Baikal is the widest, it is here that we will begin the journey to the eastern shore. The icy expanses of Baikal amaze with their beauty, if weather permits, we will make stops for rest and photography, because the ice of Baikal is as diverse as its shores. At the end of the trip we will be waiting for Barguzin Bay - the largest and deepest bay on Baikal. In the village of Ust-Barguzin, located at the mouth of the Barguzin River, we will be accommodated in a guest house. After lunch and rest, we will go to see the miracle in the middle of the realm of ice and snow - hot springs. Be sure to plunge into the healing waters to relieve fatigue after the transition.
Day 4
- Ust-Barguzin
- Barguzin valley
- Goddess Yanjima
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
We have breakfast early in the morning and get ready to go. We will have a long tour of the Barguzin Valley. As in all protected areas, there are no asphalt roads here, so you will have to suffer the shaking of dirt roads, what you see will smooth out the inconvenience of the way. First we will go to the palace of the goddess Yanjima, located in the forest at the foot of Mount Uulzaha. The beauty of the surrounding places defies description: a traditional Buddhist datsan with a bright yellow roof against a background of blue mountains in the distance. For the Buryats, Yanjima is one of the most revered goddesses, who is also considered the goddess of wisdom and the patroness of motherhood, children and students. In addition, it is believed that the goddess Yanjima blesses childless couples to know the happiness of parenthood. The beautiful face of the dancing goddess was displayed on the stone, near which the datsan was erected. An ecological path leads to the stone. Walking through it fills the soul with peace and joy. We will continue our journey through the Barguzin Valley. In the most ancient Mongolian literary source, the Valley was called the country of Bargujin-Tokum - "the edge of the world." This is one of the most remarkable areas of Buryatia. No other area has such a variety of natural landscapes: mountains and forests, rivers and lakes, thermal and cold mineral springs, therapeutic mud. In the very north of the Barguzin valley there is a unique thermal spring Umhei, translated from Evenk "Umekei" - as you want to drink. The water source contains fluorine, silica and hydrogen sulfide. On the territory of the resort found the exit of 146 thermal springs under the open sky. There is a special chic in this - to swim in hot water in the winter outdoors. Although, for those who are afraid of freezing, there is a bathing house installed on the hottest spring. We'll settle down at Umhei Recreation Center for the night.
Day 5
- Barguzin valley
- Suvo, Suva Saxony
- Ust-Barguzin
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
If you have a desire, then after breakfast you can swim again in the hot springs. Soon we leave for a further tour of the Barguzin valley. One of the tributaries of Barguzin, the Ina River is interesting because at the place of its exit from the Ikat ridge, huge boulders are randomly scattered on an area of about 10 square kilometers. This area is called Ininsky Garden of Stones. There are many theories about the origin of this place. One of the Buryat legends says that Ina was in a hurry to Baikal, when she learned that Barguzin bypassed her, and so sharply fell into the run that she scattered stones around. Perhaps this is evidence of some kind of eruption? Do you have your own versions? Another shrine of the Barguzin valley is a petrified bull, the spirit of the stone. As always, versions of origin vary, even in ancient legends, converge in one thing - it is a petrified bull, the guardian of the valley. Not far from the winding bed of Ina is another attraction of the valley - the Suvinian Saxon castle. This is a cluster of rocks with an unusual outline. Their height reaches 50 meters, and former tribes believed that the owners of the winds like to live here. They called this place "whirlwind", which in Evenki sounds like "Suvi". At lunchtime, we organize a picnic in a very beautiful place. We'll be back for the night.
Day 6
- Ust-Barguzin
- Snake Bay
- Ust-Barguzin
Included: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today you will explore the Chivyrkui Bay. There are as many as seven islands here, but the most popular place of the bay is Snake Bay with its hot spring. The bay has this name because of the abundance of the already. Water temperature +35-45C. It is used to treat diseases of the musculoskeletal system and radiculitis. For convenience, the source exit site is equipped with wooden log cabins, the water in the baths is flowing, does not cool even in winter. After walking and swimming, we return to Ust-Barguzin.
Day 7
- Ust-Barguzin
- Ivolginsky datsan
- ulan-ude
Included: breakfast, lunch
After breakfast, back on the road! Today we will visit the Ivolginsky datsan. Datsan is a Tibetan word for the meeting place of monastic communities. The non-governmental Buddhist institute "Dashi Choinhorlin" was opened at Datsan, the only one in the Russian Federation specializing in teaching Buddhist philosophy. But the main attraction of the datsan is the imperishable body of Khambo Lama Itigelov, who voluntarily went to nirvana, and in simple language left the mortal earth, but did not die. After burial, his body retains signs of life. Incorruptible body can be seen 8 times a year, during the main Buddhist holidays. Healing monks will help you heal, and astrology monks will help you make an important decision. For the night we will stay in the hotel "Baikal Plaza", in the capital of the Buryat Republic, and dinner will be in one of the restaurants of Ulan-Ude (paid independently).
Day 8
- ulan-ude
- Tarbagatai village
- ulan-ude
Included: breakfast, lunch
Today is a day dedicated to hard work and piety. We will visit the village of Tarbagatai, where the families of Old Believers exiled to Siberia in the XVIII century by decree of Catherine II settled. Strictly organized, hard-working and hard-working families quickly adapted to the harsh climate and organized large communities. Today, more than three centuries later, the spiritual culture of the “family” is proclaimed a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of mankind and included in the first list of UNESCO. The resettled Old Believers received from the locals the name family, due to their arrival by large families with property, unlike single convicts. Family houses are similar to those found during excavations of Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov and other ancient cities of Russia. Here you will be treated to dishes according to ancient recipes with a lot of meat. After the hospitality of the family, we will go to the hospitality of the Buryat, an introductory tour of Ulan-Ude will begin with the statue “Mother-Buryatia”, the figure of a woman with a traditional Buryat hadak (scarf) in his hands, and end at the monument to Lenin, made in the form of a head, the largest monument of this format. In the evening, we will rest and arrange a farewell dinner (paid by ourselves), during which you can exchange impressions and contacts.
Day 9
- ulan-ude
Included: breakfast
Your adventure ends today. You will find a convenient transfer to the airport. Over a cup of tea, you can share your impressions while waiting for your flight.
The price includes:
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