Irkutsk city – Arshan settlement – Circum Baikal Railroad – Listvyanka settlement – Peschanaya Bay – Olkhon Island – Irkutsk city
Availability: June 1 – September 30
We invite you to Tunka valley to see its natural wonders. You will visit Irkutsk city – the capital of Eastern Siberia, Peschanaya Bay called Siberian Riviera and the most sacred site of lake Baikal – Olkhon Island.
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Itinerary
Arrival in Irkutsk city. Meeting and assistance at the airport. Transfer to your Hotel. Check in * Lunch in the hotel restaurant. City tour with the visit to the Cathedral of Holly Sign ** Visit to the Museum of Decembrists ***. Return to your Hotel. Dinner (optional, not included). Leisure time. Overnight.
* In case there are no rooms available the check in will be after 1 pm (after the city tour).
** Apart from ornate and rich iconostasis the cathedral is famous for its graveyard where you can see the tombs of Decembrist Mukhanov, Beschasnov, Trubetskaya and Grigory Shelekhov, explorer of Alaska.
*** In the past the mansion belonged to one of the leaders of Decembrist revolutionaries – Russian aristocracy who were banned to Siberia after their attempt in December of 1825 to overthrow the Russian Tsar.
Breakfast and packing up. Departure to Kultuk settlement * (1 1/2 hrs from Irkutsk) Stop on the observation point. Drive along the road that runs across the Tunkinskie Pinnacles with well-defined alpine relief in the North and downhills in the South. Arrival at Arshan Settlement. Accommodation in your hotel or at host. Visit to a small Buddhist temple ** Visit to the hot springs site. Dinner. Overnight.
* Kultuk settlement is situated southward of Lake Baikal, where from the road makes sharp turn to the west and after climbing relatively gradual pass gets up to the Tunka Valley.
** Cradled in the Shumak River valley at the foot of Tunkinskie Pinnacles. It was built by Geche Dzshampa Tenley who stopped his Buddhist campaign here having found impossible to travel any further in winter time.
Breakfast. All day long hiking to the spurs of the Tunkinskie Pinnacles. En route see the splendid nature, waterfalls and valleys of Tunka downhills. Picnic by the riverbank. Return to Arshan settlement. Dinner and overnight.
Breakfast, packing up and departure for Sludyanka settlement *. Further travel along the famous Circum Baikal rail road. Board on a local train with a few carriages attached that runs regularly along the circum Baikal railroad ** Arrival in Port Baikal. Ferry to Listvyanka settlement and further to your hotel. Dinner. Overnight.
* The towns of Sludyanka and Kultuk are urbanized segments of the Baikal coast with the developing automobile, railway and water ways. This area also binds the Western (Tunkinsky, Okinsky) and Eastern regions of the Buriat Republic.
** The volume of earth-moving work done on every kilometer of the way equals to 400 carriages that may be compared to the volume of work done during the Suez Channel construction. 424 engineer constructions were built along 84 kilometers-long stretch of the road from Khultuk to port Baikal including 39 tunnels with the total length of 8994 meters, 14 kilometers of supporting walls, 47 stone and 3 iron galleries.
Breakfast. A guided tour to the Baikal Ecology Museum * Transfer to the beginning of the headwaters of the Angara River to see the famous Shaman Rock. Further transfer to Taltsy – the open air Museum of the Russian Wooden Architecture **. Return to Listvyanka settlement, lunch. Visit to the Church of Saint Nicolas the Wonderworker – the guardian angel of all the travelers in the world. Return to your hotel. Dinner and overnight.
* Baikal Ecology Museum exhibits the lake’s unique samples of flora and fauna: a rich collection of minerals, different kinds of fish and other organisms inhabiting the lake.
** There is a numerous number of ethnographical and architectural sights in the museum. The oldest building on a site is Spass Tower of Ilimsk Fortress (1667) and active Kazan Chapel (1679)
*** Built in the middle of the XIX century by Ksenophont Serebryakov. Dedicated to Saint Nicolas – the guardian for all the travelers.
Breakfast, packing up and departure for the boat station to start the aquatic part of our journey towards Peschanaya Bay * (6 hrs sail) Upon arrival – visit to the bay and the neighboring Babushka Bay. A light hike to the Big Belfry Cliff located nearby. Return aboard. Dinner. Overnight.
* Peschnaya Bay is a nature landmark of Lake Baikal, often called ”Siberian Riviera”. It is the only place in entire Eastern Siberia where the average annual temperature is above zero Celsius ( + 0,4C).
We proceed towards Olkhon Isle. Lunch. Arrival at Khuzshir settlement – the center of the Island. Transfer to the tourist camp. Accommodation. Dinner. Russian Banya experience upon request (optional service). Overnight.
Breakfast. A trip to Khoboy cape * located northwards of the Isle. En route – drive through the Sand Tract (20 km Northwards from Khuzhir settlement) famous for its sand dunes ** Picnic on the shore. Return to the camp. Overnight.
* is located near the widest part of Lake Baikal (79,8 km). Near the northernmost point of this cape there’s a special site (a small platform) that was used for carrying on the so-called “ tailagan” – gatherings of shamans. From the cape one can often see Baikal nerpas – fresh-water seals, the lake’s only aquatic animals.
** They founded a little settlement on a shore of 20 houses in 1950. By the beginning 70-th the settlement was absolutely sand blown.
Early breakfast. Departure from the camp. Transfer to the ferry station and further trip to Irkutsk city. En route stop to have a snack in the local cafe. Upon arrival we transfer you to the railroad station/airport to depart for Moscow.
- Single supplement is possible at hotels, tourist camps only.
- Single supplement Rubles, 7098
| Number of PAX in a group | 3-5 | 6-9 | 10-15 | 16 and more |
| Cost p/p in Rubles | 89 800 | 59 000 | 61 000 | 45 500 |
- Single supplement, Rubles – 10 300
- Hotel double occupancy accommodation for one night in Irkutsk City Hotel (***stars category), accommodation for 2 nights in Arshan Settlement, accommodation for two nights in Listvyanka Settlement, accommodation in the camp;
- Sail boat freight;
- Full board as mentioned in the programme;
- Circum Baikal rail road ticket;
- All ground and water transfers as mentioned in the programme;
- Bilingual guide
- Tours and entrance fees as mentioned in the programme.
- Other items not specifically mentioned as included or mentioned as ‘optional’.