BAIKAL DIVERSITY
Discover 9-day easy trekking tour of Baikal
Irkutsk – Krestovsky Cape and Tazheransky Steppe - Irkutsk - Listvyanka – the Krugobajkalsky railway – Irkutsk
Duration: 9 days
Period: May – September
Departure: Moscow
Day 1:
Arrival in Moscow
Transfer to the hotel and overnight in Moscow
Day 2:
After breakfast we depart for sightseeing tour of Moscow.
This tour is the best option to see the best of Moscow and get familiar with its nearly 900 years of history in just a few hours. Walk Red Square, view the Kremlin, see old Convents, visit Russia’s main cathedral, Moscow State University and Sparrow Hills. Learn about Russian Ballet School when viewing Bolshoi Theatre, learn where and how Stanislavsky acting school was established, see where Leo Tolstoy and other writers lived. Get a feeling for this unique city that became a symbol of unity for people all across 11 time zones in Russia.
After lunch at the local restaurant, proceed to the airport.
Depart to Irkutsk.
Day 3:
Arrival in Irkutsk. Transfer to the city center. Accommodation.
Have the sightseeing tour, explore the historical center with its ancient rock and wooden tracery houses, visit the Museum of Decembrists or the Museum of Regional Studies.
End of the day: dinner and overnight in Irkutsk.
Day 4:
After breakfast, depart to Petrovo (~ 200 km from Irkutsk towards the Small Sea, 3-hour).
Lunch in Petrovo (the Buryat ethnic cuisine).
After lunch, we take the Russian off-road vehicle “UAZ” and drive to Krestovsky Cape (~ 15 km.). Accommodation.
Krestovsky Cape is the most remarkable place at the western coast of Baikal between settlement Buguldejka and Small Sea. In the past, Buryats called Krestovsky Cape Dajn-Hoshun that means «war cape».
After the off-road tour, proceed to Sagan-Hushun Cape. Sagan-Hushun Cape is the sacral place for the Buryat-shamanist. There you can see the petroglyphs on picturesque white marble rocks. The most ancient of the petroglyphs originate from Stone and Bronze Ages (the end of the 2nd millennium BC). By their composition, calligraphy, and variety of plots, the petroglyphs are considered as the most complex of all known rock paintings over the whole space from Ural Mountains to Pacific Ocean. Return to Krestovsky Bay.
End of the day: dinner and overnight in Krestovsky Cape.
Optional Russian baths.
Day 5:
After breakfast, tour to Tazheransky steppe and the Stone Spirits Valley.
According to the legend, the white and black soldiers-shamans, who did not want to reconcile, were transformed by the Supreme God into the stone sculptures.
Picnic lunch. Return to Krestovsky Cape. Free time.
End of the day: dinner and overnight in Krestovsky Cape.
Day 6:
After breakfast, have a walking tour to an observation point of Dajn-Hoshun Mountain.
From the top of the Dajn-Hoshun Mountain, there is a magnificent view to the south up to Goloustnog and to the north up to Olkhon Island. The traces of an ancient fortress of the Kurykhan epoch (VI-XI centuries) have remained on this mountain.
Lunch.
Transfer to Petrovo by “UAZ”. Transfer to Irkutsk. Accommodation. Dinner and overnight in Irkutsk.
Day 7:
Breakfast. Depart to Listvyanka (~ 70 km). Make a stop at the museum of Architecture and Ethnography “Taltsi”. The museum “Taltsy” is located on the riverside of Angara River along the picturesque road to Baykal Lake. The area of the museum is considered as the nature preserved area. The museum was based in 1969 and presents 40 unique monuments of architecture and 8000 other valuable exhibits. Learn about the culture of both Russian and native populations of the Baikal region (Buryaty, Evenky).
Arrival in Listvyanka. Have a tour to the museum of Baikal and view the unique pond inhabited by Baikal fish and seals.
Dinner in Listvyanka. Visit to the local market and taste smoked omul (Baikal fish) and buy some souvenirs.
Accommodation in Listvyanka. Dinner (traditional Russian cuisine).
Optionally, experience Russian baths with the pond of cold water.
Day 8:
After breakfast, take a ferry from Listvyanka to the settlement Port Baykal.
Then, explore Baikal from the train (an amazingly beautiful Krugobaikalskaya Rail).
Lunch at the Polovinnaya station. Before the revolution, this short part of way was called “the gold buckle of the steel belt of Russia”. It was called in this manner because it connected the Trans-Siberian Railway torn by Baikal. The word “gold” was used because the cost of this operation exceeded that of all the roads existing in Russia at that time. Even now the appearance of Krugobaikalskaya Rail impresses the travelers by harmony of the engineering genius and natural landscapes of the lake.
In the evening, arrive at Irkutsk railway station. Transfer to the city center. Accommodation. Dinner and overnight in Irkutsk.
Day 9:
Breakfast. Transfer to the airport.
Price: upon request
Included:
- All transfers as specified in the itinerary
- Booking and purchase of the rail-way tickets
- 1 overnight in Moscow, 3 overnights in Irkutsk, 2 overnights at Krestovsky Cape, 1 overnight at the Listvyanka settlement
- Meals as specified in the itinerary
- Excursions as specified in the itinerary
- English-speaking guide
- Admission fee to museums
- Visa-support documents
- Registration fees and taxes
Excluded:
- Flight or railway tickets to/from Irkutsk
- Russian Baths
- Personal expenses
- Tips
- Porterage
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