➤ Breakfast
➤ 2-hour ATV ride across Tazheran steppe or buggy safari tour
➤ Back to the lodge and check out
➤ Transfer to Olkhon Island by an off-road vehicle (UAZ) with stops at ice grottoes and caves
➤ Ice fishing
➤ Picnic in a one of ice grottoes
➤ Settle in a hotel in Khuzhir village
➤ Visit Shamanka Rock (Cape Burkhan)
➤ Sunset photo session at Kharantsy Island
➤ Optional: Russia Banya
➤ Dinner
Start the day with an ATV ride through endless snow-covered steppe (2 hours tour). Tazheranskaya Siberian steppe called the pantry of rare minerals. On an area of 1 sq. km. we find more than 140 different stones: zirconia, ruby, blue diopside and tazheranit - unique stone found only here. In addition, Tazheran - Baikal is a beautiful landscape, reminiscent of the Tibetan foothills. Here you can see sand dunes and relict spruce, and loose rocks, and giant caves.
For example, one of the most famous caves at Lake Baikal - Dream - has a length of about 900 meters of corridors, in other caves can be found beautiful underground lakes, clusters of stalactites, cave paintings of ancient peoples. At the heart of the steppes, there are several salt lakes. The largest of them is Dabahtay-Nur (half a mile wide and a depth of 2.5-3 meters). Return to the hotel and check out.
Transfer to Olkhon Island by van. On our way to Ogoy island, we will see Buddhists’ Enlightenment Stupa with various Buddhist relics, and a bronze statue of the dakini Troma Nagmo, the mother of all Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism. We will travel to Cape Khorgoy to see its 185 meters long ancient Kurykan protective wall. As we travel the icy surface of Baikal, you will see how local use the benefits of nature to arrange their daily routine and how useful the ice can be! Most of our travelers say Baikal ice was the strongest impression of winter in Russia, and the power of nature they experience here at Baikal is the supreme Siberian experience.
Accommodation in a comfortable lodge.
We will see breathtaking ice hummocks - "toros", mysterious grottoes and caves, majestic mountains and picturesque plaques. Tour to Shamanka Rock, where the Baikal ruler lives according to local beliefs. Settle down in our comfy lodge in Khuzhir village and explore the area, making photos of ice caves and grottoes nearby.
It is impossible to stay calm while driving on ice when we see such a universe under our feet. And the farther from the shore, the less snow we see, the ice become clearer. We never know where exactly we will get the most impressive photos but you can be certain of that: Baikal will grow upon you and reveal some secrets.
Everything you do here, it an ice-doing. After ice-jeeping, enjoy traditional ice fishing. Sun, frost, silence - and sometimes cracking ice 1,5 meter thick. The kilometer-long abyss of clean fresh drinking water is under your feet.
We come to one of the most beautiful bays of the Small Sea, where buggy all-terrain vehicles will already be waiting for us, on which we will go to safari on the ice of Lake Baikal. It's a really cool trip to the legendary island Ogoy, which resembles the fang of the Dragon! In these endless expanses, we can absolutely safely rift and feel like a real racer. Buggy is designed for two people, they control the buggy in turn. After a ice picnic and hot tea, we put on skates and go skating or walking on ice to see the famous ice plaques and grottoes and enjoy the most beautiful and crystal clear ice! Proceed to Olkhon island in the afternoon.
Sarge are ritual wooden pillars of Buryat and Yakut people. They symbolize the "tree of life," the roots in the lower worlds of demons and branches in the heavens where the Noyons live. Sarge are bound with multicolored patches of fabrics.
It is believed that when the wind shakes the ribbon with the prayers written on it, the one who hung it sends his prayers to heaven, even if he is busy with other things at that time. When coming to Olkhon, you must definitely bring offerings to the spirits of the area: sprinkle milk or any white food on the pole of the serge, feed the spirits.
Ancient shamanic traditions tell of 13 northern Noyons - the sons of the divine Tengrii, who descended from heaven to judge people and chose various places of residence. The eldest and strongest of them, Khan Hute-baabai, chose the cave on Cape Burhan of Olkhon Island as its habitat. In honor of 13 brothers, 13 pillars of serge were installed on the island.