West To East
Departure dates:
24 August 2010 - 3 September 2010
Group size: 5-10
Duration: 11 days
Day 1 Irkutsk
Meet at the railway station/airport accompanied by our English-speaking guide. Check-in to the hotel “Irkutsk” (breakfast only). Shower/rest. Enjoy a 2-hour walking city tour. It starts at the historical part of the city: Epiphany Cathedral, the oldest stone-structure Church of our Saviour and the only Catholic Cathedral in Irkutsk, Polish Roman Catholic Church. The tour leads you through the Kirov Square and circus, taking you to the main street of Irkutsk, the Karl Marks Street. You’ll walk along the street to get to the Angara river embankment. Right there, where the monument to Alexander III is, all young people gather, so you’ll have a chance to see “the youth culture” of Irkutsk. Free time. Traditional Russian dinner (not included). Overnight
Day 2 Listvyanka
Breakfast. Car transfer to the village situated only 60km away from Irkutsk - Listvyanka. On the way visit an open-air wooden architecture museum “Taltsy”. In the museum you’ll see the settlements of indigenous Siberian people of 17th-20th centuries. Some of the buildings presented in the museum were brought there from the villages that were flooded after building hydro-electric dams in the Irkutsk region. Check-in to a mini-hotel (breakfast only). Guided walk to a local biological museum that also has a set of aquariums amongst which there is one with the only mammal representative, the Baikal Seal, in it. Take a chair-lift to a nearby view point. There you’ll get a chance to take panoramic pictures of Baikal from above. Lunch (not included). Enjoy your visit to a local 19th century wooden St.Nicolas church and a local fish market where you’ll see a great variety of fish and different ways of cooking it. Free time. Overnight.
Day 3 Circum-Baikal Railway trip
Breakfast. Meet your guide for the Circum-Baikal Railway trip. Take a ferry to Port Baikal*. Visit to a local museum and then get on the train to start your Circum-Baikal Railway journey. Lunch on the way served by a “Babushka” (old lady) who lives in a tiny station near the biggest 700-meter tunnel and serves delicious food and some home-made vodka called “Samogon”. Stop at Sludyanka station where you’ll see the only station building that is made of plain marble. Dinner on board. Arrive at Irkutsk at night. Transfer to the hotel “Irkutsk” (breakfast only). Overnight.
Day 4 Olkhon Island
Breakfast. Transfer to Khuzhir village on Olkhon Island by car (Khuzhir is the main village of the Island with the population of 1500 people). Check-in to a mini-hotel (breakfast only). Shower/rest. Visit to the Buryat (indigenous people) village where the natives will tell you about their origin and open up few secrets for you. Enjoy the sunset on Shaman cape near Khuzhir village. Overnight.
Day 5 Olkhon Island
Breakfast. A day long trip to the northern part of the Island by car (lunch included). You’ll be taken to the best view points of Olkhon Island where the guide will introduce you to all mysterious legends that this place holds. Return to the village. Enjoy a 2-hour boat trip on the sunset. Banya (Russian Sauna) in the evening. Overnight.
Day 6 Olkhon Island
Breakfast. Enjoy a tour to the south of the Island. You'll visit the remains of the Kurykan (indigenous people of Siberia) wall that was built in the 5th-8th century. You’ll stop by at the legendary Sharanur Salt Lake where some people come to experience the healing power of magic clay. Picnic lunch served on the way. Finish your trip in the Tashkiney valley that is located on the eastern part of the Island and opens a great view on Baikal’s rough side for tourists. Return to the village. Overnight.
Day 7 Ust-Barguzin
Breakfast. Explore Khuzhir by going to the museum of Olkhon Island and to the fish factory. Take a swim in warm waters of Baikal. Free time. A boat transfer to the village situated on the eastern shore of Baikal – Ust Barguzin. You will cross Lake Baikal in its deepest and widest place! Check-in to the resort in Ust-Barguzin in the evening. Overnight.
Day 8 Barguzin Valley
Breakfast. Enjoy a tour to the Barguzin Valley. This place is considered to be sacred for Buryats and as legends say that's where Genghis Khan’s mother was born. In the evening you’ll have a traditional Eastern Buryat dinner. Overnight.
Day 9 Ulan-Ude
Breakfast. Transfer to Ulan-Ude. Check-in to the hotel “Geser”(breakfast only). Start your tour by visiting the square of the Soviets and the historical part of the city. You’ll walk in the “old town”, passing the streets full of most beautiful wooden architecture. The guide will take you to several Orthodox churches, such as the Troitskaya Church. Rest. Overnight.
Day 10 Ulan-Ude
Breakfast. Move on to the next part of the tour by exploring the Buddhism culture in the famous Ivolginsky datsan.In the temple you’ll have a unique chance to see the incorruptible relics of the Dalai Lama whose body was buried in the beginning of the 20th century. Enjoy your visit to the Old Believers village where you’ll listen to the folk songs of the community and find out many interesting details about their culture. Dinner in old Russian way.
Day 11 Ulan-Ude
Breakfast. Check-out from the hotel. End of the programme.
Attention:
The price above applies for the group of minimum 5 people.
The group departure is guaranteed if there are at least 3 people in a group, however the following surcharge is applied:
4 people in a group -
0 rub. or $0 or €0 / per person
3 people in a group -
0 rub. or $0 or €0 / per person
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