Baikal fresh-water seal (8 day, 7 nights)

Arrive at Ulan-Ude

Meet the guide on the railway station/airport

Transfer to the hotel, check-in

Free time for independent exploration

Independent lunch

City tour of Ulan-Ude*

Tour to the Open air museum of Transbaikalian people**

Tour to Old Believers village***

Dinner, folk show

Overnight at the hotel

  (-,-,D)

* Historical center of Verkhneudinsk  (nowadays Ulan-Ude), merchants' houses of the XVII-XIX centuries, churches and the biggest Lenin's monument in the world.

** An open-air museum in the park area in the suburban part of Ulan-Ude. Includes Evenk, Buryat, Cossack, Old Believers complexes. Authentic houses, gers, tepees, different household utensils, ancient furniture, national clothes.

*** The Old Believers of Buryatia are a colorful branch of Orthodox Russians exiled in Siberia in the XVI century after the church reform carried out by Patriarch Nikon. They managed to save their culture, singing art, religion as they were two centuries ago. Lunch at a family, ritual funny games, Old Believers polyphonic songs and a lot of fun!

Breakfast at the hotel

Tour to Ivolginsky Buddhist monastery* (30 min en route)

Tour to Buryat village**

Lunch at the village***

Excursion to the museum of Buddhism****

Free time for independent exploration

Independent dinner

Overnight at the hotel

  (B,L,-)

* Ivolginsky monastery is the center of Buddhism in Russia. Nowadays it's also an institute called  «Dashi Choikhorling» (from Tibetan language  «Land of the happy Teaching»). It's a special place where Buddhist monks, scientist-buddhologists, specialists in Tibetan and Old Mongolian languages are taught. Now the monastery keeps one of the most important Buddhist relicts — the imperishable body of XII Pandito Khambo lama Dashi Dorzho Itegelov.

** You have an opportunity to visit an authentic Buryat village and have a lunch in a traditional dwelling of nomads — a felted yurt (or Ger). You'll be met by villagers, dressed in national costumes, will be shown the interior of the dwelling and told about the history and traditions of the Buryat people by themselves. In every Buryat village there is a special place, usually at the top of some hill, where the villagers come to pray. This is where you will be taken to make an old ritual for having a good luck and lucky way. You'll see both- traditional summer house of the Buryat people and a winter house. Besides, you'll also try your hand in traditional cooking and Buryat sports. The folk songs will create an atmosphere of joy and leave a pleasant impressions and good memory about the place.

*** National Buryat cuisine: salamat, buuza  (steamed dumplings), bukhulyor (mutton soup), green tea with milk, shangy  (buryat bread).

**** The museum was founded 1923. The exhibition includes unique materials on archeology, shamanism, Orthodoxy and Buddhism. There you can see rare books and coins, Buddhist tankas (icons), works of art of India, Nepal, Thailand, China, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia and Buryatia. The exhibitions «Buddhist art», «Atlas of Tibetan medicine“.

Breakfast at the hotel

Transfer to Ust-Barguzin* (6 hours en route)

On the way stop to visit Sretensky convent in the village of Baturino**

Lunch en route

«The first meeting with Baikal» ritual***

Arrive at Ust-Barguzin village, accommodation at homestays

Dinner at homestay****

Bathhouse

Overnight at homestay

*Ust-Barguzin is the last big populated village on the way to Zabaikalsky National Park. It is situated in the delta of the Barguzin river, which flows into Lake Baikal.

**Black soil lands of Baturino village attracted a great number of people. Such stately churches were the proof of well being and prosperety of locals. During the Soviet period the church in Baturino village became the club-house. After the village was declared an unprofitable one, the church was desorted half-ruided and desolated. Only in the 90s the church was given back to the believers, then was sanctified on the Ascension Daynd and there were established a nunnery and the church.

*** The rituals of worshipping the local spirits are the peculiarity of buryat lamaists. They say that the blessing of Baikal has a miraculous power and since we visit the lake we must ask for its permission first.

****Appreciate the heat of Siberian banya, Russian cuisine and Siberian hospitality!

Breakfast at homestay

Transfer to Monakhovo (a small village at the Chivirkuisky bay**) by minivan across the isthmus Myaghkaya Karga*

Boarding the ship

Tour of Chivirkuisky bay and Ushkanye: islands, caves, hot springs, bays

Picnic lunch

Stop at the Ushkany islands*** for seal-watching****

Trekking to the island to see the seals

Return to Ust-Barguzin

Bathhouse

Dinner at homestay

  (B,L,D)

*The isthmus Myaghkaya karga links the Holy Nose peninsula with the mainland. There is a great probability to see with your own eyes a white eagle flying or sitting on a nest.

** Chivirkuisky bay is one of the most beautiful places of lake Baikal, where the wild life still preserves its original beauty. There are many small splendid coves in the Chivirkuisky bay: Okynyovaya, Zmeinaya, Ongokonskaya, fertik, Krokhalinaya, Krutaya coves. There are also hot springs on the shores of the Zmeinaya (snake) cove. Bolshoi Baklany island, sometimes called - Shimay is the biggest out of seven islands of the Chivirkuisky bay. A long time ago a colony of cormorants came to the island and built their nests, but later the birds were scared away by the presence of man, so nowadays the island is inhabited by wood-grouses.

***The Ushkanye Islands - the total area is 10 km2. The Ushkanye islands are a group of four islands in the central part of lake Baikal, a handful of stones on the lake's smooth surface. The islands are Bolshhoy (big), Tonky (narrow), Dolgy (long) and Krugly (round). A s a matter of facts, those four islands are the top of the Akademichesky mountain range and they continue rising out of the lake. The origin of the Ushkanye islands is still a controversial question! There is unusual and original flora and fauna at the island, for example larches with stout, «bottle-shaped» trunks, birch-trees with dark bark and so on. Besides, there is a special continental mild climate here and the humidity is very high, especially in the summertime - 90-97%. Archeologists found three caves at Bolshoy island, where primitive people of Neolithic period used to settle for a long time (approximately 5000-4000 years ago).

Breakfast at homestay

Depart for a full day tour to Barguzin valley*

Picnic lunch or lunch in a local family

Return to Ust-Barguzin

Dinner at homestay

Bathhouse

Overnight at the home stay

  (B,L,D)

* Barguzin valley is the northern steppes of Asia. The valley is situated at the picturesque place - between two mountain ranges: Ikatski and Barguzinski. It is famous for its natural and historical monuments. The tour begins with Petrogliffs (rocky paintings, age 3000), continuous to the Suvinski Castle an architectural miracle created by nature forming a picturesque group, reminding castles ruins with huge stone towers and narrow rocky ravine between them with the length about 200m and height 50m. There are a lot of nests of doves and swallows in the rocks. Near by the Suvinski Castle there is a place of admiration of Barguzin buryats - The Stone Bull (a stone which looks like a bull where shaman rituals  take place). Near the river Ina there is Stone Garden (10 km large stones which grow out of the land). Scientists still don't know the origin of such a natural phenomenon.

Breakfast at homestay

Tour to the Evenks' center*

Lunch en route

Stops nearby the sacred and cult places**

Return to Ust-Barguzin

Dinner at homestay

Bathhouse

Overnight at the homestay

  (B,L,D)

*Evenk people are the tribe that lived on the shore of Lake Baikal since the old days. Evenks are the direct heirs of Stone age culture. During the XII-XII centuries when Mongolian expansion strengthened a lot Evenk people started mass migration to taiga forest. However in the 16 century Evenk people occupied the whole territory of Transbaikalie.  The majority of place names are of Evenk origin that testifies that this tribe used to be very wide spread. Evenks still preserve old traditions, legends and beliefs.

Breakfast at homestay

Transfer to Ulan-Ude (6 hours en route)

Arrive at Ulan-Ude

Accommodation at the hotel

Independent lunch

Free time for independent exploration

Independent dinner

Overnight at the hotel

(B, -, -)

Breakfast at homestay

Transfer to the railway station/airport