BDA2. Olkhon Island

Transportation: airplane, car/minibus, motor ship, rail bus

We invite you to the tour where you can visit not only traditional places of interest located at Listvianka settlement and its environs but also to be immersed in the virgin nature of Baikal region at the Olkhon Island which is considered sacred place where one of 9 sacred places of Asia (the Shamanka mountain) is located.

 

Itinerary:

Day 1. Arrival in airport of Irkutsk. Transfer to the Irkutsk hotel ***. Rest. 13:00 Irkutsk city sightseeing tour with lunch at local restaurant included: you can see the most interesting places of the city (squares, parks, churches, embankments, the oldest brick building of Irkutsk – The Church of Our Saviour (17^th century), Kirov Square – place at city centre where Yakov Pokhabov's Cossak detachment established wooden fortress in 1661), Museum of Decemberists. Free time. (L)

Day 2. Breakfast. Circum Baikal Railroad fullday tour (the most picturesque part of Transsiberian Rail Road where tourists have a chance to watch rail road engineering works of the beginning of the 20^th century) by rail bus with lunch in box included. Arrival in port Baikal in the evening. Transfer to Listvyanka by ferry. Transfer to the hotel ***. Accommodation. Dinner at the hotel. (BLD)

Day 3. Breakfast. Baikal Ecology museum tour. At the museum aquariums you can see fishes of the Baikal Lake, famous nerpa (Baikal seal) and dive to the bottom of lake by virtual bathyscaphe . After museum you can visit local market where you have a chance to purchase souvenirs made by Siberian skilled workmen with stone, wood, birch, glass and to taste smoked Baikal Lake fish (omul, grayling, whitefish). Lunch at local restaurant. Walking tour for the Tchersky Stone panoramic platform (700 m high). Return to the hotel. Free time. Banya (Russian traditional bath-house) at the hotel is recommended (to pay on spot). (BL)

Day 4. Breakfast. Transfer to the Olkhon Island (vehicle, motor ship). You will have a chance to take pleasure in picturesque views during you boating. Accommodation at the Zhemchuzhina Olkhona (the Pearl of Olkhon) tourist centre at the Olkhon Island (out-door toilet!). Dinner at the tourist centre. (BD)

Day 5. Breakfast. Excursion to one of the most picturesque places at the Baikal - the Khoboi Cape, top Northern point of the island with fantastic view for the Svyatoy Nos Cape. During the excursion you will have possibility to admire majestic landscapes of lonely bays and beaches. Picnic lunch is included. Dinner at the tourist centre. (BLD)

Day 6. Breakfast. Fullday tour bu motor ship to the Ogoy Island. Visiting Buddhist stupa (a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship) built in 2005. Dinner at the tourist centre. (BLD)

Day 7. Breakfast. Transfer by vehicle to Irkutsk with stop at Buryat settlement Ust-Orda where you can visit a local Museum of Local Lore, to meet original Buryat shaman and to have lunch of traditional Buryat meals. Accommodation at the Irkutsk hotel ***. Farewell dinner at the hotel. (BLD)

Day 8. Transfer to airport or railway station. Departure from Irkutsk. (B)

Legend: B – breakfast, L – lunch, D – dinner.

All the times are local

Fixed dates in summer 2012:

06-13/07, 20-27/07, 03-10/08, 17-24/08.

Costs netto for tour operators and travel agents – 2012:

€968 per person for joining in a fixed group.

Included:

• TWN accommodation in STD rooms

• meals per program

• all transfers per program

• excursions by vehicle with English-speaking guide (other languages on request)

• 1^st class ticket for tourist rail bus on Circum Baikal Rail Road tour

Not included:

• visa

• insurance

• luggage rooms in hotels, airports and train stations

• spirits

• banya

Supplements:

• Single accomodation — +124EUR per person.