Into the wild North Lake Baikal


A unique journey into the wild of the North Lake Baikal! The main goal of our trip is to explore the north of Baikal. Looking from the inside I would say: to feel the sound of a wild Siberian nature, to dance with a wind to this natural rhythm and to reunite with this essential music!

You travel to:

		See Lake Baikal: Unesco World Heritage Site, the oldest and the deepest freshwater lake in the world.

		Cross Baikal by speed-boat and visit the island of Olkhon — the heart of Lake Baikal

		Leave your path on the almost unexplored land of the North Baikal

		Study the ethnography of Siberian peoples: the Buryats and Evenki. Their traditional way of life and culture of the shamanism

		Walk in the Siberian Taiga forest. It is the largest forest in the world

		Take a train trip by Trans-Siberian Railway and Baikal-Amur Railway

Brief overview:


	• The organization fee covers: the work of the managers and guides, all transfers (vans, speed-boats, train), all accomodations (hotels, houses, lodges), all excursions, travel meals (except for the train), Russian sauna in Birokan (2 times), personal invitation for Russian visa.

	• Time for the tour: from June to August (summertime in Russia)

	• The starting and finish point: city of Irkutsk, Russia

	• Duration: 11 days

	• Number of participants: 6-8 people

	• Price per person: about 900-1200$ (for more details email us)


	Research: geography, nature, peoples

	New knowledge and experience: siberian shamanism

	Activity: unity with the nature and yourself, bathing in hot springs, talking with interesting people, photography


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Into the wild North of Baikal lake

Siberian Expeditions Team

Is there still anybody who hasn’t heard about Baikal Lake? This huge reservoir of fresh cristal clean water in Siberia. It is famous as the most voluminous and the deepest freshwater lake in the whole world. It is as big as a sea!

The lake is situated right inside taiga. No… actually we mean that taiga forest, different mountain ranges, Russian, Buryat and Evenk villages, hot springs, and a lot more are situated all around this great lake. People still guess how it was formed, what kind of process it was. Considering the fact that in the night from 31 of December to 1 of January 1862 after a powerful earthquake the small village was washed out and in one night turned to a bay which has a name «Proval» (means «washout») we can assume that Baikal lake could appear like this in one day. By the way there is a Buryat legend about it.

According to this legend the real name of Baikal is Baigal from Buryat whoop «Bai gal!» which means «Fire, stop!». Long-long time ago there was an earthquake (another one). The surface of the Earth opened up, huge cracks spreaded all around and then powerful fire appeared from the underground. The flame was completely under control, it was destroying everything on its way. And then people start to pray with all their heart, but nobody helped them. They cried in despair: «Bai gal!» Suddenly, fire disappeared and on the fireplace it began to show up an enormous hole. Later it was filled with the purest water ever. Dozens of years have passed and still water is as clean that most of local people drink water straight from the lake.

The most popular start point is Irkutsk, there are direct flights from Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok and from Beijing(China). Irkutsk is situated west-south from Baikal. From here it is easy to get to Ulan-Ude, Olhon island, Severobaykalsk and other attractive places around Baikal. From Moscow it takes 6 hours by plane and almost 5 days by train.


		Viktory, the head of the journey

		The traveler, lives in Novosibirsk, Siberia


Why you should take this journey with us:

	You will be taking part not in a tour or a trip, but in a real expedition,with its objectives, uncertainties, research and its unique atmosphere. You will feel like a hero of the childhood books, Indiana Jones — this is the very authentic adventure tourism, which almost no one can offer in Russia.	You will discover a surprising unknown Russia.. We will not only show you beautiful scenery, but also give an extensive amount of knowledge and a possibility to meet most interesting and striking people

	You will get a unique life experience. No one returns the same person from this expedition: there is a reassessment of values in life; there are interesting and reliable new friends, even the eyes of the travelers become wiser and happier, and more different.	You are not a customer, you are a part of the team. We will explore and change the world together. As a rule, the expedition is just the beginning — we can work together on the received materials or carry out further joint projects.

Reviews and impressions of other expeditions:

Bruno, Portugal		I went with Victory to explore Altai in August 2016. Visited art village, did rafting, trekking, horse-riding and even ropejumping. Mountains in Altai are just increadible, a lot of wild areas are still there. Victory’s tours are genuinely Russian, very entertaining and culturally rich. If you want to see simple real Russia with all its powerful nature then definitely go for it with Victory.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, Irkusk

Day 1. Irkutsk. The journey begins

After meeting at the airport we will drive to Olhon island by van. It takes 6-7 hours on average. Passing Irkutsk we will stop to take a lunch in Soviet style restaurant which is situated in historical area of the city among small wooden buildings.
On the way we will pass Tanzheranskaya steppe — the most northern steppe region in East Siberia. This impressive picture looks like typical Mongolian landscape.
Road tripping time is perfect to observe the nature and small villages on the way, to sing or get to know each other.
In the evening we will arrive to Khuzhir — village on Olhon island, have a dinner. Traditional Russian sauna is optional.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, Cape Khoboy, Olkhon Island

Day 2. Cape Khoboy, place of power

Day trip by car to the ending point of the island — Cape Khoboy, very important «place of power» in buryatian shamanism. By the legend it was told that the very first buryatian shaman inherited the magic powers. And nowadays a lot of people come here to pray, to contact spirits or just to meditate at day-break.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, shamanka rock, Cape Burkhan

Day 3. Shamanka Rock and the way to the north

Walking tour to Cape Burhan (Shamanka Rock), the most famous symbol of Baikal Lake. Wherever you look for information about Baikal first you will see this rock on the picture. Actually Shamanka Rock is famous as one of the nine Great Holy Places in Asia togrther with Kailash Mountain and Potala Palace (Tibet), Shaolin Monastery (China), Angkor Wat Temple (Cambogia), Shwedagon Pagoda and Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (Burma), The Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic and Sigiriya Rock (Sri-Lanka).

There is a cave in this rock where from the ancient time people offered up a sacrifice to the spirits and later there was Buddhist sanctuary. It is almost 12 m long and 3-4,5 m wide. For a very long time it was prohibited to enter a cave for all people except shaman. The worst it was for women to enter this cave or go up to the rock. Perhaps it was connected with some sinful women with evil energy but some people think that it is bad luck for woman to enter this area because it has bad influence on fertility.
Near the entrance scientists found tibetian and mongolian ancient writings, moreover up on the rock there is archaeological site from the New Stone Age.
On the way to the ferry terminal we will visit traditional buryatian village. Here you can learn about buryatian traditional home (yurta), singing and dancing, try some traditional food like buuzy (pozy) and listen to local shaman talking about the spiritual acting. A couple of hours in this village will help you to feel the local life atmosphere.
At 2 p.m. We will start small Baikal cruise by ferry to Severobaykal’sk. It takes almost 6 hours to reach north, but it is worth to do. You will pass a lot of miraculous places to where it is extremely hard to come by car or by foot.
8 p.m. — arrival to Severobaikal’sk ferry terminal and quick transfer to the hotel.
Sweet Baikal dreams.

Day 4. The Birokan village

Transfer by boat to Birokan at 9 a.m.
On the way we will visit Hakusy hot springs to take an open-air bath and relax there for 2-3 hours.Lunch on the boat.
Arrival to Birokan village. Dinner. Cosy time next to the fireplace.

Day 5. Into the wild of North Baikal Lake

Hiking to the summit of Chumurun mountain (980 m) with experienced local guide.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, Frolikha lake

Day 6. Into the wild of North Baikal Lake. Frolikha

Great one-day trip to Frolikha lake. We will start in the early morning — at 7 a.m. Fast boat will deliver us to Ayaya Bay from where there is a 8 km pathway to Frolikha which is famous for its untouched beauty.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, Turaly sands

Day 7. Turaly sands

Small trip by boat to Turaly Bay. We can listen to the sound of «singing sands». It is optional to try fishing in the cristal clean water of Shirildy river.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, siberian hunter lodge

Day 8. Into the wild Siberian Taiga forest

Treking to a hunters winter lodge in taiga forest.

Into the wild North of Baikal Lake, Trans-siberian railway and Baikal-Amur- railway

Day 9. Hakusy hot springs and train trip

Transfer to Severobaikal’sk with SPA-break in Hakusy hot springs.
5 p.m. Train to Irkutsk departure.
You will feel this lovely Transsiberial train atmosphere with hot tea and magnificient scenery in the window. I counted a perfect duration of a train trip — it is up to 24 hours. So we will have 14 and all this time our way will be in taiga along the lake down south back to Irkutsk.

Days 10-11. Irkutsk. Back home

7 a.m. Arrival to Irkutsk.

Organization information:

• Time for the tour: from June to August (summertime in Russia)
• The starting and finish point: city of Irkutsk, Russia
• Duration: 11 days
• Number of participants: 6-8 people
• Price per person: about 900-1200$ (for more details email us)

Journey partners:

For mass media: For mass media: if you want to publish a well-written story and beautiful pictures about the journey, just contact us.

The organization fee includes:

• the work of the managers and guides,
• all transfers (vans, speed-boats, train),
• all accomodations (hotels, houses, lodges),
• all excursions: Khoboy Cape, Shamanka Rock, Buryat traditional village, Frolikha lake, Turaly Bay, Chumurun hiking, trekking to hunter’s lodge,
• travel meals: lunch in the restaurant in Irkutsk at the first day, 2 meals/day on Olhon island(breakfast+dinner), 3 meals/day in Birokan,
• Russian sauna in Birokan (2 times),
• personal invitation for Russian visa.

The organization fee does not include:

• Flight (rail transportation)
• ticket to Hakusy hot springs: 400 rubles/two times(200 rubles per person),
• meals in the train.

Wishes to participants

An inquisitive mind and kind temper, as well as the readiness to partial lack of personal comfort are strongly required.

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I want to go to this journey!

What should I do next?

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Rodion, Expedition Leader & Travel Consultant

— or just call or text me at any time!

skype: rodionzhitin, WhatsApp: +79137688731

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