Winter Baikal

• Arrival in Irkutsk. Transfer to the 5* hotel History. Check-in.
• Breakfast at the hotel.

Today we will visit the Taltsy open-air ethnographic museum. Unique monuments reflecting the history and culture of Russians, Buryats, Evenks and Tofalars living on this land. On the territory of the museum, you can see peasant houses and homesteads of wealthy villagers, a tavern, a parochial school, a parish board, blacksmith and pottery workshops, a cascade of watermills on the bank of a mountain stream and a watchtower, once guarding a medieval fortress. All the buildings have been preserved since the end of the XVIII century.

Departure for the excursion program:

• Excursion to the Taltsy museum (3 hours).
• Lunch at the restaurant.

• Visit to the Limnological Museum (Baikal museum) in Listvyanka village (approx. 2 hours).
• Dinner at the hotel.

Irkutsk is a beautiful Siberian city, founded in the 17^th century on the banks of the Angara River. Thanks to its good location at the crossroads of trade routes that connect Europe and Asia, Irkutsk quickly became the key city in Eastern Siberia. The Great Tea Road, which carried furs to China and tea, silk, and sugar back, used to pass here. When the "gold rush" began in Siberia, Irkutsk bore the title of a gold mining capital - ingots of gold and gold sand flocked here for sale.

Nowadays, you can see the greatness and wealth of that merchant Irkutsk, while walking along the embankments, squares and streets of this city. During your city tour, you will walk along the Lower embankment to the Moscow Gate, walk down the streets of Irkutsk Merchant Suburb.

• Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out from the hotel with luggage.
• Irkutsk bus sightseeing tour (2 hours).
• Lunch in the Zolotaya Orda (Golden Horde) ethno complex with an entertainment program.

• Bus transfer to the Bayar recreation centre. Check-in.
• Dinner at the recreation centre.

The whole day will be dedicated to the sights of the Maloye More (the Small Sea). Local nature is no less impressive and fascinating – your photo hunt will be really successful!

There is a small, uninhabited island in Baikal in the Maloye More (the Small Sea) Strait, and it is called Ogoy. The word "Ogoy" comes from the Buryat word, which means "waterless". The length of the island is 2,9 km, and the width is 0,6 km. It is the largest island in the strait between Olkhon Island and the mainland. About a hundred herring gulls nest on the Ogoy Island. There is also an endemic species of vole – the Olkhon vole. The local relict grasses are included in the Red Book. The island has never been inhabited by people, and this has helped preserve unique species of wildlife.

In 2005, a Buddhist stupa or Stupa of Enlightenment was erected on the highest point of the island. The snow-white, three-story structure with a dome and spire became a new symbol of the island. The shape of the island resembles the outlines of a dancing Dakini, where the head and body are clearly visible, and in the heart area of the goddess is a stupa. The Enlightenment Stupa is the main of the eight types of stupas in Buddhism because it symbolizes the main goal of Buddhism: enlightenment.

• Breakfast at the recreation centre.

Departure for the excursion program:

• Hovercraft transfer to the Ogoy Island.
• Walking tour around the Ogoy Island, visit to the Stupa of Enlightenment.
• Hovercraft transfer to the Cape Burhan.

One of the most mysterious and popular places on Lake Baikal is the Cape Burhan (also known as the Shaman Rock).

The name "Burhan" appeared at the end of the 17th century after Tibetan Buddhism came to the Baikal region. The Buryat Buddhists began to call the main deity of Lake Baikal by the word "Burhan". The cape is made of crystalline limestone with veins of quartz, and the adjacent shore is made of granite rock. The rock is covered with bright red lichens. The height of the near shore part of the rock is 30 meters, the height of the far part is 42 meters.

• Visit to the Shaman Rock.
• Lunch at the Port Olkhon Café.
• Hovercraft transfer to the recreation centre.
• Free time*.
• Dinner at the recreation centre.

*Russian sauna service or ice-skating (extra charge).

Today you will go through the bays with the most beautiful ice on the hovercraft. Here the winds opened a vast area of that magic ice with bubbles and cracks, which Baikal is famous for in winter. In this incredibly beautiful place, you will have a long photo stop. You will have a chance to walk on the Baikal ice and take beautiful pictures.

• Breakfast at the recreation centre.
• Hovercraft transfer to the Baikal Bay. Photo stop, free time, ice-skating.
• Hovercraft transfer to the recreation centre.
• Free time*.
• Dinner at the recreation centre.

Khuzhir (from the Buryat language Khuzhar — "salt marsh") is the largest and almost the only settlement on the Olkhon island. The island was once inhabited by peoples such as the Kurykans. They were of Turkic origin, led a nomadic lifestyle and had their own written language. Their civilisation lasted for several hundred years. It is still not known exactly when and where this people disappeared to.

In the village, you will have lunch in the Buryat village ethno complex. Here you will also get acquainted with Buryat customs and local cuisine.

The Olkhon Gate connects the southwestern part of the Maloye More (the Small Sea) to Lake Baikal. The shores of the strait are mostly steep and precipitous, and the coast is divided by long narrow bays and coves. The most prominent bays are located on this mainland.

• Breakfast at the recreation centre. Check-out with luggage.
• Bus transfer to Irkutsk. Check-in at the 5* hotel History.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Last day of the tour in beautiful Irkutsk. We're not saying farewell, we're saying "See you next time!”.

Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out.