Baikal ice. The best

The Circum-Baikal Railway is one of the most expensive railways in the world. On average, one engineering structure is built for each hundred meters. The CBR is called the “Golden buckle of the steel belt of Russia”.

An interesting area is 84 km long, on the western coast of Lake Baikal. Here the greatest number of monuments of engineering art is concentrated: 470 bridges, 280 retaining walls and 39 tunnels. You will watch it from the water, you can make stops and land on the shore if you wish.

The territory of the center is divided into four zones. Each zone has separate procedures and entertainment. In the morning on the terrace with panoramic views of lake Baikal practice yoga and breathing exercises with an instructor will be held.

In the fireplace hall will be a tea ceremony with tasting of Siberian honey, jam from taiga berries and fir cones. Cooking of detox and vitamins cocktails. There is a separate area with Thai foot massage and manicure.

After lunch, you will get instructions how to drive the snowmobile, and then go ice fishing. If you are a beginner, the instructor will teach you how to use spinning, tell you how the bait differs from the fly and how to pull the fish. From catching fish, the chef will cook fish soup and show how to smoke omul.

In the evening, one of the best Russian bath attendants, Gennady Nikolaev, will work with you. In addition to steaming, he will prepare cosmetic compositions for face peeling, hair masks and body scrubs. Cosmetics are made on the basis of Baikal water, Siberian herbs and berries. Also, the massage therapist will work in banya.

There will be scented candles and peasant background music in the closed rooms. At the dinner we will organize wine and cheese tasting from the Baikal cheese factory.

The Baikal Biosphere Reserve is a three-hour drive from Irkutsk, in the village of Tankhoy. Its main goal is to protect cedar forests, the area of which is comparable to the territory of Mauritius. The reserve is included in the world heritage list and is protected by UNESCO.

At the reserve there is a museum of nature and ethno town with a Buryat yurt and a Russian hut. On the first floor of the visitor center there is an interactive hall dedicated to Lake Baikal and its environmental protection. In a separate building there is an exposition telling about the history of the Circum-Baikal Railway, in the street there are restored railway carriages of tsarist times. Also, there is an enclosure with Baikal sable.

There are more than a thousand species of plants in the reserve, many of them are listed in the Red Book and are found only here. Here you can meet: wild boar, roe deer, elk, sable, black kite and brown bear.

"Siberian cheesecake", which you will be served as a dessert is a cake with reserved blueberries and homemade sour cream. It is baked by one local woman. The dough is airy and the sea of berries explodes in the mouth, the taste is amazing. If you like it the hostess will be happy to share the recipe.

The room rate includes breakfast (buffet).

In the resort there are hotels, hostels, cafes, restaurants, night club, souvenir shops. In the Baikalsk City which is 2 km away there is a swimming pool, supermarkets and other city infrastructure.

Ogoy is an island, on top of which a snow-white Buddhist stupa weighing 350 tons was built. It is dedicated to the mother of all Buddhas — Troma Nagmo. ‘Stupa’ in translation from sanscrit is the top.

Stupa was built in 2005 by volunteers from Russia, Belarus, the US, England and Portugal. Construction materials were delivered by boats and helicopters, and then manually lifted to the top of the island.

Considering the severe weather of Lake Baikal, the stupa was built from reinforced concrete, which is used for the construction of dams and hydroelectric power stations. The cavity inside the stupa was filled with marble sand, and the outer walls were covered with a reflective paint. On a sunny day, a stupa can be viewed from a distance of thirty kilometers with a naked eye.

Stupa, built at an altitude of sixty meters above the level of Lake Baikal — the highest mark of the island. 

The outline of Ogoy from the air resembles a dancing girl and the stupa is set in the area of her heart. People have never lived here, so the island is considered “clean land”. The only inhabitants on the island are gophers and seagulls.

At the base of the stupa there were immured: books and handwritten manuscripts with Buddhist teachings weighing about three tones, shells and water from all the oceans, the Holy lands of Jerusalem, Jordan, Egypt, Mexico and Russia; different tools such as mows, saws and axes. As a reminder to future generations about the past wars, the builders placed aviation bombs in the base of the stupa.

According to Buddhist customs, to purify from bad energy and fulfill desires, you need to walk around the stupa. The more circles, the higher the probability that the gods will hear you. You can get to Ogoi by helicopter, boat or on the ice in winter. There is no regular transport connection with the island.

Olkhon is the largest island on Lake Baikal. Its area is 730 km², which is comparable with the area of Singapore. However, on the island there are not more than 1,500 people living and in Singapore there are five million, so people can not be found here anywhere. “Olkhon” from Buryat is wooded.

Olkhon is interesting for its wild landscapes — thousands of photographers from all over the world come here for inspiration. We recommend you to visit the island one day to go on the shaman land and take photos of the main attractions. It is best to explore the island from the water, in winter — from the ice, periodically going to the shore.

Rock Shamanka, Saray beach and sacred pillars are the most photographed objects on Lake Baikal. Shamanka is one of Nine Holy Shrines of Asia. It stands in one line of importance with Mount Kailas in Tibet, the Shaolin Monastery in China and the city of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

In the rock there is a through cave, where shamanic rituals and sacrifices were held before. At the foot of the rock there are rock paintings and inscriptions in Sanskrit. Here shamans were burned and buried. Previously, it was impossible to pass by the rock on wheels, and women had to go around it for two miles. The local people still care about this place.

Not far from the cliff there is a three kilometer Saray Beach and sacred pillars — serge. Pillars from the bottom to the top are tied with colorful ribbons. Each color means a specific wish: red — happiness, yellow — wealth, white — health.

Cape Khoboy is the Northern part of the island of Olkhon. “Hobo” from buryat means fang. If you look from the water, the rock resembles a female profile with a bust. In the area of Khoboy there are grottos, where you can go by boat in summer and in winter they turn into ice galleries. The rocks annually form piles of broken ice, hummocks and cracks.

Cape Khoboy is located near the widest place in Lake Baikal — 79 km. And the deepest place — 1642 m. From the bottom to the water's edge there are two placed on each other skyscraper Burj Khalifa.

The large mass of Baikal water makes the winter softer on the island, and the summer is cooler. Olkhon is considered one of the sunniest places in the world. There are no more than fifty cloudy days in the year. The island is connected to the mainland by ferry. In winter, there is a road on the ice.

Features are special services that can diversify the journey. Add an individual menu, a test drive of a sports car or a master class on helicopter control. Features make the rest individual.

Breakfast is included in the room rate.