211adventures reports33 shamanic curses

33 shamanic curses

The task

To organize a trip around Baikal for the company of friends.

We met with the customer in Krasnoyarsk three months before the start of the tour. The route of the trip was approved in a week, the same time was spent on the coordination of the menu and additional services. The first half of the tour route is not significantly different from the tours “Swiss President” and “Conference in the taiga”. The differences were only visit to Olkhon Island and an abnormal number of problems that arose during the preparation and conduct of the trip.  

14 days before the start

Baikal is burning

Federal media gave the information that Baikal fires and tourists leave Lake Baikal massively. This news caused some part of the group to worry, which threatened to cancel the tour. In reality there was a slight smoke, which disappeared with the first wind and rain. As a confirmation, we daily sent photos of the sky above the lake.

5 days before the start

There is no more engine

The man responsible for delivering the group to the Sobolinie Lakes called: “The engine had been torn off from the airboat. The Next month I will not be able to work with tourists”. It was less than a week to find a new airboat and conductors.

1 day before the start

Road accident

The group was from different cities: Krasnoyarsk, Kaliningrad and Tallinn. Those who were from Krasnoyarsk decided to go to Irkutsk by car, the rest flew by plane.

At night the Krasnoyarsk people called us. They struck two wheels three hundred kilometers from Irkutsk. Due to severe damage, the nearest tire changers could not repair the wheels. In the morning we ordered a tow truck for them. In the afternoon we bought the right tires in Irkutsk.

Day 1

Arrival in Irkutsk

The first the family from Tallin arrived. We loaded their things into a minibus and sent them for breakfast to the hotel. It turned out that in the plane they lost glasses. The second group landed after an hour and a half. While getting the baggage they discovered that the lock on one of the suitcases had been opened. Nothing was stolen, but we lost two hours to file a complaint.

After lunch, the guests went for a walk around the city, accompanied by a guide. Krasnoyarsk guests reached the city only in the evening. We removed the car from the tow truck, put new tires and sent the car to the parking lot before the end of the tour. The evening was spent together in the restaurant.

Day 2

Taltsy Museum and the Circum-Baikal Railway

After breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Ethnographic Museum Taltsy. This time, in addition to the excursion program and tea in the estate, we added a masterclass. Pottery for men, painting matryoshkas for women.

When we arrived, it turned out that the administrator of the museum mixed up the schedule of masterclasses. The first forty minutes our guests had to paint matryoshkas in the company of ten Chinese people.

After the masterclass, the guests had dinner at the estate, climbed to the Kamen Cherskogo Observation Platform and visited the show with a trained seal. After that, we went by boat along the Circum-Baikal Railway to the Recreation Center of Russian Railways. In the evening they steamed in the banya, bathed in Lake Baikal and had dinner in the fireplace room.

Day 3

Sobolinie Lakes

At 7:00 the group boarded a boat and two hours later they were delivered to the Village of Vydrino. The new airboat that we delivered from Irkutsk instead of the damaged one was more powerful. It allowed to reduce a time for delivery and to increase walk.

At 9:15 we divided the guests into two parts and began to throw up the river. While the groups were waiting for each other, we gave them tea with pancakes and homemade jam. By 11:00 the whole group was delivered to the start of the campaign.

Until that moment, we already went eleven times with tourists to the Sobolinie Lakes and noticed an interesting fact. People, feeling a responsibility to other participants in the campaign, are determined to reach the end. Even if their physical training does not allow this. This time we intentionally did not set a goal to get to the Sobolinie Lakes. The only setting was to go back an hour before dark. As a result, the trip was calmer, the guests were not in a hurry, they photographed and communicated more.

For a picnic, we chose a place on the bank of the river, where they could swim, sunbathe and fish. While the guests were resting, the guides cooked lunch. In the evening, guests were taken to the hotel. For dinner chefs cooked pilaf and learn how to drink homemade samogon.

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

Day 4

Mountain Mamai and Biosphere Reserve

After breakfast, the group was divided into three SUVs and went to storm Mount Mamai. Previously, we rented on Mamai winter house, which the local calls "Paphos”. Unlike other winter houses, Paphos is a two-story cottage with a shower, toilet and wireless internet. The uniqueness lies in the fact that it is located in the wild taiga. Here, guests can relax from moving, and, in case of rain, have lunch in the dining room.

On Mamai the group was met by the local caretaker — Sergey. Together with his wife, he showed the guests how the life of the taiga village was arranged, showed the winter houses and told about the peculiarities of the surrounding nature.

For lunch stewed pork with mushrooms and herbs in the cauldron was cooked. Salad with home vegetables with Adygei cheese was cut with garlic sauce. Also, cutting from spicy lard, smoked bacon and pepper basturma was made. For the tea croissants with apples and chocolate were baked.

After lunch and swimming in the mountain lake, the group went down in SUVs on the Federal highway and went to the Baikal Biosphere Reserve. Guests slowly walked along the cedar alley and suspended bridges. On the way, they collected blueberries and cranberries for tea. Dinner was organized on the territory of the reserve, in the gazebo on the river bank. In the evening we returned to the hotel.

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

Day 5

Water transition to the Maloye More

In the morning the owner of the ship called us, by which today the guests were to go on a two-day cruise. He said that his cook disappeared — he didn't answer the calls. We needed to find a new one. There was an hour left before boarding guests. We called the familiar chefs and we managed to quickly find the right person, motivating him with a double salary. At 9:30 the guests loaded things on the ship and went to Peschanaya Bay.

The weather on Lake Baikal can change several times a day. In the morning, when we saw off the ship, it was calm and clear. After lunch, a light North-West wind blew out, and storm clouds hung over the lake. By the evening the ship was already making its way through the meter waves to the place of spending the night. The crew of the ship managed to hide in the bay before the storm. To relax from the pitching, the guests together with the cook covered dinner on the beach.

Day 6

Storm

In the morning it was raining and a strong wind was blowing. According to the plan, today we had to go with the guests for a walk along the Tazheran Steppes and go down to the Cave Mechta. While the ship monotonously fought against the waves, moving in our direction, we decided to pre-check the cave. With the conductor we descended the icy stairs, knocking our helmets on the stalagmites. It was cool and damp, but in protective overalls and gloves, it is quite comfortable.

We went upstairs and received information from the captain, “The ship settles in the bay, we will stay at least three hours”. After the guide, who should lead a tour of the Tazheran Steppes called and said that his eyebrow was cut with a closing door of the SUV.

Three hours later the weather did not improve, the ship couldn't leave the bay. We contacted the captain and found out the coordinates of the place where they hid from the storm. We arrived at the place and began to assess the possibility to land guests on the shore.

Watching through the binoculars, as the ship throws on the waves, it was obvious that it would not be possible to deliver people on the boat — it could turn over. With the crew of the ship, we decided to leave the ship for an overnight stay in the bay. The guests are alive and well, having dinner on the deck.

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

Day 7

Olkhon and Ogoy Islands

Early in the morning the captain got in touch and reported that the storm had died down and the ship had left the bay. According to the program, that day we met with a shaman, visited the islands of Ogoy and Olkhon. The captain headed for the Island of Olkhon — there was already a car waiting that would take the group to the Buryat Village.

Because of the rain, the soil on Olkhon has washed away and it was hard to walk. In some places, the feet sank in the clay, and somewhere they slid like on ice. Olkhon is still poorly adapted to receive tourists if you plan to visit it, you need to be prepared for the lack of infrastructure. It is better to visit the island during one day: take a picture of the Shamanka Rock, drink strong alcohol on Cape Khoboy to soothe spirits of Baikal — locals say “poburhanit”, swim at Saraisky beach and return to the mainland.

Our guests were interested in Buddhism and shamanism. Visiting Olkhon and Ogoy was a way to get to know local customs more closely. In the evening the group left the islands and settled in the cottage on the mainland. There we organized a meeting with a shaman in a Yurt, a dinner of traditional Buryat dishes and a banya.

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

211 Company

Day 8

Chocolate factory and art gallery

In the morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we went by minibus to Irkutsk. On the way, we stopped at the Chocolate Factory Angara — tasted and bought a special cedar roasting. After that, we went to the gallery of Victor Bronstein. The guests saw a collection of paintings by Siberian artists and the work of the world — famous Buryat sculptor Dashi Namdakov. We had lunch in a wine restaurant, located in one of the halls of the gallery. The evening before the flight was devoted to a walk around the city and shopping.

Dear Vladimir and Yana!

More than a month passed, but a part of the soul remained on Baikal among unearthly beauty and remarkable people.

We are a group of friends living in different cities — Krasnoyarsk, Kaliningrad, Tallinn.

The decision to visit Baikal matured for a long time and the trip was made possible only thanks to the desire of our team to act immediately and irrevocably. For 10 days we wanted to embrace the immense and it happened.

The team was very professional. I think the enthusiastic exclamation of one of us, “We rested and went to the wrong places the whole life” — the highest praise for the organizers.

Our plans are to go with you to the winter Baikal and Altai. Continue the same way, many thanks and see you soon!

Konstantin Belov and Elena Belova, Irina Syroezhkina, the family Shvedovyh and Natalia Kundius