Gastronomic tour to Lake Baikal

Today, after breakfast at the hotel, you will have free time to walk around Irkutsk or just relax in your room. 

At 12:00 we will meet in a pastry shop for a tea ceremony with Siberian lingonberry pie before leaving for Lake Baikal!

We are going to the village of Listvyanka, the road to which will take no more than an hour. 

At the entrance to the village, we will definitely climb the observation deck "Chersky Peak", which offers stunning views of Lake Baikal!

After the viewing room, we head to lunch at an institution that, according to the restaurant award #What is in Irkutsk, has become the best in the region!

We are waiting for unique dishes from the chef, emphasizing the Siberian identity and the strength of Lake Baikal. 

For an aperitif, we will be served roe deer tartare with prune sauce.

As the main course, we will try baked muksun with oyster mushrooms and omul caviar, and for dessert - the famous shaman stone mousse made of white chocolate with lingonberries and pine nuts. 

Of course, with wine accompaniment! 

And the panoramic view of the sacred Lake Baikal is the perfect addition to our lunch!

In the late afternoon we are going to check into one of the best Listvyanka hotels "Legend of Baikal", which is located in one of the most picturesque places - on the shore of Lake Baikal, at the source of the Angara, opposite the legendary Shaman stone! 

The combination of the purest Baikal air, the aroma of pine trees and a cozy area saturated with greenery creates a unique atmosphere of unity with nature, relaxation and tranquility.

In the morning we have breakfast at the hotel and set ourselves up for a very eventful, beautiful day!

After breakfast, we set off on an unforgettable trip around Lake Baikal on the high-speed motor ship "Comet". 

This is the fastest motor ship on Lake Baikal! 

Olkhon is the largest of the 26 islands on Lake Baikal. 

It is the geographical, historical and sacred center of the lake.

According to legend, the Buryat people originated here. 

The island is saturated with local flavor, shamanism and ancient Buryat legends. 

The road will take more than one hour, and along the way we will be waiting for the most beautiful views and amazing places of Lake Baikal! 

We arrive on the island of Olkhon and immediately go for lunch to a restaurant of Siberian-Buryat cuisine. 

We will be served traditional Buryat soup "Buchler", very hearty and rich. 

Then we will try the famous poses. 

This is a national dish popular in Buryatia, its second name is buuz. 

The poses are similar to mantas and khinkali, but it is customary to add milk to the minced meat for them, which makes the filling more juicy and tender. 

And for dessert - Siberian strudel with coniferous ice cream. 

After lunch, we check into a cozy eco-hotel on the shore of Lake Baikal. 

We settle down and have a little rest. 

Then we will walk to the Shamanka Rock and to the 13 pillars of serge, a holy place for shamans. 

Each of the serge is tied with colorful fabrics designed to convey requests to the gods. 

It is believed that serge symbolize the tree of life.

We will also walk along the eco–trail to the Sarai beach surrounded by pine trees - the most beautiful and largest in Olkhon. 

The walk will take no more than an hour and does not require much physical activity.

For dinner, we will go to the restaurant of traditional Siberian cuisine. 

We will be served one of the most popular dishes on Lake Baikal - sagudai from Baikal fish. 

For hot - tender whitefish fillet with spinach and cream sauce with pine nuts. 

The dinner will be completed with a Siberian dessert with black currants. 

While we are having dinner, a real Siberian bathhouse with cedar aroma is being heated for us! 

We warm up, swim, drink tea on Siberian herbs and relax!

Today, after breakfast, specially prepared cars will be waiting for us, in which we will travel around the island of Olkhon and look into the most interesting corners. 

We will visit the holy Buryat sites and drive to the northernmost point of the island - Cape Khoboy, along which there are numerous caves and grottoes. 

Let's stop at cape "Three Brothers", which offers one of the most beautiful views of Lake Baikal from a bird's-eye view!

We will make a stop at Cape of Love, and also see a very unusual sculpture "Keeper of Lake Baikal". 

On the walk, we will have a hot lunch cooked over a campfire - fragrant omul fish soup, juicy kupaty and hot tortillas.

The meal is accompanied by local tinctures! 

After lunch, we will have a boat trip with access to the Small Sea. 

The Small Sea is a part of Lake Baikal, conditionally separated from the Big Sea by the island of Olkhon. 

We will see Olkhon Island and other islands of the Small Sea from the water and, of course, we will make a stop on Ogoy Island. 

This is a special place with a very strong positive energy. 

There is a Buddhist Stupa of Enlightenment on Ogoe, it contains various Buddhist relics. 

Here they usually make a wish by performing the traditional rite of circumambulation of the Stupa, and, according to local residents, it will certainly come true. 

We will have the opportunity to see for ourselves! 

And on the way back to Olkhon, we will admire the Baikal sunset. 

With a glass of sparkling wine! 

For dinner, we will go to the restaurant, which in 2020 The New York Times called the best on the Baikal coast. 

The restaurant offers a panoramic view of the lake! 

We will be served Buryat soup with rich broth from farm mutton and salad with roast beef and Baikal fern. 

In Siberia, as in the Far East, the bracken is harvested, it is considered edible. 

It is salted and added to dishes.

We will also try mutton stufatto in a red wine sauce.

Enjoy and go back to relax at the hotel!

Today we have breakfast at our hotel and say goodbye to Olkhon Island: we are returning to Irkutsk! 

Our way to Irkutsk will pass through the Tazheran steppes. 

This is a unique corner of the Baikal nature with hilly and picturesque terrain, steppe grasses and an abundance of birds, which is also called the Priolkhonye. 

On the way, we will make a stop at Aya Bay. 

A short word can be translated into Russian as "good, pleasant, comfortable, beautiful". 

Most of the time, silence, windlessness and tranquility prevail in this corner of Lake Baikal. 

On the way, we will stop at the picturesque Golden Horde Ethnopark to get acquainted with the identity and cuisine of the indigenous population.

The Buryats will invite us to an excursion tasting of taiga drinks with Buryat delicacies! 

We will try moonshine on pine nuts with a snack - a mixed salad with forest pears, tarasun – Buryat milk vodka with smoked wild boar fat and sliced tender foal, berry tincture with ginger toast and tea with steppe herbs with sea buckthorn dessert. 

At lunch, we will taste khushuurs with homemade cream cheese, fragrant chowder with yak meat, bouzas and the national cherry dessert "Urme" made of farm cream with homemade chips. 

After lunch, we will take you to the airport.

Happy and full of new experiences! 

See you soon!