The weather on Olkhon Island is unpredictable, in the morning it can be pouring rain and a harsh Baikal wind called “Sarma” can blow, in such weather you will wear everything that you have brought right down to your hat.
And a few minutes after the raging elements, the scorching sun may come out, which will undress you to your bathing trunks. So, going to rest on Olkhon, you have to take summer clothes for all occasions.
If you decide to feel all the energy of this interesting place, then take an independent trip to the world of the stunning nature of Siberia!
Now let's talk about the national Buryat cuisine of the island. Olkhon is located next to Buryatia, so its own cuisine prevails here, which we have already talked about in previous articles.
The most widespread national dish is “Bukhler” - mutton soup, Bukhler's ingredients are: mutton, onions, bay leaves, parsley, black pepper.
The second dish is Buuz, which are very popular here in various cafes in the village of Khuzhir. Well, and the last “dish” of the island we will call “Baikal Omul”, recently a fish factory was closed on Olkhon Island, there were a lot of fish and fish prices were just scanty, now poaching is flourishing here. But fish can be found on a sign outside any private home.
Since the majority of the local population lives below the poverty line, only everything you need is sold in shops on Olkhon Island: water, bread, canned food, vodka and other everything you need. Prices in stores do not differ from those in Irkutsk.
Perhaps you will be interested in learning about recreation centers on the Small Sea, prices, reviews, how to get there and other useful information.
And if you still go to the island, then a selection with the prices of the best hotels and private rental housing options.
A little about Olkhon Island on Baikal
- The service is not developed here, the menu in the cafe is not very huge, so take food with you. And the places called "cafes" can be counted on one hand.
- It is better to buy fish here on the pier from an abandoned fish factory, as a rule, fresh fish caught just from the water of Lake Baikal can be found only here.
Excursions around the Baikal island of Olkhon, as a rule, are water excursions; they will pick you up at the hotel in a “loaf” (the local name for a UAZ car) and take you directly to the pleasure boat. There is nowhere without a “loaf” in this area, all the charm, chic and splendor of the expensive SUVs of visiting tourists here simply fades in comparison with this Russian car, which takes any obstacle.
- Book a hotel on Olkhon
- Find a plane ticket to Irkutsk
Prices for excursions around Olkhon Island and Baikal
- Excursion to Cape Khoboy (all day) - 900 rubles (the excursion includes lunch)
- Excursion to Shara - Nur and Tashkinei pad (all day) - 900 rubles (with lunch)
- The excursion that we recommend to you - Evening walk on a pleasure boat on the small sea - 1500 rubles,
- Another boat trip to the holy spring and Buddhist stupa on the island of Agoy (all day) - 2000 rubles (lunch included).
- Horseback riding - 500 rubles per hour.
Another excursion around Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal - Horseback riding Shara Island - Nur or Tashkinei pad, this excursion will take about 6 hours of your time and cost 1800 rubles (lunch included).
And of course, cycling excursions on Olkhon are the most common. If you don't have a bike or don't know how to choose a bike, then be sure to read our article on choosing a touring bike, here you will find all the useful information about a two-wheeled friend.
Of course, on Olkhon Island you will be offered a lot of excursions, but they are not so exciting and are not related to visiting geographic places, they forgot to mention the winter excursions that take place in the same places, but already on the ice of Lake Baikal.
For all excursions, we must take a camera to capture the beauty of the age-old nature of Lake Baikal, if you have not yet bought a camera and do not know how to choose it, then our article on choosing a camera will help you.
Olkhon attractions on the map
We have placed all the sights of Olkhon Island on the map, we think it will be more convenient to navigate in the terrain of this amazing place.
Shamanka Rock or Cape Burkhan
It is the most popular attraction of Olkhon Island and Lake Baikal. Since ancient times, this rock has been considered a sacred place for the population of the island.To stand on this rock and fill their spirit with the energy of this place, tourists come from all over the world. Shamanka has other names that you can meet very often: cape Peshcherny, cape Shamansky, cape Burkhan. After the displacement of shamanism, the time of Buddhism came and this place acquired the name of Cape Burkhan. Currently, this place is a natural and historical monument.
Cape Khoboy
Cape Khoboy translated from Buryat means a fang or molar; indeed, this rock from the side of Lake Baikal resembles a fang. It is located in the northernmost part of the island. On Cape Khoboy grows such grass as orange lichen, thyme (Bogorodskaya grass), this herb is very valuable and the local population makes tonic and medicinal products from it.
On this cape, you can often find people engaged in meditation, there are even strange signs on the rocks. But the most important sign of this cape located on the Baikal island of Olkhon is the eagle's nest, there are legends that this nest has existed for more than one thousand years and an eagle lives in it - the elder of this island.
The symbol of Cape Khoboy for tourists is a rock with a through hole; every day hundreds of photographs are taken in this rock.
Cape Khoboy is located at the widest point of Lake Baikal (80 kilometers), a huge surface of water without shores will appear to you, very rarely nature gives you the opportunity to see the other coast of Lake Baikal (the eastern coast), if you turn to the northwest, then the snow-covered Baikal ridge Cape Ryty (Khyr-Khushun), the most mysterious cape of Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal. On Cape Ryty, winds are constantly blowing and strange things happen, it is here that a lot of fishermen disappeared and even saw UFOs.
Cape Khorin-Irgi
Cape Khorin-Irgi translated from Buryat means the head of a mare or the head of a horse, which it resembles when viewed in profile. This is the westernmost cape of Olkhon Island, which is a separate rock sticking out of the water. This cape is also the most significant natural landscape phenomenon.
It was here that there were many archaeological excavations that showed the presence of people about five thousand years ago. If you look into the depths of history, it can be noted that in 1901 the ship "Potapov" was wrecked here due to strong winds, which claimed 175 human lives. A lot of archaeological excavations show that 5-3 thousand BC. tribes of peoples lived here.
You can also emphasize the beautiful scenery of nature in the winter time, ice rocks that formed during strong storms at Cape Khorin-Irgi. Such ice cliffs here reach 20 meters in height, in general, the spectacle is mesmerizing!
Cape Sagan-Khushun
This cape in translation from Buryat is called “cape three brothers”. These are three rocks, mainly of light marble, covered with a herbaceous plant called lichen, brown in color. By the way, a lichen is an indicator of clean air, you will not find this plant anywhere in the city, the age of a lichen on Olkhon Island reaches from 2 to 10 thousand years! Cape Sagan-Khushun has recently been included in the register of natural monuments.
We advise you to visit this cape at sunset, it is then that you will see the transfusion of shades of white marble in the rays of the setting sun, the spectacle is simply magnificent. If you like caves, then this cape is just such a place where there is a cave 15 meters deep. The full depth of the cave has not yet been explored, since the triangular stone that closes the passage further does not provide an opportunity to get there. By the way, ceramic fragments of dishes were found in this cave, testifying to the temporary refuge of ancient peoples.
Cape Budun
Cape Budun in translation from the Buryat language is “Tolstoy”. It got this name because of the enormous size of the rocky shores and high cliffs towering over Lake Baikal by as much as 100 meters. This cape is located in the middle part of the western coast of Olkhon Island. Jewelry treasures such as rubies and sapphires were discovered on this cape. From the vegetation, you can observe the thyme growing on the sandy beach and the rare deciduous forest, where a children's health camp is held every summer.
Cape Khorogoy and Kurykanskaya wall
Cape Khorogoy is the steppe cape of Olkhon; in summer, you can see a large number of tourists with campsites bathing in well-heated water. The shallow water depth makes it possible to warm up to a temperature of +22 degrees.
The Kurykanskaya wall, which is located at Cape Khorogoy, is a masonry without any bonding materials, about 300 meters long and up to 2 meters high. The wall was built to repel an enemy attack on horses, which simply could not overcome the Olkhon barrier.
Lake Khankhoi
This lake is also called by the name of Yelginsky Lake; Lake Khankhoy is located in the middle part of the western coast of Olkhon. This lake is rich in abundance of fish and warm heated water, which attracts fishermen here from all regions of Siberia. This lake communicates with Lake Baikal through a small shallow channel 2 meters wide and only 30 centimeters deep. The bottom of Lake Khankhoi reaches 4 meters in depth and is silty and overgrown with algae, clear water allows you to see everything that happens in the underwater world of the lake at a depth of 4 meters.
Lake Shara-Nur
Translated from Buryat means yellow lake. This lake attracts many tourists with its location in the mountains. It is located at an altitude of 150 meters from sea level, and is fenced on all sides by forests and hills, so an inexperienced person simply cannot find it. Lake Shara-Nur has gained popularity among tourists due to its healing mud of Olkhon, which is used to treat various diseases in the joints.
If you decide to swim in the water of this lake, then do not be intimidated by the red skin color acquired after swimming - these are mineral salts. Also noteworthy is the peculiar smell of this lake from the hydrogen sulfide that is part of the water. Around the lake there is a larch, pine forest, reeds, and also the already familiar thyme.
An endangered species of red duck - Ogar lives on Lake Shara-Nur, this species is already listed in the Red Book of the Irkutsk region and is decreasing every day, the number of this species is already a few.
Nyurgan lip
This type of sight is known to every tourist who has visited Olkhon Island. Nyurganskaya Guba is famous for its picturesque and sandy beaches. This Baikal beach is the largest among the entire western coast of the lake. The sand has a lilac hue, it is also called pomegranate sand, because it contains garnet crystals.
Mount Zhima
This is the highest point on the whole Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal, its height reaches 1300 meters, located on Cape Izhimei and here, just 10 kilometers to the northeast, is the deepest point of Lake Baikal equal to 1637 meters. The name of this mountain comes from the word - the owner, that is, the owner of this island. A spruce forest grows on the western slope of this landmark, its density is so high that there is simply no place for other plant species. In order to get to this mountain it takes a whole day, if you are going on an excursion to this area, be sure to take a large amount of water with you.
Ogoy Island
Translated from the Buryat language - “without water”, it is the largest island on the small sea and it is located just opposite Cape Khorgoy. At the very top of this island, a white Buddhist stupa (Stupa of Enlightenment, Conquest of Demons) was built in 2006, and earlier there was a historical architectural monument - a lighthouse, which was destroyed by the elements of the nature of Lake Baikal.
On this island, you can observe a huge number of nesting herring gulls,
species such as ground squirrels and larks occasionally appear here.
Saraisky Bay
Well, the most visited place among tourists is Saraisky Bay with its sandy beach about 3 kilometers, it is located right near the village of Khuzhir, so it is very easy to find it. The water here is warmer than in other parts of the island on Lake Baikal, so even children splash in the water all day. Of course, there are small pebbles near the water's edge, but if you go into the water about one meter deeper, you will feel the sandy bottom, which smoothly goes into the depth.
We wish you a pleasant and memorable stay on Lake Baikal, and also advise you to read about other fascinating places on the planet Earth described on our website travel-picture.ru. Well, everything has been told and shown about the sights and prices for excursions on Olkhon Island, now you only need to visit these places and see everything with your own eyes!
