The purpose of this voyage is to make it possible to any person of any physical condition to have an adventure usually accessible only to the trained travelers. We will make treks admiring the fantastic scenery, carrying only our water bottles and cameras. The burden of our luggage and hot lunches served in the open air will be ensured by our jeep. We will spend all the nights in warm in maximum comfort for place, often at an inhabitant’s.

Thus this adventure is accessible to any outdoor person and anyone who is ready to go on discovering and meeting something new sometimes without every convenience...

During this exceptional trip we will traverse the most beautiful places of the winter Baikal within the maximum safety limits. On foot and by jeep we will discover the ices of the Baikal in all its forms: the frozen rocks and caps, reared transparent plaques, crammed into impenetrable "toros", polished into huge rinks by the wind, and such immense fields covered by snow.

We will also visit the winter caves and their ice curtains, Ushkany islands and if we are lucky we will see nerpas, endemic fresh water seals.

During this trip you will take part in ice fishing with the natives and, of course, you will taste fresh omul, delicacy of the Baikal!

This journey is both adventurous and cultural. You will discover the shamanic practices taking part in a ritual, you will visit Buddhists Datsans in Buryatya, orthodox churches in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, you will taste the nomad’s cuisine and you will make a traditional box in bark of birch while visiting the craftsmen! Your dinners in cities will be animated by folk groups, Russian one in Irkutsk and Buryat one in Ulan-Ude. We will also have city tours of our two capitals visiting museums, city-centres, and wooden quarters.

Day 1 Morning arrival in Irkutsk. Accommodation at an inhabitant’s. Free time till midday, checking of the equipment. Lunch and city tour of Irkutsk (historical centre, wooden houses, Decembrist’s museum). Dinner and overnight home-stay.

Day 2 Morning departure to the Olkhon island. We will go to the north-east of Irkutsk through Russian and Buryat countryside. The landscape of wheat fields will change into the Siberian taiga and then the steppe. We will stop at picturesque places several times for making offerings to the spirits of the places. Lunch in a roadside cafe of Buryat cuisine. In an hour we will reach the shore of the Baikal and start crossing the frozen lake. Crossing of the strait "Olkhonskye Vorota" (Doors of Olkhon), photo pause near the cape « Kobylya Golova » (« Head of the Mare »). Arrival in Khuzhyr, the main village of the island, accommodation in the homestead with a very typical and cordial atmosphere. Going on foot to discover Burkhan rock residence of God of the Baikal! Banya in the evening (traditional Russian steam bath).

Day 3 Morning departure by jeep to the north of the island. We go along the west shore of Olkhon. Discovery of Sagan-Khushin rock and its winter caves, arrival to the Khoboy cape in the north of the island. The spectacular view all around. Magic and mythical place, feared by the Buryats. Lunch in the open air - hot food and vodka will warm us! Walking along the east shore of the island to Uzury. Overnight home-stay, simple but clean and cordial accommodation. Banya in the evening.

Day 4 The day will be devoted to visiting the surroundings of Uzury. In the morning we will go southward by jeep along the eastern shore of Olkhon to the cape Zelyeny (the Green cape). Going on foot to the cape Izhimey, optional climb of the Jyma mountain. The place is famous for its smooth and immense ice fields. Lunch by the fire. Back to Uzury in the afternoon. Banya in the evening.

Day 5 Morning departure by jeep westward: we cross the island or get around the cape Khoboy (it depends on the state of ice),then Maloye Morye (Small Sea). We go along the west shore of the Baikal. Frequent stopping and photo pauses. Lunch in the open air at the cape Ryty. Discovery of "toros" (accumulation of ice), enormous and large drawn up blocks of ice. Overnight home-stay at the cape Pokoyniki, simple and comfortable. Banya in the evening.

Day 6 Day devoted to the crossing of the Baikal on foot, from the cape Pokoyniki to the Large Ushkany island. The way about 30 km long will take all the day. This walk in a polar atmosphere is for sure one of the prettiest ones on the winter Baikal. Look at the map: on the spot you will see everything! The top of the Olkhon island, the Ushkany archipelago, the peninsula Svyatoy Nos, the crests Primorsky and Barguzinsky and the vast expanse of the lake from north to south will await for you. Be ready with your cameras: we will see the nerpas - endemic seals of the Baikal. Lunch ensured by jeep in the middle of the lake. If tired the participants can get on the car and wait for the others in warm on the Ushkany island (and explore it while waiting). Overnight home-stay at the weather station of the island. Banya.

Day 7 Deserved free day! We will devote it to discovering Ushkany archipelago in no hurry. Walk around the islands and ascent at the top of Large Ushkany (216 meters), the panorama takes one’s breath away. Overnight on the island. Banya in the evening.

Day 8 Morning departure toward the northern point of the peninsula Sviatoy Nos. Participation in ice fishing with natives. We go along the peninsula shore, enter the Chivyrkuysky gulf. Lunch in the open air near the hot water sources in the Zmeynaya bay. The water of the sources has healing power.Bathing! We go to Ust-Barguzin along the shore of Svyatoy Nos, then along the shore of the Barguzinsky gulf. Overnight home-stay in the village of fisherman of Ust-Barguzin. Good beds and banya assured.

Day 9 Departure to Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Republic of Buryatya – 240 km of road and track. Accommodation in the hotel. Lunch in the restaurant. Visit to Ivolginsky Datsan, Buddhist temples complex outside the city located on an extraordinary steppe. This Datsan, the most important building for worship in Buryatya, is the centre of Buddhism in Russia. Dinner in the city in the restaurant « Modern Nomads », traditional Mongolian cuisine. Overnight stay in the hotel.

Day 10 City tour of Ulan-Ude. Visit to ethnographic museum in the open air: architecture and Buryat, evenk, Russian and Cossack ways of life. Lunch animated by a folk group in the restaurant of traditional Buryat cuisine, you will be served under true yurts! Visit to the museum of the history of Buryatya. Dinner in the restaurant. Transfer to the railway station for the train, you will spend the night on board of famous Trans-Siberian (way 8 hours long).

Day 11 Early morning arrival in Irkutsk. Transfer to Listvanka, the village which is 70 km away from Irkutsk on the shore of Lake Baikal. Breakfast in the restaurant facing the lake. Visit to the Baikal Museum, aquarium with nerpas. Port of the village and typical saleswomen of omul. If you want tasting of smoked omul (endemic fish of the lake). Return to Irkutsk, visit to Taltsy museum which is 50 km away from Irkutsk: traditional Russian wooden architecture. Lunch in the museum, atmosphere of XIXth century. Visit to the association of craftsmen of the region in Irkutsk. You will make a box in bark of birch yourself!! Exposure of their products of craft industry which you could to acquire on the spot. Dinner prepared by these talented people! Fiesta! Overnight home-stay in Irkutsk.

Day 12 Transfer to the airport. Departure.

Three trips will be organized in winter 2008 :