The year 2016 left has forced many residents of our country to pay attention to holidays within Russia, which is not surprising if we remember that in 2016 it was impossible to relax, for example, in Egypt.

But few people are considering a holiday on Lake Baikal. More familiar places of rest are the Caucasus and the Black Sea coast. However, recently there have been so many tourists in the Caucasus and the Black Sea that prices have begun to rise rapidly, which does not contribute to the choice of these two vacation spots.

Why do people not pay attention to such a beautiful work of nature as Baikal? What stops people from choosing this vacation spot?

The thing is that many tourists have some unhappy thoughts before visiting the sacred lake:

These are the myths about the Pearl of Siberia, well, let's debunk them.

Myth 1. Baikal is too far away.

Few people think that Baikal is in any case closer than Egypt, but nevertheless. If you look at the geographical map of our country, you will find that geographically Baikal is located almost in the heart of Russia. In the capital of Eastern Siberia - Irkutsk, between Vladivostok and Kaliningrad. It takes only 5 hours to fly from Moscow to Baikal. In comparison with the flight to Hurghada - the difference is one hour.

Baikal can also be reached from St. Petersburg thanks to a direct flight to Irkutsk. You can also come to Lake Baikal by train, for example, from Moscow by direct route to Irkutsk and Severobaikalsk. From St. Petersburg you can get by train only to Irkutsk. The travel time is about 4 hours.

Absolute lie. Baikal is under the protection of the UN, they wanted to include it in the list of wonders of the world, it is the capital of the ancient Kurykan people, the capital of Baikal shamanism. There are a huge number of places of power on Baikal, about which even Hindus say, "You yourself have such a place of power, why do you go to other places." Not to mention the fact that there are up to several thousand endemic living organisms on Baikal, such as golomyanka, epishura, seal, and Olkhonsky astragalus.

Myth 3. Baikal is an expensive vacation.

Holidays on Baikal are designed for different wallets. The most expensive is the flight. And on the shores of the lake you can find housing for 400-500 rubles per day. But the highest point is not limited, there are VIP places on Baikal where more than 10 thousand people stay per day.

Myth 4. There is no tourism on Baikal.

The entire territory of Baikal is protected by nature reserves and national parks. Tourism is not as developed here as in Turkey, but "wild tourism" is flourishing. This means that anyone can come and relax with a guide or on their own. Walk along dangerous routes, go into the gorges.

Every year tourism is developing more and more actively in the Baikal environs, which may not be a boon for it. After all, some tourists are very fond of leaving behind "traces" in the form of pollution.

Myth 5. There are clouds of mosquitoes on Lake Baikal, and bears also walk the streets.

There are almost no mosquitoes on Baikal - they are found only in the taiga forests of the lake. The temperature of the lake would not allow mosquito larvae to develop. And bears come to the Baikal shores when they come out of hibernation to feast on caddis flies. But they do not look into residential areas where there are a lot of people, because these predators are very smart and careful.

A more likely danger in Baikal is snakes, which are very often found in gorges, but not in residential areas.

1. How to book and buy a tour to Baikal?

First of all, pay attention to group tours (for which specific travel dates and remaining places in the group are indicated). Such tours are held regularly, they have a comfortable group size (no more than 8-9 people), logistics are worked out and the cost is optimized. The cost is final, and the tour itself will take place at any fullness.

If this format does not suit you, or there are no suitable dates, leave a request (by phone, via the feedback form or by mail [email protected] website).

Within 3 working days we will clarify the important points and offer you an individual tour program.

When you have chosen the format of the group tour that suits you or we have agreed on the final version of the individual program, we send you a booking form.

You need to fill in all the items and send to us. For our part, we will prepare an agreement that will reflect the main details of your trip, certify it with a signature and seal and send it to you for review. If there are no questions under the contract, you sign for your part and send it to us.

16. Are you included in the register of tour operators and what does this mean?

Naturally, our company is included in the Unified Federal Register of Tour Operators. Baikalika LLC, number in the unified register of tour operators RTO 020350, valid from 07/08/2018 to 06/08/2019. This means that we have the right to carry out tour operator activities on the territory of the Russian Federation and have financial security in the amount of 500 thousand rubles.

17. Do you have promotions with discounts?

Yes. You can get a discount from 5% to 13% if you become a "Favorite Traveler", that is, you come to Baikal again. Since the summer of 2012, we have launched the campaign “Your friends are friends of Baikal”. If you buy a tour from us on the recommendation of your friends who have already rested with us, we give you a 5% discount. Pleasant discounts are also provided for the little guests of Baikal.

18. Who will meet us in Irkutsk and how?

Before arrival/arrival to Irkutsk, you tell us the time of your arrival, flight number (or train number). At the airport (or railway station) you will be met by a representative of the company with a sign "Baikalika". If you arrive in Irkutsk in a different way or are already in Irkutsk, the place and time of the meeting is negotiated individually with your manager.

Solo travel is freedom. But for a trip to the deepest lake in the world to be unforgettable, it should be well planned. Especially if you eat Baikal as savages, and do not take a package tour and do not plan to live all the time in one of the tourist villages on the shores of Lake Baikal.

There are many nuances regarding the choice of a place to stay, the necessary things and routes, which we will try to talk about in this article.

Tip: to plan your trip more thoughtfully, you can study ready-made tours around Baikal, in which all the waypoints are listed (for example,) and borrow interesting ideas.

If you are going to Baikal with children, you will find it useful.

Detailed instructions on how to get by plane or train to the nearest settlements to Baikal. The further way depends on the specific place you have chosen to visit.

And, as well as (if you are traveling through Ulan-Ude), which are worth going to, and from which the journey usually begins.

The lake greatly affects the climate around due to the fact that large bodies of water at different times either absorb or give off heat. In the spring, when the ice melts, it is cool on the coast until the very end of June.

But until October, there is a beautiful warm autumn here - in July and August, Baikal was saturated with the sun and is gradually sharing it.

The winters here are mild, but the winds are constantly blowing, and the temperature is felt lower than it is.

The golden months for a trip are the tourist season on Lake Baikal - July and August (it is also warm in September, but the storm season is in full swing). At this time, you can sunbathe and swim on the lake without fear of catching a cold, the temperature is usually in the range of 20 - 30 degrees Celsius.

How to look for a deserted place

There are more and more tourists on the lake every year, so many places are crowded. Especially in places like Olkhon Island or Slyudyanka.

If anyone wants to relax alone, the way out is to take a tent, get to any tourist place, and from there make one or two hiking trips along the coast.

For example, from Maksimikha along the coast to the right, you can walk in four hours to a wonderful deserted beach and settle down there. Not far from civilization, but few people. Here you can swim in the warm Barguzinsky Bay or lie on the sand. If living in a tent is not interesting, then you can climb up from the coast and rent a room from local residents, 500-600 rubles per day.

Most wild places of Baikal- this is the taiga northeast, the vicinity of Severobaikalsk: Dzelinda, Khakusy, Lake Frolikha. Dense forests, mountains, lakes preserved from the last ice age ... Those who seek rest as an adventure go here. You can stop at the Khakusa recreation center, and from there explore the surroundings by boat.

If you get to Severobaikalsk by train, then Khakusa is easy to get to: a couple of hours on a boat, and you are there. From Irkutsk, either by plane or by regular ship, you will have to pay from 5 thousand for travel.

Main tourist places

Even a savage with a tent, sooner or later, may need civilization or want to visit the remarkable places of Baikal. We talked about the sights in detail, use it to plan your route. Below are the main points where the infrastructure is developed, where you can easily rent a house, go to a cafe or shop, find an ATM.

Where to look for housing

The tourist infrastructure on Baikal is developed - you can rent a house in virtually any settlement, prices range from 450 to 20,000 per day, depending on the level of comfort.

There are websites on the web that deal with this topic:

http://baikalov.ru/ - there you can book a room, a house, a hotel room anywhere on the Baikal coast, and a room for 300 rubles, and elite apartments for a couple of tens of thousands of rubles;
http://tvil.ru/ offers rentals not only on Baikal, but all over the world, so here you can rent a house or a cottage only in the most popular places, the cost is quite high, from 8,000 per day;
http://na-ozero.ru/, here the prices are small, from 500 rubles a day;
baikal-raduga.ru - a guest house in Maksimikha - a proven place. It accommodates only 12 people, you need to book in advance. But the rest will be wonderful - in the forest, not far from the wild beach, with a sauna. Accommodation without meals 850 rubles per day, meals 1100 (excellently prepared dishes of Buryat cuisine in a cozy dining room).

Although real savages prefer tents.

Useful online resources about Baikal for independent travelers

1. http://baikaler.ru/ - a detailed guide to Baikal.
2. http://www.magicbaikal.ru/ - virtual tour of the lake and its shores.
3. http://www.skitalets.ru , http://forum.awd.ru/ , http://www.bpclub.ru/ - these are forums for independent travelers and tourists, there is a lot of useful information for planning a trip.

What you need to take with you to Baikal

1. 1. Warm clothes set- Mandatory even in hot July and August. At any moment, a cold wind can blow from the mountains or from the lake, the temperature drops sharply at night, and drops even lower at dawn.
   2. Remedies for mosquitoes and ticks- Taiga forests mainly grow along the shores of Lake Baikal, so you need to protect yourself from blood-sucking insects.
   3. Ointment for burns should be in the first aid kit, sunburns are frequent. The first aid kit must be fully stocked - the necessary medicines are not always available even in hotels. You can read about how to collect it on any travel forum.
   4. CHI policy and tick insurance.
   5. Comfortable shoes- on Baikal, most of the routes are pedestrian, in order not to kill your legs on the first day, you need to take a pair in which you can definitely walk several kilometers in a row.

1. Cash. In many places, of course, they pay by card, but there are no ATMs in the taiga yet. If you want to go far away, take cash, and do not take large bills - there is nowhere to change.
2. If you feel sick - take medicine, you will have to travel a lot by bus or car, and to Olkhon and distant lakes - by ferry.

Things to know and remember

• Protect yourself and your companions, before the trip, do special insurance for travelers (it is issued in any major insurance company).
• Learn about everything in advance, buy tickets ahead of time, book accommodation - there are many tourists, it is even better to find a place to camp in a tent before the trip, at least an approximate one.
• Don't eat at all unfamiliar food(unless you are an extreme gourmet) and do not get carried away with Buryat cuisine - one of the main components of its mutton fat, out of habit, you can greatly upset the stomach and liver.
• Parking by the water do not do it at night - there is a tide on Baikal!

Who is still thinking about whether to go to Baikal or not, watch this informative film that tells about the nature of the lake, the geography and culture of the peoples living around:

Despite this fact, you should not neglect the precautions, since ticks do exist in all regions of Siberia. If you want to take a walk along the coastal Baikal hills or through the forest, you may encounter this unpleasant insect. But with the observance of elementary precautions, your trip will not be overshadowed by a meeting with a tick. In addition, our tours do not take place in places where the likelihood of being bitten by ticks is high. The tick is moisture-loving, does not like direct sunlight and prefers to live in shaded and humid deciduous and mixed forests with tall grass, littered with windbreak. Ticks concentrate on grass, bushes along forest paths and paths. Contrary to popular belief, ticks do not jump on humans from birch trees. The tick lies in wait for its prey by climbing up to 1 meter high grass, clings to the animal's clothing or fur and crawls up, looking for a place to bite. Most often it is found on the head, neck, shoulders. Hence the false impression is created that the ticks fell from above.

How to protect yourself from a tick bite?

Dress right!
When going to a mountainous forest area, it is preferable to wear light-colored clothing (as ticks can be seen better on it). Clothing must be with long sleeves, a hood, if there is no hood, then put on a hat or cap, collect your hair in a ponytail or pigtail. Trouser legs should be tucked into socks.
Use protective equipment (repellants)
All repellents can be divided into 3 groups:
1. Repellants that repel ticks
For example "Biban", "DEFI-Taiga", "Off! Extreme", "Gall-RET", "Gal-RET-cl", "Deta-VOKKO", "Reftamid maximum"
They are applied to clothing and exposed areas of the body in the form of circular stripes around the knees, ankles and chest. It is necessary to apply before each trip to the forest. These funds can also be used to protect against midges. You can apply not only on clothes, but also on the skin.

2. Repellents that kill ticks, for example, Taiga Reftamid, Picnic-Antiklesh, Gardeks Aerosol Extreme, Tornado-Antiklesh, Fumitoks-Antiklesh, Gardeks-Antiklesh, Permanon. These drugs are applied only to clothing. Before processing, clothes should be removed, thoroughly sprayed with a repellent, special attention should be paid to the processing of the trouser legs (it is also desirable to process the wrong side of the trouser leg to a height of 10-15 cm), trouser belt, cuffs, collar. After processing, the clothes should dry out a little, then they can be worn again. Shoes also need to be treated with repellent. A "killer" repellent is usually effective for 15 days, but damp weather can shorten its duration.

3. Combined repellents (killing and repelling ticks) their effectiveness, when used correctly, approaches 100 percent. These are aerosols "Kra-rep", "Mosquitol-antiklesch".

It is most preferable to use drugs of the second and third groups. Laboratory tests have shown that with the correct use of repellents, 95-99% of attached ticks are repelled.
Every 30 minutes it is necessary to inspect clothes, every 2-3 hours carry out a thorough check, pay special attention to the following parts of the body: neck, armpits, inguinal region, auricles - in these places the skin is especially delicate and thin, and the tick most often sticks there . If you find a tick on your clothes, you need to carefully remove it and burn it (or put it in a hermetically sealed container and destroy it when possible).
If the tick is still bitten, do not try to remove it yourself, ask your guide or the nearest emergency room for help.

Subject to elementary precautions, self-defense and hygiene, a meeting with a tick will not take place!

Tour to Baikal without ticks!

Why can one get sick with Baikal for life? How do local shamans control the weather and what does the tiny golomyanka fish taste like? Valery Sokolenko, the creator of the Baikal Fan project, spoke about this and many other things during a lecture organized in the Museon art park by the Trip Secrets project together with the Afisha-Mir publication. Lenta.ru publishes excerpts from his speech.

Sea Baikal

Never say "Lake Baikal" - the locals really don't like it. Baikal is not a lake, but a sea. Its length is 625 kilometers, the maximum depth is one kilometer 652 meters, the width is up to 65 kilometers, and the wave height reaches 15 meters. 80 percent of the flora and fauna of Lake Baikal are endemic - living creatures that are not repeated anywhere else in the world.

Baikal is 25 million years old, and scientists have proven that it is literally in its infancy. The lake expands in width and length, goes to the Tunkinskaya valley, on opposite sides of which there are mountains. On Khamar-Daban, the ancient ridge, there is a chic freeride, magnificent ski slopes. In this regard, it is an order of magnitude better than the Caucasus. In Baikalsk, located near Khamar-Daban, low prices, free lifts and excellent infrastructure. Two years ago, the only enterprise in this city that somewhat spoiled the ecology of Lake Baikal was closed - a pulp and paper mill. Although in fact it is very difficult to spoil it, because it is a self-cleaning reservoir.

There are no mosquitoes on the shore of Baikal near Listvyanka (although it is possible in the forest), because the water temperature is plus four degrees. Mosquito larvae do not live at this temperature.

The strongest wind on Lake Baikal is called sarma, as it breaks out of the Sarma Gorge. Its speed is 250-300 kilometers per hour. He demolishes everything, it is impossible to stand. Ships that do not have time to land, sarma breaks and destroys immediately. At the same time, it appears and disappears instantly, for only three to five minutes. Sarma rarely blows in winter, most often it happens in the off-season - in early autumn and spring.

On the eastern coast of Lake Baikal there are warm beaches, sory bays with a water temperature of up to plus 20. Fish are perfectly caught there: large pikes, ides, perches (there is also a sturgeon, but you can’t catch it). There are mosquitoes here, but not as many as they say, and they are not as scary.

What to watch

Most of my acquaintances, who came for three days, put a tick “I was there”, and then they write down twenty other places on Baikal where they want to visit. My grandmother, who is 75 years old, said: "I'll come, I'll look - and that's it, bury me." Now she has plans, she paints where else to go on Baikal.

I don't know other such places in Russia. Sixty kilometers one way is kayaking, swimming, fishing, jeeping in winter. Sixty kilometers to another is mountains: skiing, snowmobiling, climbing and rock climbing. Twenty kilometers in the third direction are water sports, including extreme ones. All six levels of river complexity are represented on Baikal, from standing water to waterfalls. If you want to fly, you can do it on a paraglider and on Yak-12 aircraft.

The ice on Baikal is transparent. In Moscow ponds, its thickness is 10-15 centimeters, and fish with algae under it is not visible. The thickness of the Baikal ice is from a meter to one and a half, it can withstand an excavator. But if a fish or seaweed swims under you, you will see it.

However, it should be remembered that Baikal is a living organism, and its ice walks. Today you can drive through one section - and nothing will happen, and tomorrow a dead crack will form at this place. Given the thickness of the ice and the depth of the reservoir, you are unlikely to be pulled out. Therefore, it is worth driving a car around Lake Baikal only with trusted people - “ice captains”.

There is a myth that the season on Baikal is only in summer. This is not true. Summer on Baikal is the high season - for tourists who like to warm their belly. First of all, such tourists go to the village of Listvyanka - as everyone calls it, "the tourist Mecca of Baikal." The water is cold, they don’t swim there, 10 meters from the shore the depth is already 150 meters.

Photo: Alexander Miridonov / Kommersant

You go and think: what is there to see? O! Fish market. You see an omul, you want to buy it, and the seller asks: “Where are you from?” - “From Moscow” - “350 rubles head” - “How 350 ?!” - "Well, take the tail for 350." Walk a little further from the main road, and there will be huts of local residents. They catch this fish themselves and sell it for 50 rubles.

The coolest Baikal delicacy is omul. No matter how it is cooked: smoked, and dried, and omul on horns are the highlight. It is prepared as follows: sticks are stuck on the sides of the fire, salted fish is planted on them, on which cuts are made, and fried.

In Baikal there is a golomyanka, an endemic fish so transparent that you can literally read through it. It is worth leaving it on a stone under the rays of the sun, it will disappear - only the eyes and bone formations on the fins will remain. Forty percent of the fish is fish oil, and it tastes like candy. This is not a commercial fish, it is not harvested. Golomyanka is caught only by local residents as an exception.

But the most popular endemic is still not the golomyanka, but the seal, the Baikal seal. This is a real miracle, and its pups cause special tenderness. They are born in winter, white in color to blend in with the snow and avoid being eaten by predators. On the one hand, the seal is plump (after all, it lives in cold water), on the other hand, in terms of briskness it will not yield to a torpedo. When we were kayaking, a boat overtook us, and suddenly we saw a seal overtaking the boat. For 15 years, a ban was imposed on catching this animal. But if at the time of its introduction there were about 200 thousand heads of seals, now there are more than one and a half million. It is now being removed from the Red Book and they are starting to catch it.

In early spring

Until June, the water in Baikal is very cold, you can not swim. Ice drift begins here at the end of April and ends just in time for the end of June. The world's only official journey on an ice floe is held here - not along the reservoir itself, but along the Angara River, at the beginning of the ice drift. It begins in Listvyanka, which is located at its source. An ice floe breaks off there and goes downstream for a distance of 30-40 kilometers. Nearby, of course, a hovercraft is sailing and the Ministry of Emergency Situations is watching all this.

The Angara is a non-freezing river, besides it has the largest source in the world. 336 rivers flow into Baikal, and only one flows out - the Angara. Why doesn't she freeze? Let us recall that the water temperature of Lake Baikal is plus four, and it is this temperature that makes up the course of the Angara.

I recommend coming to Baikal from early March to mid-April. At this time, a huge number of winter sports festivals are held there. You need to go to the Small Sea (near Olkhon, this is the center of Baikal) - there you will find ice jeeping, ice skating, skysurfing. Finally, you can just walk on the Baikal ice.

Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / RIA Novosti

Olkhon and Tazheran steppes

The plane does not fly directly to Lake Baikal, it flies either to Irkutsk, located 60 kilometers from the western side of the reservoir, or to Ulan-Ude, located about the same distance from the eastern coast. If you want to see the island of Olkhon, Arshan, the most beautiful Peschanaya Bay in Russia, go to the Tunka Valley and go skiing, I recommend getting through Irkutsk. If you want to swim in warm waters - go through Ulan-Ude.

If you have ever seen Martian landscapes - the Tazheran steppes, lying along the last section of the road to the Small Sea, are very similar to them. There are several caves from the Neolithic period (one and a half to two million years old). The largest cave in Russia - Okhotnichya - is located on Lake Baikal. It has not yet been fully explored, but skeletons of prehistoric animals have already been found there.

There is also Mount Yohe Yordo with a perfectly round foot, where the Mongolian-Buryat Olympic Games are held. One of the sports presented at this "Olympiad" is throwing stones, and these are not just stones, but boulders of 50-70 kilograms. The games are held every two years in mid-June.

From the Tazheran steppes, you can get to Olkhon only by ferry, which is located in the village of Sakhyurta. It is free, as this route is considered federal.

Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / RIA Novosti

In addition to the original nature, Olkhon Island is the center of Russian Buddhism and shamanism. Many people imagine shamans as dense people in strange clothes who heal from diseases. In fact, only one thing is true: they heal. These people are also among the most educated.

A real shaman lives in Olkhon (believe me, there are not so many of them in the world) - Valentin Khagdaev, we often communicate with him. He has two educations - Oxford and Moscow State University. He can control the weather with his tambourine (this may seem ridiculous, but when you see for yourself, you will understand that this is so). Khagdaev is a shaman of the fifth level out of nine possible. The fifth level is two tambourines, clothes and the ability to predict rain and read any person.

The strength of Baikal energy is such that you are charged with energy for a year. You will get sick of Baikal and will dream there again.