You may have read a lot about stunning beauty, paradise-like landscapes and breath-taking views of Olkhon Island. Also your attention must have been drawn by colourful articles published on tourist operator’s sites . And now you might be relishing every moment in the anticipation of the trip. Well, all like myself,  two weeks ago…

This summer 2007 I was there on the beaches of the Sacred Sea as an average tourist.. And now can’t but share MY unforgettable impressions, “cold turkey” as they were.

 

 

Please see pictures below. On the left – images of God’s lavishness in creating absolutely thrilling natural beauty, full of grace, dignity and purity. Waters are pristine, skies are impossibly azure, air is so fresh and clear, silence is perfect. Velvet-like green hills, noble old pine-trees, fine sand ...The landscapes take your breath away and make you forget you are on the Earth not in Heaven. Your heart is filled with gratitude to the God for His generosity (or Hers?). But then your heart sinks when you shoot a glance at evidence of human beings’ presence (on the right). See what tourism businesses show you in virtual pictures on the Web and compare with the real snapshots. Taken by my 13yo daughter Kate, whose young heart ached with pain.

 

Famous Shaman Rock	Same Rock as we saw it
Tranquil  view with a boat	...to the left from the boat
Bliss on the beach	....300m away from the bliss
the waters so pure!	the beach... not so pure

 

 

Majestic beauty of the Lake and its stunning shores contrast with the primitive ugliness of people’s creations – B&B’s for tourists, where neither care nor imagination of the hosts was involved to welcome guests. My family stayed at a place where a shocking negligence of hosts’ attitudes and services was displayed. And at outrageous prices! Improved rooms were extremely basic huts with walls covered by metal siding letting no air inside, no ventilation (windows would not open), desolated yard overgrown with wild grasses, common canteen with revolting food cooked apparently without love and diligence (my daughter would make cuter and tastier sandwiches!), flies live and dead in numbers and unsmiling cooks giving you plates with food…Brrr…And not a sign of the host for the entire stay.  

(To be fair, the toilet and shower were ok. Exception to a general rule in the most of Russia.)

Well, I may understand babushkas and dedushkas who hardly make their ends meet and thus try to get some extra from tenants. One would not expect “the service” from them, they share their modest living conditions with you for few pennies, and will be happy. And so will be you , having helped a bit. But those making business (“Russian style”) , who even bothered to print out and post advertisements describing their services in glowing terms! Could you just care a bit more? Make rooms simple but clean, beds “no-queen” but comfy, meals plain but homely.

 

Famous 24-hour Russian sauna on a beach near Shaman Rock is a great solution for big swimmers who have nothing to do but only  watch from the shore  the inviting but too cold Baikal waters. Great sensations are provided to you, definitely you should go for it! But once again, accept untidiness of the whole construction inside and outside as an inevitable evil and simply enjoy acute skin sensations after banya's hot steam followed by chilly bath in the Lake. Simply go for this , without seeking feast for your most probably aesthetically-trained eyes. 

If unpretentious beauty touches your heart as mine, go for a walk - choose your own hill to sit on the top with not a single soul for miles around, find your own bay or cape which will belong exclusively to you, get lost in taiga forest and make friends with the wildlife. :)

 

soft tints	"Peace to the World!"
almost a Turkish coast	Russian Ivan was here...
Baikal is ocean-like at times	literally FALLEN asleep....

 

Being close to the nature reviels the idea of the Creator's clever design. While you watch the clouds and tides doing their jobs, rocks diminishing in size and turning into sand pieces with time, ants and sea-gulls cleaning their territories, the concept of  divine order  inevitably comes to your mind. You want to give in, become a humble part of the eternal flow of life. As competing with the Master in his wits is useless. Your belief in this grows stronger  when you see ridiculous efforts of some of us to immitate order and rules, which are inefficient and frustrating. Cafes which are shut when you want to have a cup of hot coffee in the morning, drug stores which are unable to save you from locally caught Delhi-belly, bikes hired by  you to look around the neighbourhood must remember Chinggis Khan times,  the only restaurant where you can have lunch has no toilet but  deafening music in abundance...  Don't think about it too much, just get focused on  the impossibly beautiful sunsets ,  the Lake' s quiet evening waters  and untouched lawns in the forest . Afterall you came here for that.

 

bird's watch	on a ferry: a petrol tank with  "Flammable" sign on it and a smoking guy deep in thoughts nearby
Olkhon spirits  are powerful. Tell them your wishes...!	extremely basic interior of the sauna-on-shore
"Seagulls" cleaning company can't handle plastic....	Information center -always closed and abandoned

To sum it up: stay at babushkas'  but be prepared for poor living conditions, no running water, awful stinking toilets. Be sure you are self-supplied with toilet paper and emergency medicine. Stay at touristic bases after you have checked the room and found it acceptable but don’t order meals. Don’t eat hot-smoked or cold-smoked fish from kiosks or the locals. Eat at Buryat cafes or at Nikita’s. Don’t expect accuracy in any information, time-tables or price quotes. They are all too approximate. Note about every possibility of 1or 2 hour delays in buses and ferry arrivals and departures. Be prepared to be treated as a nuisance rather than a customer by a booking –officer, a shop-assistant, a tourist agent or a bus-driver.  Forget about the following words when on Olkhon Island: reliability, order, predictability, common sense.  One-day trip to Khoboy Cape they offer at the local information center is a must. Other trips are better to be arranged via Jack Sheremetoff.

Nikita's Homestead

B&B on the central square in Khuzir

Places arranged via Jack Sheremetoff' 

 

I wish I could be the Mayor of the Island. Or my daughter. The place needs a caring hand.  However, on a second thought, I am not sure either of us would be able to find a way with the local population. They seem to be contented enough with dirt, chaos, lack of service and no disturbing thoughts about the future.

In summer the Island is reachable by a ferry. The period of ferry navigation vary from  year to year (depending on when the passage between the mainland and the Island got clear from ice). Normally ferry runs several times daily from early May through end of September.

In winter the passage works as an ice road starting from the moment when safe thick ice is formed ( for ferry opeartion pls check with Nikita's Homestead).

From Irkutsk one has to take a bus from the Bus station (8am, 9am, etc.) .  It takes about 3-4 hours to get to the last village on shore, called MRS, where the bus is to be loaded on a ferry to cross the water connection between the mainland and the Island. If  the bus arrived in lucky hour , you are immediately onboard, if not  the next ferry is in 1 hour. When on the Island you may be demanded to pay fee at a small wooden cabin (only to be charged from the tourists staying in tents on the shore. You don't have to, if  you are going to stay at a touristic base). From that stop another hour will be spent getting to the main village on the Island - Khuzir. Here you are. This is an ideal scheme, which rarely works. Buses/mini-vans  break down, or are late, ferries can be delayed for up to 2 hours. At the worst  the whole trip may take 8-12 hours.

I have not made it in winter so Jack Sheremetoff can be of help. He arranges trips there all year round.