Olkhon Island Lake Baikal

After the tired start to the day we were picked up by our tour guide Julia- a v large Russian blonde who speaks impeccable English.
Off we go to Lake Baikal via the cash and carry for Vodka and some water- the vodka turns out to be spiritual offerings at the many shamanistic”temples” along the road.
At 12pm we stopped for a traditional Buryat lunch - K was in heaven- deep fried meat, meat dumplings and soup filled with meat!
The terrain changed from steppe like flatlands to hilly terrain and then to beautiful grassy steppeland the further up lake Baikal’s west coast we went.
About half way up we boarded the car ferry for the 15 min trip to Olkhon Island.
It was then a 60 min off road drive to Khuzir village where we are staying.
We passed yaks, herds of cows, herds of wild horses and the most stunning scenery which was v like central Otago/Scotland in places.
Tonight we r off to see “sunset” at Shamanistic Rock despite the bank of thick fog!!
Tmrw it’s a 4 wheeled lada drive to the north of the island before bouncing all the way back to Irkutsk.Read more