Lake Baikal Photo Tour

Arrival at Irkutsk Airport where begins our Lake Baikal Photo Tour. The flights from Moscow arrive at the morning, if you arrive with another flight let us know when you book. This first day, we will take the opportunity to get to know each other and our local guides. After that, we will go directly from Irkutsk to Cape Kristovsky. There we will stay in a house of local farmers in the middle of nature.

Cape Krestovsky is located on the West Bank of Lake Baikal, on the border of the Baikal forests and the Tazheranskaya steppe. The site is far away from other tourist sites. It will allow us to begin to intrude on the nature of the region and photograph its forests.

Also, the majestic rocky cliffs are usually covered with ice sheets and without snow. An extraordinary opportunity to start taking majestic photographs of the place. As we will have time, the route this first day will full of stops before arrive to Lake Baikal.

Once we finish, in the house we can rest and take a hot bath (the house has a Russian sauna: Banya). Also, we will be able to taste typical homemade food in the region.

We will wake up soon to begin visiting Lake Baikal after having breakfast, in our transport by the bay near our house. We will be able to photograph the iconic ice lines that will offer us magnificent photographic compositions. At the same time, we will hear the sound of ice crunching under our feet at the bottom of the lake. Something similar to ethnic music for the locals.

On our first day, we will explore the Baikal till sunset.

At night, we will return to our hotel, to rest, and return to dinner typical food. After that, it will be a moment in our workshop to do night photography in the nearest ice cave.

We will return early in the morning to visit the Cabo Sagan-Zaba, which will offer us spectacular winter views of the lake. There we can observe cave paintings of the Kurykan tribes. According to the scientists are the ancestors of the native tribes of North America.

From there we will go to the cave Aya, located on the plateau of the same name in the Tazheran steppe. Aya comes from the Evenk language, indigenous people of Siberia, and that means “beautiful, incredible”. In fact, the cave Aya is the largest on the West Bank of Lake Baikal. Here we will visit several rooms called: music, cheese, snow, and marble.

After our session, we will continue advancing on Lake Baikal through the Tazheran steppe. We will stay at the hotel and have time to take a walk around Cape Uyuga and the island of Oltrek. This area each year is covered with incredible ice temples.

At night, we will explore the possibility of a shooting session in ice caves close to the shore.

After breakfast in our hotel, we will dedicate the day completely to visit the rocky grottoes of the island of Olkhon. From the southern end of Cape Mare to finish in the village of Khuzhir, passing through Shamanka Rock at Cape Burkhan. During our excursion, we will visit the ice caves. With an infinity of ice stalactites (natural sculptures) and ice floors with frozen bubbles that will offer us incredible photographs.

As every day, we will have hot drinks during our stops on our excursions. Also, will have time to visit the Buddhist steppe located on the top of the island of Ogoy. There we will have spectacular views and better understand the culture that inhabits the area. After that, we will return to the hotel for dinner and rest in the village of Khuzhir.

During the night, we will explore the possibility of another session. At Lake Baikal, you can see incredible clear night skies. Together with the ice landscapes will offer us unique pictures of Baikal.

As every day, we will have breakfast early to begin our excursion along the ice of the west coast of Khuzhir. We will arrive at the northernmost point of the island of Olkhon: Cape Khoboy (Hoboi). Translated from the Evenk language means “Fang”. This Cape is also called rock “Virgo”, as the sign of the zodiac. It is because the rock of the cape is reminiscent of a woman in a long dress.

For sunset, we will be shooting close to Uzur, at Hoboy Cape. One of the most iconic locations in Baikal where we can see the frozen ice lines. One of the main points in our workshops and tours to Baikal.

Late in the afternoon, we will arrive at the Uzura meteorological station in the middle of our Lake Baikal Photo Tour. The only settlement on the east side of the island of Olkhon close to Uzur. Here we will stay in a cozy guest house at the weather station. We can take a bath and visit another Banya to heat ourselves. While we are warming, our guides will prepare dinner with the typical Baikal fish: Omul.

Today we will wake up, even more, to prepare for the sunrise at Olkhon island. From this point, we will have the best moment of light from the mountains on the other side of the lake. After the session, we will return to breakfast to gather strength for today’s excursion.

As soon as we finish breakfast, we will walk to the Guardian of Lake Baikal. A majestic formation of old trees with twisted branches, which in winter will offer us incredible photographs of their nature. Then, we will move on the ice to the other side of the lake.

There we will visit the Svyatoy peninsula, in the Republic of Buryatia. This is the widest place in the whole lake, and it will be a true adventure to cross from one side to the other. Most of the workshops not bring you here, as they made shorter tours.

In the afternoon we will arrive at the fishing village of Kurbulik. In this village, we will stay in a guest house near the local fishermen’s houses. There we can take a hot bath in the Banya, and have dinner with the fishermen before resting in our rooms.

This day we will explore the Chivyrkuy bay of Lake Baikal, visit the nearby islands. Here we will have the unique opportunity to swim in the hot springs and mineralized outdoors.

The area will offer us the possibility of continuing to take photographs of its icy waters. But also we can make a more social picture of the fishermen in the area during the long Siberian winters. With them, we will spend the night again in the town.

Today we will leave the cozy fishing village and go to the Barguzin valley, surrounded by mountain ranges – the mountains of Barguzin and Ikat.

Here we will visit the Suvo rock complex. Ruins of an ancient Buddhist castle discovered 20 years ago, and which has become a center of Buddhist pilgrimage. We will see the current monastery, the temple dedicated to the goddess Yanzhima. Here we will have the possibility of making incredible social and architectural photographs.

In the afternoon we will reach the extreme point of the Barguzin valley. We will be located in a guesthouse on an island of the Barguzin River, at the foot of the mountains. This place is called Yhmey. Here you can also swim in the mineralized baths and, if you wish, even in a small warm lake.

Today we will return to Lake Baikal through the Barguzin Valley, driving along the lakeshore to Ulan-Ude. There we will visit the Ivolginsky Datsan, which is the center of Buddhism in Russia. Here we will photograph its architecture that will offer us some wonderful pictures to close our trip.

Also, in this area, we will find some ice broken to photograph during sunset. Close to the Buddhist temple, we will be sleeping tonight in a comfortable hotel.

We will perform our last session at dawn on the Ivolginsky Datsan before leave our hotel. After that, we will return to the hotel to pick up our bags and go to Irkutsk airport. Here, at the airport, we will finish our Baikal Lake Photo Tour in February.