Olkhon: discovering the largest island on Lake Baikal

The Baikal lake is the deepest and oldest lake in the world. Positioned in southern Siberia, the lake contains the biggest quantity of fresh water in the world.

Baikal is included in the list of 7 Wonders of Russia, 7 Wonders of the Underwater World and in the Top clearest lakes worldwide.

There are 27 islands on Baikal - the largest one is Olkhon: 71 km long and 21 km wide. The island can be reached by a ferry-boat that runs regularly and is free of charge.

Olkhon is populated by about 1500 people organised in several villages. The largest village is called Khuzhir.

The Buryats are the indigenous people of the island. Descendents from Mongols, they practice Shamanism, which is a form of Buddhism. There are many legends and sacred places attributed to Olkhon.

According to local people, is bad luck to take something from the island when leaving it. After a while, even your personal stuff becomes the island's property.

On Olkhon there are several sacred places where people bind coloured ribbons to tree branches, leave money and cigarettes. I didn't understand yet the significance of such rituals but I noticed local people go there at the end of the day and collect all the money left by tourists.

Shamanka's Rock (Burkhan's Cape) is the most popular area on the island. An ancient legend says a master's spirit lives in the cave within the Rock.

There are totems in several locations. These sculptures represent the spirit of animals important in the local culture.

The island is quite a touristic place during summer, which is why tourism became on of the main sectors that brings money to locals. Most of them, if not all, offer various services to foreigners: accommodation, trips, food, selling and renting yurts, renting bikes and other means of transportation, etc.

The are no paved roads on the island. All the roads are either very sandy, or full of gravel. A car ride on the island is kind of a extreme sports.

All the locals drive the same car model. Probably it is the most comfortable and most adapted to the conditions here.

All the houses are built of wood, ornamented with facades carved in traditional russian style.

The soil here is very sandy, hence infertile and not suitable at all for agriculture.

In the area grow only coniferous trees and among them we have only observed two species of flowers. On the field, I noticed also marigolds and dandelions, which are very small compared to those from my country (probably due to lack of water and heat).

 

The village where we stayed is expanding - they build more and more houses here, while the other villages are slowly being abandoned.

Lots of unleashed dogs walk all around the village. They approached us every time we left our wood house and, at first, I feared them. After a few days, I understood they were just looking for food and are quite friendly. 

Although it was end of May, the weather was very cold and we even had the chance to be hit by a snow wave.

It was definitely the best place to visit during this trans-siberian trip and an unforgettable experience. Hope to go back one day.