Listvyanka - Olkhon Island - Khuzhir village - Burkhan cape - Shamanka rock - Khargoi cape - Kurykan fortress wall

Route: Irkutsk - Listvyanka - Olkhon Island - Khuzhir village - Burkhan cape - Shamanka rock - Khargoi cape - Kurykan fortress wall - Irkutsk
Duration: 16 h
Early morning we will leave the Irkutsk and will drive to small city near Baikal - Listvyanka where will departure by boat to largest island of Baikal - Olkhon. It offers a surprising combination of diverse and beautiful landscapes. Olkhon is ideal for wild nature lovers! In addition, Olkhon boasts a rich history. Archeological findings such as petroglyphs, sites of ancient settlements, remains of stony walls and cult holy places allow to touch the history and ancient culture of islanders. Olkhon is also a centre of Shamanism, and there are annual spiritual gatherings on the island, as well as ethno-music parties in summer. During our tour we will visit to Khuzhir village where located the sacred Cape Burkhan, which is one of the shrines of shamanism, a place of rites and worship. Here rises a rock with a through cave, where only the shaman has access, ordinary people cannot come close to the rock. It is believed that the cave is inhabited by one of the most powerful spirits - Han Hute-baabai. At the foot of the rock, a mysterious rock drawing and an inscription in Sanskrit have been preserved. Burkhan cape where in ancient times, religious sacrifices were made on Burkhan to the lord of Olkhon, Ugute-noion, who was believed to dwell in the cape's cave. The Lord of Olkhon was the fiercest and most esteemed god of Baikal.  Shamanka rock is one of the nine holy places of Asia. Shamanic cave was the most revered holy place on the lake, for which shaman people made sacrifices and vows since their first appearance. After the spread of Tibetan Buddhism among the Buryat people, this cave was revered also by Buryat Buddhists. Earlier in the cave there were organized shamanistic rituals.  Khoboy Cape is the Northern cape of Olkhon Island. In Buryat language Khoboy means ‘fang’ or ‘grinder’. A huge fang-shaped stone dominates over the cape. Approaching it from the sea, you will see a big piece of rock that looks like a figure of a woman. The locals call it ‘a Virgin’. The legend has it that a woman that asked for the same wealthy house as one of her husband was turned by Tengries to a stone. The spirits declared she would be a stone till evil and envy occurs between people. Kurykan fortress wall is 185 meters long, its height reaches 1.5-2 meters in some places. The fortress has well-remained masonry, earth bank and also half-destroyed ditch of 3.5 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. Hypothetically, such construction was build for temporary protection. However, during last time it is more believed that this construction could have been a cultural sanctuary. It is possible that stone walls and ditches protected sacral space from evil spirits, and flat stones with hollows were used as altar for human sacrifice. After we will back to Irkutsk.
Price: per person