Olkhon Island
Trip Start
Apr 03, 2008
1
23
26
Trip End
Jul 02, 2008
Where I stayed
Olkhon,
Siberia,
Russian Federation
Sunday, June 8, 2008
To get onto Olkhon from the shore, it is necessary to take a short ferry ride. As we were waiting for the ferry to unload so that we could get on, a van reversed off the ferry into another man (almost crushing him), and the squashed man quickly pulled a gun out of the glove compartment of his car! Luckily he restrained himself and did not shoot, but this was a scary moment...
Once on Olkhon Island we drove for about an hour on dirt roads to get to Khuzhir. Nikita's Homestead where we had booked to stay was in a beautiful location, and the place was very nice. We weren't very impressed with the service from the reception staff, as they had messed upour booking and were quite unhelpful during the rest of our stay, but we were happy with the accommodation we ended up with. For 750 Rubles each per night we got a 'twin ger' - so a ger with only 2 single beds, some furniture and a fire - it was so sweet! The price included all of our meals, and they even provided a late lunch for us when the minibus arrived at 4pm.
We stayed at Nikitas for 5 nights from Sunday 8th June until Friday 13th June, and during that time we were fed great home cooked Russian food from the canteen (or they provided packed lunches if you were going to be out over lunch). These meals consisted primarily of Omul (a local fish in the lake, a white fish related to the salmon) prepared in various ways, rice, potato, vegetables, soups and meat. The canteen was a great place to meet people, and we made many new friends there.
Washing at Nikita's could only be done by using the banya (Russian sauna) - you booked a slot in the free banya (which was booked up a couple of days in advance!) or paid for a private one. When in there you sit in the sauna, then mix cold water from a barrell with hot water from the boiler into a bucket, and throw it over yourself! I found it quite difficult with long hair to rinse shampoo out etc, but I think Ali has decided that it is her new washing methodof choice! On the first couple of days we were only able to book one 20 minute session between us, so we had to have only 10 minutes each - that was a real challenge! Maybe the locals are better at it aftermore practice!
On our first evening we headed to the beach with some beers, and skimmed stones with James, our friend that we travelled from UB with. After that we played some cards in the ger and went to bed. I suddenly realised that I had managed to leave my shoes on the bus from Irkutsk, but luckily was able to collect them the next dau when the bus arrived!
The next day we had our first breakfast at Nikita's, a very generous affair with porridge, jam, bread, eggs and pancakes! We spent the day walking around the area and sitting on the beach. We tested the water by standing in it, and it was freezing! Not surprising really since it freezes to a metre deep and had only melts in April!
We climbed around the cove to the Shaman Rocks (there is a lot of Shaman activity on Olkhon) and wrote our names in pebbles on the hillside. Later when Ali met some new people at Nikita's and said her name was Ali they responded with 'as in "Kate and Ali"'. After some confusion about how they knew of us, we found out it was because they had seen our names written on the hill! Further along the coast there was an amazing view of a huge beach that turned into a sand dune with a forest growing among it. In the afternoon Ali went on a walk along this sand dune while I had a nap for a few hours.
Access to the internet was difficult on Olkhon - there was internet at a small gift shop, but it was expensive, and gaining access depending on whether the shop owner's children were playing video games or not!!!
A couple of evenings while we were at Nikita's a concert was put on with an accordionist and two ladies singing. The first time was a little disappointing as the audience in the canteen was small, and the concert was quite short. The second time it was great - loads of people watching, the performers were in costume, and everyone was joining in when they knew the words and children were dancing!
James left on Tuesday 10th June, as he was unwell and needed to get back to Irkutsk. Ali and I got packed lunches and went off for a walk for most of the day. We walked along the sand dunes, through the forest where there were beautiful pink flowers growing, and then over grassy plains close to the lake. We ate our picnic on top of a cliff with a beautiful view and then walked further along the coast. A dog belonging to a local house tagged along with us, but it seemed sedate enough, and after a while it found some other walkers who appeared more fun I suppose!
On the way back to the ger we walked along the beach, which was really long and took ages to cross! Then we bought some vodka from the local shop, and ate some ice cream in Siberia! At dinner that evening there was a local Buryati man (an ethnic group in this area of Russia who are related to some of the Mongolian tribal people) challenging guests to arm wrestling matches. He was enormous and beat them easily, but it provided some good entertainment watching other try to beat him.
On Wednesday 11th June we went on a day long jeep tour of Olkhon Island. The driver did not speak English, but we were lucky to have on the tour an American lady who spoke fluent Russian and could translate for the rest of us. We had a great day seeing some amazing sights around the island, although the driving was very bumpy (enough to rival the Mongolian roads at times!). We stopped to see the view from the west of the island across the lake, where the mountains on the other side are thought to look like various things like faces and animals. After that we stopped at some Shamanic posts representing 4 generations of Shamans in the village, where local people leave offering of money, cigarettes and broken vodka bottles for luck. Another stop was at a village that used to be a soviet work camp. Afterwards we went to the most dramatic part of the island - the northern cliff faces that were amazing. The guide said that it is possible to see Nerpa seals here, but we didnīt unfortunately. Just before lunch we moved on to the most northerly tip at Cape Khoboy, where we spent an hour walking to the end to see the view (and build a Shamanic pyramid of stones with some money inside for luck) before heading to a spot where the driver had made a barbeque for lunch. We had barbequed Omul with sandwiches, biscuits and tea. We ate the fish in the Russian style with our fingers, which was quite messy. After lunch we drove to the eastern side of the island where it is possible to see the highest point of the mountain, next to which the deepest part of the lake is (at about one mile deep). There is a legend about the place that we went that spending time there can help fertility, and that even now older women will go there to pray for grandchildren. The last stop was at a picturesque stony beach to get close to the water, and after that we headed back to Nikitaoe.
We saw lots of smoke across the town that evening, from some kind of fire on the other side of the village. It made the scenery very mysterious, especially when storm clouds also came in across the sky later on.
On Thursday 12th June it was still horribly rainy weather after the storm of the night before. I went into the village to go to the internet cafe (set inside a small souvenir shop in a ger). I asked to use the internet and had to wait for quite a long time as the owneroe children were playing computer games! She was being very nice and gave me some tea and chocolate for free. In the end I had to go as I had agreed to meet Ali for lunch. I bought some souvenirs at the shop, and still donīt quite understand why I didnīt manage to use the internet!!!
After lunch we walked around town, tried to visit the small museum but it was closed for the public holiday. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the canteen with coffee and chocolate. It was really busy at dinner, and the concert that evening was very well attended.
On Friday 13th June we got a bus back to Irkutsk, chatting for quite a long part of the journey with a Russian couple and their young son. Back in Irkutsk it was very sunny (unlike Olkhon which had been raining), and we made our way to the hostel. That evening we went to a sushi place for dinner (not very Russian I know, but weīd had a lot of traditional Russian cuisine on Olkhon and fancied something different!). The evenings are very light in this part of the world, staying light until about 11pm - itoe nice not to have to worry about it getting dark in a city you donīt know well. On our way back to the hostel we met a group of Russian teenagers on the bus who invited us to a party! It was very nice of them but we declined and went back to go to bed.
