Lake Baikal Озеро Байкал

One of the world’s oldest geographical features (formed 25 to 30 million years ago), magnificent Lake Baikal is the highlight of Eastern Siberia. Summer travellers enjoy gobsmacking vistas across waters of the deepest blue to soaring mountain ranges on the opposite shore; rarer winter visitors marvel at its powder-white surface, frozen steel-hard and scored with ice roads. Whether they swim in it, drink its water, skirt its southern tip by train, cycle or dog sled over it in winter, or just admire it from 2000km of shoreline, most agree that Siberia doesn’t get better than this.

Banana-shaped Baikal is 636km from north to south and up to 1637m deep, making it the world’s deepest lake, containing nearly one-fifth of the planet’s unfrozen fresh water. Despite some environmental concerns, it’s pure enough to drink in most places, but use common sense. Fed by 300 rivers, it’s drained by just one, the Angara near Listvyanka.

Foreign tourists typically visit Baikal from Listvyanka via Irkutsk, but approaching via Ulan-Ude (for eastern Baikal) produces more beach fun and Severobaikalsk (on the BAM railway) is best for accessing wilderness trekking routes. Choosing well is important as there’s no round-lake road and the northern reaches are in effect cut off by land from the southern shores. Not even the Great Baikal Trail will create a complete loop as some stretches of shoreline are just too remote. Hydrofoil connections are limited to summer services in the south plus the Irkutsk–Olkhon–Nizhneangarsk run. Inexplicably, there are virtually no scheduled boat services linking the east and west shores.

THE GREAT BAIKAL TRAIL

Inspired largely by the Tahoe Rim Trail (a hiking path encircling Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada), a small band of enthusiasts began work in summer 2003 on the first section of what was grandly named the Great Baikal Trail (GBT; in Russian, Bolshaya Baikalskaya Tropa, BBT). Every summer since has seen hundreds of volunteers flock to Lake Baikal’s pebbly shores to bring the GBT organisation’s stated aim – the creation of a 2000km-long network of trails encircling the whole of Lake Baikal – closer to fruition. This lofty ambition may still be a far-off dream, but the GBT is nonetheless the first such trail system in all Russia.

These rudimentary bits of infrastructure, the GBT organisation hopes, will attract more low-impact tourists to the region, thus encouraging eco-friendly businesses to flourish and providing an alternative to industrial and mass-tourism development. Volunteers and local activists are also involved in raising awareness of environmental issues among local people, visiting schools and fundraising. Nomination as a finalist in National Geographic’s 2008 Geotourism Challenge is arguably the GBT’s greatest achievement to date and has greatly raised its profile in the world of ecotourism.

Many Baikal explorers simply enjoy trekking the 540km of trails created thus far, but every year young and old from around the world join work crews for a few enjoyable weeks of clearing pathways, cutting steps, creating markers and cobbling together footbridges. Those eager to volunteer should visit the GBT website (www.greatbaikaltrail.org) for more details.

Listvyanka Листвянка

%3952 / Pop 1970 / Time Moscow +5hr

As the closest lakeside village to Irkutsk, Listvyanka – aka the ‘Baikal Riviera’ – is the touristy spot where most travellers go to dunk their toes in Baikal’s pure waters. Having picked at omul, admired the hazy views of the Khamar Daban mountains on the opposite shore and huffed their way from one end of the village to the other, most are on a marshrutka back to Irkutsk late afternoon. But there’s more to Listvyanka: stay longer to hike the Great Baikal Trail, discover more about the lake at the Baikal Museum and chill out at one of Siberia’s most eco-friendly sleeps.

If you’re looking for beach fun, the eastern shore (Buryatiya) is the place to build sandcastles. However, what the Buryat shore doesn’t have is Listvyanka’s range of activities: from short boat trips to diving and jet-skiing in the summer and ice mountain biking to lake treks and ice sculpting in the winter.

1Sights & Activities

The village extends 4.5km from Rogatka at the mouth of the Angara to the market area. A single road skirts the shore, with three valleys running inland where most of Listvyanka’s characterful timber dwellings and accommodation options are located. There’s no public transport, which can mean some very long walks.

Sourcing a map at Irkutsk’s tourist office before you set off will save a lot of hunting.

Baikal Dog Sledding CentreDOG SLEDDING

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-983-412 2694, 8-914-940 4474; http://baikalsled.blogspot.ru; ul Kulikova 136a)

From December to March the centre offers thrilling dog sledding on forest tracks. All kinds of tours are available, from 5km tasters to multiday trans-Baikal ice expeditions costing tens of thousands of roubles. Some English spoken. Book through Baikaler in Irkutsk.

Chersky RockNATURAL FEATURE

( GOOGLE MAP )

Listvyanka’s best viewpoint, overlooking the source of the Angara, is named after Jan Czerski, a 19th-century Polish gentleman explorer. It is best accessed via the cable car of the mediocre Eastland ski resort (R300 return). To reach the resort, take a taxi or walk uphill along the road that starts near Baikal Museum.

As a young man, Czerski was exiled to Siberia for taking part in the 1863 uprising against the Russian Empire. Despite a complete lack of formal education, he grew to become one of Russia’s most celebrated geographers and explorers of Siberia.

Retro ParkGARDENS

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Kulikova 62b; R100)

This garden near the St Nicholas Church is full of wacky sculpture pieces fashioned from old Soviet-era cars and motorbikes. You can check out a few samples attached to the railings on the embankment so you know what to expect before heading there. To find the Retro Park, follow the signs on ul Kulikova.

Baikal MuseumMUSEUM

( GOOGLE MAP ; www.bm.isc.irk.ru; ul Akademicheskaya 1, Rogatka; R310, minisub R500; h9am-7pm, to 9pm 15 May-15 Sep)

One of only three museums in the world dedicated solely to a lake, this sometimes overly scientific institution examines the science of Baikal from all angles. Pass quickly by the gruesomely discoloured fish samples and seal embryos in formaldehyde to the tanks containing two frolicsome nerpa seals and the various Baikal fish that you may later encounter on restaurant menus.

Another attraction is a minisub simulator, which takes you deep down into Baikal’s nippy waters. Adjoining the building is a park containing over 400 species of plants, some rare or endangered.

St Nicholas ChurchCHURCH

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Kulikova 90)

Listvyanka’s small mid-19th-century timber church is dedicated to St Nicholas, who supposedly saved its merchant sponsor from a Baikal shipwreck.

4Sleeping

Many Irkutsk tour agents and even some hostels and hotels have their own guesthouse or homestay in Listvyanka. For turn-up-and-hope homestays, the best street to try first is ul Chapaeva.

oBelka HostelHOSTEL$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-952-626 1251; www.baikaler.com; ul Chapaeva 77a; dm/tw R600/1500; i)S

This purpose-built hostel located at the far end of ul Chapaeva provides top-notch digs for backpacker prices, leaving Listvyanka’s other flat-footed accommodation in its green wake. From the energy-saving light bulbs and basalt-foam insulation to the solar-heated water and solar-generated electricity, owner Jack Sheremetoff has crafted a low-impact haven with lots of personal touches.

Start the day with a bit of sun worship on the yoga deck and breakfast on the forest-facing chill-out area; end it with a scramble up the mini climbing wall and a scrub-down in the banya before snuggling up in a handmade timber bed (no bunks) in an en-suite dorm. Two guest kitchens, 24-hour reception and many other features you won’t find anywhere else. Booking well ahead is essential.

No fibre-optic cable laid in this part of Listvyanka, so sadly no wi-fi.

Gavan BaikalaGUESTHOUSE$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-500 620; www.gavanbaykal.com; ul Gudina 84; d/q R3000/4500)

This chalet-styled log house has a large common balcony with a distant view of the lake, and pine-scented rooms with soft mattresses and good shower cabins. Breakfast is served in the Chekhovian dining room. Conveniently located on the road leading up to the Great Baikal Trail.

Baikal ChaletGUESTHOUSE$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-914 895 1961, 3952-462 244; www.baikalcomplex.com; ul Gudina 75; tw R3200)

The 13 comfortable twin rooms in this timber guesthouse around 800m back from the lake are a good deal. Its sister guesthouse in Bolshie Koty offers similar rates and standards. Breakfast included.

DerevenkaHOTEL$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-914-877 5599; www.baikal-derevenka.ru; ul Gornaya 1; s/d from R1500/2000, tent pitch R200; W)

On a ridge behind the shore road, cute little wooden huts (named after Baikal’s winds) with stove-heaters, private toilets and hot water (but shared showers) offer Listvyanka’s most appealing semibudget choice. Behind the complex is Listvyanka’s only official camp site. Rates include breakfast.

Dream of Baikal HotelHOTEL$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-496 888; www.dreamofbaikal.ru; ul Gorkogo 105; s R3500-5500, d R3800-5600; W)

Set just an endemic species’ throw from Baikal’s lulling waves/crumbly ice, this newish, clumsily named, purpose-built hotel by the market is a step up from Listvyanka’s usual timber guesthouses. Rooms bedecked in generous drapery are packed with faux-antique furniture. The reception works 24 hours, apart from when the receptionist dozes off just after lunch.

PriboyHOTEL$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-496 725; http://hotel-priboy.ru; upper fl, ul Gorkogo 101; r from R3500)

Spitting distance from the lake in the port area, this glass-and-steel hunk of incongruity has seen renovation in recent years, rendering the four lake-view rooms some of the best deals in town. The other 15 chambers are less spectacular but rates include breakfast taken in the downstairs cafe.

Krestovaya padHOTEL$$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-496 863; www.krestovayapad.ru; ul Gornaya 14a; tw & d from R6500; W)

This stylishly upmarket complex, with very comfortable international-standard pine-clad rooms, dominates the hillside above Krestovka.

U OzeraHOTEL$$$

(У Озера GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-496 777; www.listvjanka-baikal.ru; Irkutsk Hwy km3; d R4000-5000, cottages R5500; W)

Just 10m from the shoreline, it’s not surprising that all nine rooms (doubles only) at this small hotel have wonderful lake views. Rooms are a little too intimate but have balconies where you can stretch out. The cottages sleeping two lack the views but offer more space. Located between Krestovka and Rogatka.

5Eating

Near the port, the large fish and souvenir market is the best place to buy smoked omul and is surrounded by greasy spoons offering cheap plov and shashlyk.

Café PodlemoreCAFE$

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Gorkogo 31; mains R200-300; h9am-midnight)

The Podlemore has porridge and oven-fresh pastries, but rather flummoxed serving staff. Early opening makes it a popular breakfast halt.

Listvyanka ClubRUSSIAN$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-496 739; ul Sudzilovskogo 2; mains R300-500; h10am-11pm)

This new airy lakeside place focuses on Baikal fish, with omul cooked in cedar-seed juice (Russians call it cedar milk), bringing together the two most iconic local staples. There is also an ample list of meat dishes, including a good variety of homemade pelmeni dumplings.

Proshly VekRUSSIAN$$

(Прошлый век GOOGLE MAP ; ul Lazo 1; meals R460-700; hnoon-midnight)

Listvyanka’s most characterful eatery has a nautical theme, a fish-heavy menu and Baikal views. The upper floor is filled with fascinating old junk, which you can admire while tucking into omul done any which way you please.

8Information

ATMs can be found in the Mayak and Priboy hotels.

Post Office ( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Gorkogo 49; h8am-1pm & 2-8pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat)

Tourist Office ( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-656 099; hydrofoil quay; h10am-6pm) Located at the marshrutka terminus (there are several imposters), this surprisingly useful office hands out free maps as well as providing bus, ferry and hydrofoil timetables and offering imaginative Baikal boat trips. Bike rental available.

8Getting There & Away

Hourly marshrutky (R120, luggage R50, 1¼ hours) leave for Irkutsk from outside the tourist office (where tickets are bought). The last service departs at 9pm.

From mid-May to late September, hydrofoils stop at Listvyanka between Irkutsk and Bolshie Koty three times a day.

A tiny, battered car ferry lumbers across the never-frozen Angara River mouth to Port Baikal from Rogatka four times a day mid-May to mid-October, and just twice a day in the winter months.

Contact VSRP in Irkutsk for details of all these boat services.

WORTH A TRIP

BOLSHIE KOTY

Tiny and roadless, this serene Baikal village is what the great Siberian escape is all about. But things weren’t always this quiet: in the 19th century Koty experienced a mini gold rush and boasted soap and candle factories, a glassworks, churches and a school. Today all that’s long over, leaving Irkutsk bourgeoisie to assemble their lakeside dachas in peace.

A section of the Great Baikal Trail runs between Koty and Listvyanka, and is a fabulous full- or half-day hike (around 20km). Take plenty of food (drink from the lake) as there’s none en route.

Two-day guided treks from Listvyanka to Bolshie Koty with Baikaler cost R7000 person (provided there are at least two people to form a group), including accommodation and food.

The only other way to reach Bolshie Koty (unless you hike from Listvyanka) is aboard one of the three hydrofoils a day from Irkutsk (via Listvyanka). Check VSRP for times and ticket prices. Winter ice roads briefly unite the village with the outside world.

Three minutes’ walk from the hydrofoil quay is the Lesnaya 7 Hostel ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-904-118 7275; www.lesnaya7.com; ul Lesnaya 7, Bolshiye Koty; dm R700; hsummer only; i).

Port Baikal Порт Байкал

%3952 / Pop 1960 / Time Moscow +5hr

You’d be excused for dismissing Port Baikal as a rusty semi-industrial eyesore when seen from Listvyanka across the unbridged mouth of the Angara River. But it has a melancholic appeal, with a pretty train station teleported here from somewhere in Central Europe and a port where derelict vessels are laid to rest. A kilometre southwest of the port, Baranchiki is a ramshackle ‘real’ village with lots of unkempt but authentic Siberian cottages and a couple of accommodation options. Awkward ferry connections mean that Port Baikal remains largely uncommercialised, lacking Listvyanka’s attractions but also its crowds. It’s thus popular with more meditative visitors, but the main draw is that it’s both the beginning and terminus of the Circumbaikal Railway.

4Sleeping & Eating

Apart from turbazy restaurants, a couple of poorly stocked grocery kiosks are the only other sources of sustenance.

U Starogo MayakaHOTEL$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-643 994, 3952-645 915; Port-Baikal; dm R800, d from R2200)

Not too busy with its main occupation, Port Baikal's pretty railway station is part-timing as a hotel. Clean and bland in an almost nostalgically Soviet way, the rooms on the station's 2nd floor are perfect for spending a night, if you are late for the last ferry to Listvyanka.

Fort BaikalGUESTHOUSE$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-242 415, 8-908-668 73 91; www.fortbaikal.ru; Shcholka pad; cabins per person R1200; s)

Around 2km away from Port Baikal and geared primarily for domestic tourists, this modern turbaza has summer-only rustic log houses with funky wooden fixtures, traditional wooden stoves and authentic samovars. Mountain bikes and horses available for hire. Staff can pick you up at the port, if you let them know in advance.

8Getting There & Away

The ferry to Rogatka (R62) near Listvyanka’s Baikal Museum runs five times daily between mid-June and mid-September (at 8.15am, 11.15am, 4.15pm, 6.15pm and 8.15pm), but less frequently out of season and only twice in winter. Check the schedule beforehand. From mid-June to August there are direct hydrofoils to/from Irkutsk. All services are operated by VSRP.

One or two trains a day come via the slow Circumbaikal route from Slyudyanka.

WORTH A TRIP

CIRCUMBAIKAL RAILWAY

From 1900 to 1904 the Trans-Siberian Railway tracks from Irkutsk came to an abrupt halt at Port Baikal. They continued on Lake Baikal’s far-eastern shore at Mysovaya (Babushkin), and the watery gap was plugged by ice-breaking steamships, including the Angara ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.angara.gavailer.ru; ul Marshala Zhukova 36a; R150; h10am-9pm), now restored and on view in Irkutsk. Later, the tracks were pushed south and around the lake. This Circumbaikal line required so many impressive tunnels and bridges that it earned the nickname ‘The Tsar’s Jewelled Buckle’. With the damming of the Angara River in the 1950s, the original Irkutsk–Port Baikal section was submerged and replaced with an Irkutsk–Kultuk shortcut (today’s Trans-Siberian). That left poor little Port Baikal to wither away at the dead end of a rarely used but incredibly scenic branch line. The nicely restored train station houses a new and informative exhibition ( GOOGLE MAP ; Port Baikal railway station; R30; hopens by request) about the railway. Toy-train buffs will be delighted by the vintage scaled models of main tunnels.

Riding the Railway

Excruciatingly slow train ride or a great social event? Opinions are mixed, but taking one of the four-per-week Slyudyanka–Port Baikal trains along the scenic, lake-hugging Circumbaikal Railway remains a popular tourist activity. The most picturesque sections of the route are the valley, pebble beach and headland at Polovinnaya (around halfway), and the bridge area at km149. Note that most trains from Port Baikal travel by night and so are useless for sightseeing. Another thing to remember: if you travel outside summer season, you won't be able to catch a ferry to Listvyanka when you arrive in Port Baikal, so you'll have to overnight there. In summer, the last ferry departs at 8.45pm, so you'll be all right even if your Matanya train arrives late.

The old stone tunnels, cliff cuttings and bridges are an attraction even for non-train buffs who might drive alongside sections of the route on winter ice roads from Kultuk. Hiking the entire route or just sections of the peaceful track is also popular, and walking a couple of kilometres from Port Baikal leads to some pleasant, if litter-marred, beaches. Or get off an Irkutsk–Slyudyanka elektrichka at Temnaya Pad three hours into the journey and hike down the stream valley for about an hour. You should emerge at km149 on the Circumbaikal track, from where you can continue by train to Port Baikal if you time things well.

At the time of research, Matanya trains departed from a side platform at Slyudyanka 1 station at 1.20pm on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday – check timetables carefully. An additional but more expensive tourist train direct from Irkutsk departs at 8.20am on Wednesday and Saturday, reaching Slyudyanka at 10.30am. Except in high summer season, Matanya trains arrive in Port Baikal in the evening after the last ferry for Listvyanka has departed, so organising accommodation in advance is advisable.

An expensive alternative to Matanya is the retro-train tour run by Tu-tu Baikal ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-500 849; http://tutubaikal.tilda.ws; ul Stepana Razina 26; tour with/without Baikal view seat R5000/4500). An early-20th-century steamer pulls modern comfortable carriages, departing from Irkutsk train station twice a week at 8am and reaching Port Baikal in the evening. From there, people are ferried back to Irkutsk. Make sure you pay R500 extra for a Baikal-view seat, otherwise the trip may turn into a disappointment.

Yet another, fun way of exploring the Circumbaikal Railway is by high-speed boat, which takes people from Listvyanka to Polovinnaya, where it stops for a picnic before returning. Tours run by Krugobaikalsky Ekspress ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-202 973; www.krugobaikalka.ru; bul Gagarina 68g; tours adult/child R4700/4000) include transfers to/from Irkutsk.

Olkhon Island Остров Ольхон

Pop 1670 / Time Moscow +5hr

Halfway up Lake Baikal’s western shore and reached by a short ferry journey from Sakhyurta (aka MRS), the serenely beautiful Olkhon Island is a wonderful place from which to view the lake and relax during a tour of Siberia. Considered one of five global poles of shamanic energy by the Buryat people, the 72km-long island’s ‘capital’ is the unlovely village of Khuzhir (Хужир), which has seen quite a serious tourist boom over the last few years, improbably triggered by a song about Baikal winning a TV contest in China.

1Sights

Escaping Khuzhir’s dusty, dung-splattered streets is the key to enjoying Olkhon. Every morning tours (from R900 per person) leave from Khuzhir’s guesthouses to the north and south of the island, the most popular a seven-hour bounce in a UAZ minivan to dramatic Cape Khoboy at Olkhon’s very northern tip, where Baikal seals sometimes bask.

Driver-guides cook fish soup for lunch over an open fire, but few speak any English. Between January and March, UAZ vans drive at least half the way on ice roads around the island. See the Nikita’s Homestead website (www.olkhon.info) for details of this and other excursions (boat and even airplane trips are on offer in summer). Otherwise, rent a bike and strike out on your own.

In winter, bikes with studded tyres, as well as skates, are available for hire at Nikita’s, but take all food and water with you as there’s none outside Khuzhir.

Shaman RocksLANDMARK

( GOOGLE MAP )

The unmistakable Shaman Rocks are neither huge nor spectacular, but they have become the archetypal Baikal vista found on postcards and travel-guide covers. A long strip of sandy beach lines the Maloe More (Little Sea) east of the rocks.

MuseumMUSEUM

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Pervomayskaya 24; R100; h10am-6pm)

Khuzhir’s small museum displays a random mix of stuffed animals, Soviet-era junk, local art and the personal possessions of its founder, Nikolai Revyakin, a teacher for five decades at the school next door.

4Sleeping

Khuzhir has an ever-growing range of places to stay, though the vast majority of independent travellers bunk down at Nikita’s Homestead. If all 50 rooms at Nikita’s are full, staff can arrange homestays costing around R850, with meals taken at the Homestead canteen. Booking ahead anywhere in Khuzhir is only necessary during July and August.

oNikita’s HomesteadGUESTHOUSE$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-914-895 7865; www.olkhon.info; ul Kirpichnaya 8; r incl breakfast & dinner with/without bathroom from R2200/1800; hreception 8am-11pm)

Occupying a sizeable chunk of Khuzhir, this intricately carved timber complex has grown (and continues to grow) into one of Siberia’s top traveller hang-outs. The basic rooms in myriad shapes and sizes are attractively decorated with petroglyphs and other ethnic finery and heated by wood-burning stoves – but only a select few have showers (put your name down for the banya).

The organic meals are served two times a day in the large canteen near reception and two other (paid) eateries stand behind. There’s a small cycle-hire centre and a packed schedule of excursions and activities. Note there is no alcohol for sale at Nikita's and consumption on the premises is frowned upon.

U OlgiGUESTHOUSE$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-908-661 9015; ul Lesnaya 3-1; full board per person R1300)

This well-liked option has nine rooms, three in a typical village house and six in a purpose-built, pine-fragrant building opposite. New showers and flushing toilets plus scrumptious Siberian fare cooked by Olga herself make this a winner every time. Book through Baikaler in Irkutsk.

SolnechnayaGUESTHOUSE$

(Солнечная GOOGLE MAP ; %3952-683 216; www.olkhon.com; ul Solnechnaya 14; half-board per person R1300-1600; i)

A pleasant place to stay offering a good range of activities. Accommodation is in two-storey cabins and tiny single-room shacks with verandahs. Enter from ul Solnechnaya or from near the relay station at the top of the hill.

VoskresenieGUESTHOUSE$$$

(Воскресенье GOOGLE MAP ; %8-904-117 7526; olhonsng@gmail.com; ul Pushkina 16; r R4200)

The owners, a former Soviet table-tennis champion and his polyglot wife, indulge in interior design passion, as you will immediately notice when you move into one of only four individually designed rooms that sleep up to three people. Newer ones display a significant progress in both skill and material supply.

The incredibly nice and well-informed hosts also run a cute coffee shop in the premises.

Baikal ViewRESORT$$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-983-698 9460; www.baikalview.com; ul Rossiyskaya 17; s/d incl breakfast from R9000/9850)

Looking from the outside like a research station in Antarctica, this upmarket establishment has rooms with laconic Scandinavian-style interior design featuring many light-coloured wooden surfaces. In summer there is an outdoor swimming pool. Available all year is a nice restaurant and spa that offers bath treatment in a taban-arhan wooden barrel.

8Information

There’s no ATM on the island, so you’ll need to bring enough cash to cover your stay.

8Getting There & Away

The simplest way to reach Olkhon is aboard the morning marshrutka that leaves Irkutsk’s hostels around 8.30am. Many other services run in July and August but can be impossible to track down in Irkutsk.

With a little warning, agencies or hostels can usually find you a ride in a private car to/from Irkutsk (5½ hours) for R2500 per seat, R10,000 for the whole car. Prices include the short ferry ride to/from MRS – from mid-January to March an ice road replaces the ferry. When ice is partly formed or partly melted, the island is completely cut off for motor vehicles, but there is an ad hoc minihovercraft service operated by locals.

In summer a hydrofoil service operates from Irkutsk to Olkhon, dropping passengers near the ferry terminal, from where it’s possible to hitch a paid lift into Khuzhir. See VSRP for times and prices.

Slyudyanka Слюдянка

%39544 / Pop 18,240 / Time Moscow +5hr

The lakeside railway town of Slyudyanka provides a grittier alternative to Listvyanka for those eager to get up close to Lake Baikal's waves/groaning ice and the Trans-Siberian Railway, which hugs the lake's pebbly shore either side of town. Most alight from a train at the glittering, solid-marble train station, which is a mere five-minute walk from Lake Baikal.

1Sights & Activities

A rather strenuous trail heads up Pik Cherskogo (aka Mt Chersky) along the former post road to Mongolia, which once formed a part of the Silk Route. Turbaza Pik Cherskogo ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-902-543 6795; https://vk.com/turbazapik; tent pitch/dm R150/500) provides accommodation at the top of the mountain, but book in advance.

The annual Peak Chersky race, usually held around 20 August, involves participants running either a section of or the entire 44km distance to the top. Inquire at Delight or Slyudyanka Hostel about dates and participation.

A popular picnic excursion is to Cape Shaman, an easy 4km stroll north towards Kultuk along Baikal’s gravelly shore. Owners of the Slyudyanka Hostel run guided trips there and to the former marble and mica (slyud in Russian, hence the town's name) mines southeast of the town.

Baikal Mineral MuseumMUSEUM

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Slyudyanaya 36; R300; h10am-7pm)

Geology buffs should consider heading to the privately run Baikal Mineral Museum, which claims to exhibit every mineral known to man.

East Siberian Railway MuseumMUSEUM

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Zheleznodorozhnaya 22; R100; h8am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Fri)

Amid the nearby railway repair sheds and admin buildings you'll find this fascinating little museum housed in an ornate wooden building set back from ul Zheleznodorozhnaya. There are exhibitions on the Circumbaikal Railway, the history of Slyudyanka and Lake Baikal, plus heaps of railway paraphernalia.

4Sleeping & Eating

Self-catering is your best bet in Slyudyanka, unless you are staying at Delight, where every meal is a feast.

Slyudyanka HostelHOSTEL$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %39544-53 198, 8-902-576 7344; www.hostel-s.com; ul Shkolnaya 10, apt 7; dm R600; i)

Six-bed hostel-homestay at the southern end of town providing a great opportunity to experience small-town Siberian family life. A fully equipped kitchen, heaps of outdoorsy tours and hikes and evenings of authentic Baikal hospitality await those who make the effort to find the place. It’s a 20-minute walk, five-minute marshrutka ride (No 1) or R120 taxi journey along ul Parizhskoy Komuny.

Booking ahead is pretty much essential.

DelightHOMESTAY$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-902-178 1788; rufenok@gmail.com; ul Kapotina 14; r R1800)

Trekking and cycling enthusiasts Rufina and Yevgeny run this cosy and well-equipped homestay with just two rooms and a large shared bathroom, which contains a Trans-Siberian traveller's ultimate delight – a full-sized bathtub. For a small extra fee, Rufina cooks excellent dinners as well as breakfasts that by far surpass most served in multistarred hotels.

English-speaking Yevgeny is a wealth of info on Chersky Peak and Tunka Valley hikes, Munku-Sardyk climbs and ice treks on Baikal.

SparSUPERMARKET

( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Lenina 118; h9am-10pm)

The Spar supermarket opposite the bus station is the place to stock up on enough fruit, cheese, bread and instant porridge to keep you going all the way to the Urals.

SputnikRUSSIAN$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %39544-755 77; ul Sovetskaya 46a; mains R100-120)

A little tidy cafe by the bus station serves ordinary, but well-prepared stolovaya-type food.

8Getting There & Away

Elektrichki (R70, four daily) from Irkutsk take three hours to arrive at Slyudyanka 1 station; ordinary passenger trains (platskart R850, up to eight daily) take just two hours. Slyudyanka is also the usual starting point for the Circumbaikal Railway trip. From the bus station marshrutky run to Irkutsk (R190, two hours, every 30 minutes). For Arshan, change at nearby Kultuk, reachable by local marshrutka (R36, 20 minutes).

Eastern Baikal

Backed by the snow-capped Khamar-Daban mountains in the south and providing a gateway to the dramatic Barguzin Valley in the north, the eastern coast of Baikal is no less interesting than its western, which gets the bulk of visitors. That said, it is popular with local urbanites, from both Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, so guesthouses or turbazy holiday camps can be found anywhere along the coast. There is plenty to do, from skiing or surfing in the south to birdwatching in the delta of the Selenga River and some serious hiking on Svyatoy Nos peninsula.

Selenga Delta

Some 300 waterways feed Lake Baikal, but none compare in size and volume to the Selenga River. One of only 80 rivers around the world to form a delta, the Selenga dumps its load of sand (and pollution from Mongolia) on Baikal’s eastern shore in a huge fan of islands, reed beds and shallow channels measuring 35km across. Over 200 bird species draw spotters from all over the world; motorboat trips can be arranged through Ulan-Ude agencies.

Between birdwatching sessions many bed down in the village of Posolskoe, immediately south of the delta, where the Western-standard Sofiya Hotel ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-914-638 9521; full pension R1800) shares a lakeside location right beside a beautifully renovated monastery. Posolskoe is also the venue of regular water-sports competitions, usually held in August, and ice boat races held in March. Sergei Klimov (www.facebook.com/sergey.klimov.7146) is the best person to contact, if you are interested in watching or participating.

Immediately north of the delta, a road bound for Zarechye passes several classic Baikal villages of unpainted log houses with sea-blue window shutters. The popular sandy beach at Enkhaluk fills up with Ulan-Ude residents in the hot months. Baikalskaya Solianka ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-902-565 3951, 3012-297 499; http://baikalmix.ru/; ul Lesnaya 17, Novy Enkhaluk; d/q with full board from R6000/10,000, yurts per person with full board from R1400) is a funky-looking and popular place to stay. Around 10km further on, the Zagza thermal spring ( GOOGLE MAP ; R200; h9am-9pm) provides a welcome alternative to Baikal's icy waters. A couple of kilometres beyond it, at Sukhaya, there is a good Buryat restaurant that also has rooms.

South of the Selenga

East of Slyudyanka, the Trans-Siberian Railway and the parallel motorway skirt the coast up to Selenga Delta, where they both take a sharp turn east towards Ulan-Ude. Here, the snow-peaked Khamar-Daban Mountains rise steeply from the lake shore, leaving just a narrow strip of flat alluvial plain dotted with villages, where Irkutsk residents buy holiday homes to escape the city on hot summer weekends.

There are plenty of accommodation options, all of which are primarily geared to domestic tourists. Russians rave about Ryzhaya Sova (Рыжая сова, Red Owl GOOGLE MAP ; %8-914-006 4407; https://vk.com/copper_owl; ul Mira 15, Mangutay; per person from R750) at Mangutay (19km from Slyudyanka) and Baikal Yeti ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-904-150 0000; www.baikalyeti.com; ul Beregovaya 12, Utulik; dm/s/d from R500/1200/2000) in Utulik (32km from Slyudyanka).

Further north, 6km from Utulik, the unlovely Baikalsk is home to the now-defunct Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant, which once was the lake's main polluter. However, it's swarming with visitors in winter, thanks to Sobolinaya Gora (Соболиная гора GOOGLE MAP ; www.baikalski.com) ski resort, which has been tested and approved by one avid skier, Vladimir Putin.

More adventurous skiers head to Mamay Mountain, near Vydrino, at the border of Irkutsk Region and Buryatiya. It has turned into a mecca for off-piste skiers, thanks to the efforts of Extreme Sports Federation, an informal group of adventure-sports fans led by Sergei Klimov and based in Ulan-Ude. He is the best person to contact for details on access and conditions.

North of the Selenga

Access to the coast is across a forested pass from Ulan-Ude via tiny Baturino village, with its elegantly renovated Sretenskaya Church.

After around 2½ hours’ drive, the newly paved road first meets Lake Baikal at pretty little Gremyachinsk (Гремячинск), a popular trip out of Ulan-Ude for hurried Trans-Siberian travellers with a day to spare; the village also has Baykalskaya Riviera ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-983-531 2313; http://baikalriviera.ru; ul Lesnaya 36, Gremyachinsk; summer cabins s/d incl breakfast R1800/2400, with full board R2800/4400, standard incl breakfast s/d R4200/4600, with full board R5200/6600), a fully-fledged resort that's good value for money, with simple though tastefully decorated summer-only wooden cabins and hotel-style accommodation available all year round. Buses stop at a roadside cafe from which Gremyachinsk’s sandy but litter-strewn beach is a 15-minute walk up ul Komsomolskaya. Marshrutky back to Ulan-Ude are often full so consider prebooking your return.

Approximately 5km from Gremyachinsk, at least 10 large tourist camps are strung around Lake Kotokel, whose thermal springs keep it warm year-round. At the northern end of the lake rises Monastyrsky Island, once home to an isolated hermitage and a church.

The main road offers surprisingly few Baikal views until the fishing port of Turka, from where there are pleasant walks to several secluded bays in either direction. Bigger Goryachinsk (Горячинск), around 3km from the lake, is centred on a typically institutional hot-springs kurort (spa) with cheap cottage homestays in the surrounding village.

Further north through the uninhabited taiga lies the quaint little fishing hamlet of Maksimikha (Максимиха), where picturesque Baikal beaches stretch northwest. From here the blacktop bends before zipping through the forest to Ust-Barguzin.

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

BARGUZIN & THE BARGUZIN VALLEY

The road north from Ust-Barguzin emerges from thick forests at Barguzin, a low-rise town of wooden cottages that dates back to 1648. Walking from the bus station, you can see its handful of dilapidated historic buildings in about 20 minutes by heading along ul Krasnoarmeyskaya past the cursorily renovated old church to pl Lenina. Opposite the quaint little post office, the wooden-colonnaded Former Uezdny Bank (ul Krasnoarmeyskaya 54, Barguzin) was once the grand home of Decembrist Mikhail Kyukhelbeker. Other exiles to make a home in Barguzin were Jews from Poland and European Russia who arrived here in the 1830s and 1860s. The last signs of the Jewish community can be seen in the crumbling old cemetery (a block northeast of the church), where crooked Hebrew-inscribed graves stand to the left and Orthodox headstones, including that of Decembrist Mikhail Kyukhelbeker, to the right. Hidden in the village school and difficult to access, the small museum ( GOOGLE MAP ; %8-924-391 3126; https://vk.com/muzej_barguzin; ul Kalinina 51a, Barguzin; R100) has some interesting Decembrist-related exhibits as well as the usual dusty rocks and mammoth bones.

Barguzin’s real interest is as a launch pad for visiting the stunningly beautiful Barguzin Valley as it opens out into wide lake-dotted grassland, gloriously edged by a vast Toblerone of mountain peaks. These are most accessibly viewed across the meandering river plain from Uro village. Similarly inspiring panoramas continue for miles towards the idyllic village of Suvo, overshadowed by rock towers of the Suvo Saxony (Suvinskaya Saksoniya), so-called for its similarity to rock formations on the Czech–Saxony border. A few kilometres beyond Suvo, the roadside Bukhe Shulun (Byk), a huge boulder resembling a bull’s hoof, is considered to have miraculous powers. Heading north you’ll pass through widely scattered, old-fashioned villages where horse carts and sleighs outnumber cars. Way up on the valley’s mountainous west side, Kurumkan (411km northeast of Ulan-Ude) has a small but photogenic peak-backed datsan (Buddhist temple). The valley tapers to a point 50km north of Kurumkan at Alla, where a tiny kurort (spa) can accommodate guests in the summer months.

Ust-Barguzin Усть-Баргузин

Low-rise Ust-Barguzin has sandy streets of traditional log homes with blue-and-white carved window frames. These are most attractive towards the northern end of the main street, ul Lenina, where it reaches the Barguzin River ferry. From here, views are magical towards the high-ridged peaks of the Svyatoy Nos Peninsula. Travelling in this remote area would be hard if not for the eminent Aleksander Beketov, who runs Beketov Homestay ( GOOGLE MAP ; %30131-91 574; per Bolnichny 9, Ust-Barguzin; full board per person R1550, tent pitch R100) and Banya Museum ( GOOGLE MAP ; %30131-91 574; per Bolnichny 9, Ust-Barguzin; hby appointment only).

Daily marshrutky from Ust-Barguzin to to Ulan-Ude (R430 to R510, five hours) run twice a day and will pick you up from your accommodation if you book ahead. In July and August a daily hydrofoil links Ust-Barguzin with Irkutsk and Khuzhir on Olkhon Island; check out VSRP for details. In February and March the ice drive across Lake Baikal to Severobaikalsk takes around five hours.

Buy tickets ahead for Ulan-Ude–Barguzin marshrutky (R700, seven hours, three daily) and services to Kurumkan (R900, nine hours, two daily). From Barguzin public transport to Ust-Barguzin, Uro and Kurumkan is rare, though there’s usually at least one service early morning and in the afternoon. Hitchhike or arrange a tour through the Beketovs in Ust-Barguzin.

Svyatoy Nos Peninsula

Rising almost vertically out of shimmering waters, dramatic Svyatoy Nos is one of Lake Baikal’s most impressive features. It’s within the mostly impenetrable Zabaikalsky National Park and joined to Ust-Barguzin by a muddy 20km sandbar that’s possible but painful to drive along (there’s also a toll). Guides can be hired at the national park offices ( GOOGLE MAP ; per Bolnichny 9, Ust-Barguzin) in Ust-Barguzin for all-day trek-climbs to the top of the peninsula, more than 1800m above Lake Baikal. The views from the summit are truly awe-inspiring.

Nerpa seals are particularly abundant off the peninsula’s west coast around the Ushkanny Islands, accessible by charter boat from Ust-Barguzin. Contact Aleksander Beketov at the national park headquarters. Prices begin at around R6000.

Ulan-Ude

%3012 / Pop 414,000 / Time Moscow +5hr

With its smiley Asian features, cosy city centre and fascinating Mongol-Buddhist culture, the Buryat capital is one of Eastern Siberia’s most likeable cities. Quietly busy, welcoming and, after Siberia’s Russian cities, refreshingly exotic, it’s a pleasant place to base yourself for day trips to Buddhist temples and flits to eastern Lake Baikal’s gently shelving beaches, easily reachable by bus. For some travellers UU is also a taster for what’s to come in Mongolia.

Founded as a Cossack ostrog (fort) called Udinsk (later Verkhneudinsk) in 1666, the city prospered as a major stop on the tea-caravan route from China via Troitskosavsk (now Kyakhta). Renamed Ulan-Ude in 1934, it was a closed city until the 1980s due to its secret military plants (there are still mysterious blank spaces on city maps).

UU’s small city centre is divided into two districts: the communist-era upper city centred around pl Sovetov and the Lenin Head; and the riverside former merchant quarter, half of which still serves as the commercial hub extending from the 19th-century trading rows (pl Revolutsii). Dusty streets of crooked timber dwellings make up the other half.

Ulan-Ude

1Sights

1Lenin HeadB3

2Odigitria CathedralB7

3Opera & Ballet TheatreB4

4Ulan-Ude City MuseumB5

5Ulitsa SobornayaC7

2Activities, Courses & Tours

6Baikal Naran TourC4

Denis SobnakovB2

4Sleeping

7Hotel Sagaan MorinD2

8Hotel ShumakD2

9Mergen BatorB1

10Ulan-Ude Travellers HouseB2

5Eating

11Chay KhanaD6

12Modern NomadsB3

13MyasoroobB2

14ShashlykoffB4

15Shenekhenskiye BuuzyC7

16Sputnik SupermarketC3

6Drinking & Nightlife

Bar 12B1

17BisquitB2

18ChurchillB3

19Macondo Coffee & StoreB5

7Shopping

20Central MarketC5

21DomboB3

22ZamB3

Transport

23Central Ticket OfficeB3

24Marshrutka Stop for Ethnographic Museum & Rinpoche Bagsha DatsanB3

25S7 AirlinesB2

26Selenga Bus StationA5

BURYAT CULTURE

Indigenous ethnic Buryats are a Mongol people who comprise around 30% of Buryatiya’s population, as well as 65% of the former Agin-Buryat Autonomous District southeast of Chita. Culturally there are two main Buryat groups. During the 19th century, forest-dwelling western Buryats retained their shamanic animist beliefs, while eastern Buryats from the southern steppes mostly converted to Tibetan Buddhism, maintaining a thick layer of local superstition. Although virtually every Buryat datsan was systematically destroyed during the communists’ antireligious mania in the 1930s, today Buryat Buddhism is thriving. Many datsany have been rebuilt and seminaries for training Buddhist monks now operate at Ivolga and Aginskoe.

The Buryat language is Turkic, though very different from Tuvan and Altai. Dialects vary considerably between regions but almost everyone speaks decent, if heavily accented, Russian. Mongolians claim some Buryat dialects resemble their medieval tongue.

For the predeparture lowdown, check out Buryatiya’s official English-language tourism website (www.visitburyatia.ru) and the government website (http://egov-buryatia.ru/eng/), which has English-language tourist information.

1Sights

You can take in pretty much all that matters in Ulan-Ude by walking down ul Lenina from pl Sovetov to Odigitria Cathedral. The newly pedestrianised part of the route, locally known as Arbat (after its Moscow equivalent), features a statue of Russian writer Anton Chekhov, who spent one night here and noted in his diary that Ulan-Ude is a 'pleasant little town'. He didn't elaborate any further.

Lenin HeadMONUMENT

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; pl Sovetov)

Ulan-Ude’s main square is entirely dominated by the world’s largest Lenin head that creates an ensemble with the grey constructivist government building behind it. The 7.7m-high bronze bonce was installed in 1970 to celebrate Lenin’s 100th birthday. Oddly, UU’s bird population never seems to streak Lenin’s bald scalp with their offerings – out of respect for the great man’s achievements, bark diehard communists (but perhaps due to the barely visible antibird spikes, groan the rest).

Rinpoche Bagsha DatsanBUDDHIST TEMPLE

( GOOGLE MAP ; www.yelo-rinpoche.ru; ul 1ya Dzerzhinskaya)

Roosting high above the city’s far north, the inside of this new and unexpectedly modern Tibetan temple looks like a kind of Buddhist-themed bus terminal, though the 6m-high gilt Buddha is pretty impressive. However, the real show-stealer here is the panoramic view, the smog-hazed city ringed by rumpled dust-bare peaks.

Take marshrutka 97 from outside the Hotel Baikal Plaza on pl Sovetov to the last stop (right by the temple entrance).

If you catch the monks doing their thing with drums, cymbals and chanting, the atmosphere can be electric. An extra feature is the circular walk around the temple featuring pavilions with grotesque, man-size representations of the Chinese signs of the zodiac.

Ulitsa SobornayaSTREET

(Соборная улица MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Sobornaya (Linkhovoina))

The pedestrianised street abutting Odigitria Cathedral preserves the spirit and the wooden lace architecture of the old downtown, populated by merchants and intelligentsia. Original inhabitants suffered badly from Bolshevik violence. A grim reminder of those violent times is the white stone building at the cathedral end of the street, which housed the NKVD – Stalin's secret police, responsible for torture and mass executions. You'll find a touching monument to the victims of oppression at the other end of the street.

Tragedy and comedy often walk hand in hand, as evidenced by the hilarious gilded statues on top of a house that stands right in front of the sombre monument. The house contains Lev Bardanov art gallery, the brainchild of a local businessman, and the statues depict four of his favourite local cultural figures. Locals say the collection is no less eccentric, but the gallery had still not been opened for the public, when we hung around.

Ethnographic MuseumMUSEUM

( GOOGLE MAP ; www.ethnomuseum03.ru; Verkhnyaya Berezovka; R200; h9am-5.30pm Wed-Fri, 10am-6.30pm Sat & Sun)

In a forest clearing 6km from central Ulan-Ude, this outdoor collection of local architecture plus some reconstructed burial mounds and the odd stone totem are worth the trip. The collection is divided into seven areas, each devoted to a different nationality, tribe or ethnic group. There are Hun-era standing stones, Evenki chumy, traditional Buryat yurts, timber European town houses and a whole strip of Old Believers’ homesteads, all brimming with period furniture and inhabited by costumed ‘locals’ giving craft demonstrations.

Marshrutka 37 from outside the Hotel Baikal Plaza on pl Sovetov passes within 1km and drivers are used to detouring to drop off tourists.

Opera & Ballet TheatreTHEATRE

(Бурятский государственный академический театра оперы и балета MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-213 600; www.uuopera.ru; ul Lenina 51)

UU’s striking Stalinist-era theatre reopened after lengthy renovation in 2011 (the first performance was for a group of foreign tourists from the luxury Golden Eagle train). Visitors cannot fail to be impressed by the level of craftsmanship inside, though some might be slightly surprised at the new lick of paint and rub of polish given to all the Soviet symbols, including a couple of smirking Stalins. The trademark performance is Angara – a ballet inspired by Buryat folklore and traditional music.

Ulan-Ude City MuseumMUSEUM

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.uumuseum.ru; ul Lenina 26; R60; h9am-6pm)

Occupying the merchant’s house where imperial heir Nicholas II stayed in 1891, this small but progressive museum has exhibits examining Verkhneudinsk’s role in the tea and fur trades, the huge fairs that took place at the trading arches and several other aspects of the city’s past.

Odigitria CathedralCHURCH

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Lenina 2)

Built between 1741 and 1785, UU’s largest church was also the first stone structure to appear in the city. Used as a museum store from 1929 until the fall of communism, its exterior has been renovated in a chalky white and the domes are once again tipped with gold, but the interiors are plain whitewash, awaiting their Byzantine decoration.

2Activities

Ulan-Ude has several agencies happy to sell you Buryatiya and Baikal tours. English is often spoken.

oBaikal Naran TourTOURS

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-215 097; www.baikalnaran.com; Office 105, Hotel Buryatiya, ul Kommunisticheskaya 47a)

There’s nothing director Sesegma (aka Svetlana) can’t arrange for travellers in Buryatiya. An award-winning tour company and by far the best folks to approach if you want to see the republic’s more remote corners, Old Believers' villages, the Selenga Delta, the Barguzin Valley and the region’s Buddhist and shamanist heritage.

Denis SobnakovTOURS

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %8-950-391 6325; www.burtour.com; ul Lenina 63)

English-speaking Denis and his deputy Ivan run the city’s best hostel as well as fun-packed walking tours of UU and many other Buryatiya-wide trips, including those to famous datsany, Old Believers' villages and beauty spots on Baikal. Denis has also started guiding groups along the entire Trans-Siberian route and in European Russia.

4Sleeping

oUlan-Ude Travellers HouseHOSTEL$

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %8-950-391 6325; www.uuhostel.com; ul Lenina 63, apt 18; dm R500-650; W)

So central is this high-ceilinged apartment hostel, you might even catch a glimpse of Lenin’s conk from one of the windows. The 14 beds are divided between two spacious, ethnically themed dorms (Russian and Buryat), there’s a small kitchen where a free light breakfast is laid out daily, and heaps of UU information is pasted on the walls.

There's also a washing machine for guests to use. The exceptionally friendly owner, Denis Sobnakov, is in and out of town these days, but the place runs like a well-oiled machine and his staff are just as helpful in setting up trips to Baikal and around Buryatiya.

Hotel UlanHOTEL$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-551 110; ul 50-letiya Oktyabrya 32; s/d R1400/2100)

This tiny hotel, with 10 comfortable rooms on the 1st floor of a Soviet apartment block (entrance at the back of the building), is good value for money. The location is not central, but a short tram ride from the main square. Receptionists put on funny folk costumes when they serve breakfast in your room in the morning.

Hotel ShumakHOTEL$$

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %8-902-160 8181; http://гостиницашумак.рф/; ul Revolyutsii 1905 goda 32; s/d R2000/2300)

Sleeping on a comfy bed amid a wood-dominated interior, you may very well forget it's just another apartment-block hotel in a not-so-pretty location. But being so close to both the train station and the centre makes it good value for money.

Hotel AyanHOTEL$$

(Отель Аян GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-415 141; www.ayanhotel.ru; ul Babushkina 164; s/d R850/1700; aW)

The inconvenient location 2km south of the city centre is more than recompensed by pristine international-standard rooms, some with air-conditioning. The cheapest singles are a good deal and every room has its own water heater. There’s also a tiny cafe should you get peckish from all the stair climbing you’ll do here – incredibly, this six-storey new-build has no lift.

A taxi from the train station costs around R170 or arrange a R300 private transfer with the hotel.

Mergen BatorHOTEL$$$

(Отель Мэргэн Батор MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-200 002; www.mergen-bator.ru; ul Borsoyeva 19b; tw/d R6200/7000; aW)

UU’s only 21st-century hotel is a swish pad indeed and completely on a par with any Western four-star establishment. From the trendy retro-veneered corridors to the commendably equipped fitness centre, the modern-as-tomorrow bathrooms to the impeccable service, this place is worth splashing out on. Breakfast is included and can be served in your room free of charge.

Hotel Sagaan MorinHOTEL$$$

(Отель Сагаан Морин MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-444 019; www.sagaan-morin.ru; ul Gagarina 25; s/d from R3800/4800; W)

The gleaming 17-storey, 89-room ‘White Horse’ offers spacious, crisply designed, almost understated rooms, lots of amenities and a 14th-floor restaurant (Panorama) with look-while-you-eat city vistas.

5Eating

Ul Kommunisticheskaya, ul Sverdlova and the surrounding streets are packed with (sometimes very) basic dumpling canteens. For a fascinating insight into traditional Buryat life, Baikal Naran Tour can arrange dinner in a yurt with a local family out in the suburbs of Ulan-Ude.

Sputnik SupermarketSUPERMARKET

(Супермаркет Спутник MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Kommunisticheskaya 48; h24hr)

A convenient but pricey supermarket stocking foreign groceries.

Shenekhenskiye BuuzyBURYAT$

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %8-902-565 2862; www.vk.com/shenexen; ul Sverdlova 20; mains R120-200; h8.30am-8pm)

This heritage wooden izba painted in a rather psychedelic shade of green is a local institution run by Buryats who have been returning from Chinese exile in recent decades. They are widely considered as keepers of the buuzy golden standard. Order at the counter telling how many dumplings you want. Korean fern salad is our preferred side dish.

ShashlykoffGRILL$

(Шашлыкофф MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-222 288; http://shashlikoff.com; ul Lenina 52; mains R200-250; h10am-3am)

A nationwide chain run by a national culinary show celebrity, Shashlykoff wins the battle for the hearts and stomachs of young Buryatians with the simple barbecue+beer formula, with homemade brew going as cheap as R73 per pint. The place is always heaving and getting a table can be challenging at dinner time.

MyasoroobBURGERS$

(Мясоруб MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %8-983-438 5386; www.facebook.com/myasoroob03; ul Sukhe-Batora 7; burgers R250-350; h11am-11pm)

Lumbersexual butchers seduce Buryatiya with nine kinds of gourmet burgers, craft beer and their trademark ginger mors (berry drink). A nice place for a quick lunch in the company of gadget-wielding hipsters.

OrdaBURYAT$$

(Орда GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-403 838; www.orda03.ru; ul Pushkina 4a; mains R500-1300; hnoon-2am)

An aspiring centre of Buryat cultural renaissance, the 'Horde' elevates coarse nomad cuisine to haute levels. Yes, it is largely meat with more meat and some onions, but the chef knows how to make lamb and even horse meat pieces as tender as spring artichokes. Frequent dinnertime concerts by famous Buryat musicians, including throat-singing artists, cost an extra R500 to R1000.

Baatarai UrgööBURYAT$$

( GOOGLE MAP ; www.baikalkhan.ru; Barguzinsky Trakt, Verkhnyaya Berezovka; mains R300-450; h11am-11pm; W)

This yurt complex in the Verkhnyaya Berezovka suburb is a great lunch spot after a visit to the Ethnographical Museum. Take a seat in the main tent and give your taste buds the Buryat treatment in the form of buuzy (meat-filled dumplings), bukhuler (meat broth) and a glass of airag (fermented mare's milk). Take marshrutka 37 from pl Sovetov to the yurt stop.

The dining space is decorated with suits of Mongol armour, traditional buryat furniture and folk costumes, and the serving staff are also dressed the part.

Modern NomadsMONGOLIAN$$

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Ranzhurova 1; mains R400-700; h11am-11pm)

Clean-cut and very popular Mongolian place, good for a quick snack and a beer or for a full-blown dinner splurge costing thousands. Meat features heavily on the menu, but there are many veggie-friendly salads and other dishes with a contemporary twist to choose from, too.

Chay KhanaUZBEK$$

(Чай Хана MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Evropa Business Centre, ul Baltakhinova; mains R250-590; h11am-midnight Mon-Thu, to 2am Fri, 1pm-2am Sat, to midnight Sun)

This high-perched Uzbek restaurant has a triangular cushion-scattered dining space, trendy oriental fabrics and a menu of exotic plov, grilled meats and imaginative salads. But it’s the spectacular views of UU and the Selenga valley that are the real showstopper here, best enjoyed from the summer terrace. Take the lift to the 9th floor, then the stairs.

The business centre building is nicknamed ‘the toilet’ – you’ll soon see why.

6Drinking & Nightlife

Bar 12BAR

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 12th fl, Mergen Bator Hotel, Ul Borsoyeva 19b; h24hr)

Capping off the Mergen Bator hotel, this bar probably offers the best views of any in Russia: the entire Buryat capital and the surrounding mountainscape are laid out dramatically below you. The bar’s party piece is to rotate through 360 degrees every 30 minutes, meaning you see the entire panorama without leaving your seat.

Macondo Coffee & StoreCOFFEE

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Lenina 26)

A bric-a-brac shop attached to the city museum comes with a hobbit-sized coffee bar that provides a welcome respite from dust, railway slime and instant coffee. It also brews by far the best latte this side of Khamar-Daban. Note the Gabriel García Márquez reference in the name.

BisquitCAFE

(Бисквит MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Sukhe-Batora 7; h11am-midnight)

A stylish coffee-shop-cum-bar with bare brick walls and leather couches serves as coffee ambassador to Asian tea lands. Food is also available. A giant mirror at the entrance is handy for morning arrivals to examine damage after days on the train.

ChurchillPUB

(Черчилль MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.pubchurchill.ru; ul Lenina 55; hnoon-2am)

A bekilted Scottish piper (well, a bagpiping dummy at least) greets you at the door of this relatively upmarket British-themed pub. The Brit paraphernalia extends throughout the two stylishly finished halls, the food is tasty and there’s an international draught beer menu at central London prices.

7Shopping

ZamGIFTS & SOUVENIRS

(Зам MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.vk.com/zamspace; ul Sukhe-Batora, 16a; h10am-7pm)

This sparkling new shop doubles as a Buryat culture centre that runs lectures and masterclasses in traditional crafts. Goods include stylish jewellery by local artists, folk-themed clothes, locally produced leather bags and shoes. A little coffee bar attached to the counter comes as a bonus.

Orda Ethno-MarketARTS & CRAFTS

( GOOGLE MAP ; %3012-441 001; http://ordagallery.ru/; ul Pushkina 4a; h10am-7pm)

Sometimes moving, sometimes kitschy modern Buryat art, clothes and souvenirs. Buddhist-themed metal sculpture contains some of the most striking items.

DomboGIFTS & SOUVENIRS

(Домбо MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.facebook.com/dombo.buryatia; ul Sukhe-Batora 16a; h10am-1pm & 2-6.30pm Mon-Sat)

Elegant artisanal ceramics by Ayuna Dorzhieva, who fuses Buryat motifs with modern art.

Central MarketMARKET

( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Baltakhinova; h9am-8pm)

Tidy, Soviet-era market selling unusual local produce such as pine nuts, reindeer meat, buckthorn juice, salo (raw pig fat) and seasonal fruit and veg. At the back of the building are several stores offering unty, beautifully decorated reindeer skin boots. Prices start from around R12,000 a pair.

8Information

Handy ATMs can be found in the Buryatiya hotel and at the train station.

Post Office ( GOOGLE MAP ; ul Lenina 61; h8am-10pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat & Sun; W)

ATourism Portal (www.uutravel.ru) Official tourism website with a smattering of interesting information in English.

Visit Buryatiya (%3012-210 332; www.visitburyatia.ru) Official tourist board, which runs a summertime-only yurt-based information office on pl Sovetov.

8Getting There & Away

Train

When travelling to Irkutsk, take a day train for superb views of Lake Baikal.

Ulan-Ude has the following rail connections:

ABěijīng kupe R15,000 to R19,000, 43 to 61 hours, two weekly

AChita platskart/kupe R1800/R2600, 10 to 12 hours, up to six daily

AIrkutsk platskart/kupe R1600/R2500, seven to nine hours, up to nine daily

AUlaanbaatar kupe R4900, 15 or 23 hours, daily

Air

UU’s Baikal Airport (www.airportbaikal.ru), 11km from the city centre, handles surprisingly few flights. Buy tickets at the Central Ticket Office ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Erbanova 14; h9am-7pm) or S7 Airlines ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ul Lenina 63; h9am-7pm). Ulan-Ude has the following flight connections:

AIrkutsk R3400, five weekly

AMoscow R16,000, at least two daily

Bus

Ulan-Ude's Selenga bus station (Автовокзал Селенга MAP GOOGLE MAP ; http://03bus.ru; ul Sovetskaya 1) is a tiny but user-friendly affair located to the west of pl Sovetov. Buy all tickets at least a day in advance. The useful Russian-language website http://03bus.ru updates schedules and prices for destinations all over Buryatiya. Services include Barguzin (R660, seven hours, three daily) and Ust-Barguzin (R530, six hours, twice daily).

Additional marshrutky to Irkutsk (R1000, eight hours) and Chita (R1430, seven hours) run from the train-station forecourt, departing throughout the day when full.

Minibuses run from pl Banzarova to Ivolga, where you can change for Ivolginsk datsan.

ULAN-UDE TO ULAANBAATAR

With flights between the two capitals once again grounded, there are just two ways to travel from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The least comfortable way is by Trans-Mongolian train, which takes between 15 and 23 hours to complete the 657km trip. A much cheaper and convenient way to go is to hop aboard the daily coach (R1500, 10 hours), which leaves from the main bus station in Ulan-Ude. Tickets can be bought from Baikal Naran Tour and the Ulan-Ude Travellers House.

8Getting Around

From pl Sovetov marshrutky 28, 55 and 77 run a few times hourly to the airport, while marshrutka 37 passes the hippodrome, the Ethnographic Museum ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) and Baatarai Urgöö restaurant. Marshrutka 97 climbs to the Rinpoche Bagsha Datsan.

Around Ulan-Ude

You could spend a week making day trips out of Ulan-Ude to explore Buddhist temples, Old Believers' villages and forgotten border settlements. The main routes south are the scenic Ulan-Ude–Kyakhta road, which hugs the Selenga River for much of the way, and the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which crosses the border at the unremarkable railway town of Naushki. Note that both Naushki and Kyakhta are officially off limits to foreigners as they fall within the border zone. Permits to visit these places should be arranged through UU agencies at least two months before you travel.

Datsan

Ivolginsk (Ivolga) DatsanTEMPLE

(Иволгинский дацан GOOGLE MAP ; hpremises dawn-dusk, temples 8am-5pm)

The confident epicentre of Russian Buddhism owes its existence to none other than Josef Stalin, who reversed the Bolshevik policy of destroying temples and allowed it to be built, in a plot of marshy land 35km from Ulan-Ude, in gratitude to the Buryats for their sacrifices during WWII. The first temple was a modest affair, but today the datsan has grown large and is expanding fast. Pilgrims and tourists flock here on half-day trips from the Buryat capital.

The Ivolginsky datsan was one of only two working Buddhist temples in Soviet days (the other was at Aginskoe); most of what you see today has been built in the last two decades. A clockwise walk around the complex takes in countless monastery faculties, administrative buildings, monks’ quarters and temples, but the most elaborate of all is the Itygel Khambin Temple honouring the 12th Khambo Lama, whose body was exhumed in 2002. To general astonishment, seven decades after his death his flesh had still not decomposed. Some ‘experts’ have even attested that the corpse’s hair is still growing, albeit extraordinarily slowly. The body is displayed six times a year, attracting pilgrims from across the Buddhist world.

To reach the monastery, first take marshrutka 130 (R45, 40 minutes, four hourly) from pl Banzarova to the last stop in uninteresting Ivolga. There, another marshrutka (R25, no number, just a picture of the monastery or the word Дацан pasted to the front windscreen) waits to shuttle visitors the last few kilometres to the monastery compound. Otherwise contact agencies in Ulan-Ude, which offer private transfers and tours with well-informed guides.

The daily Gunrig Khural Ritual, which is said to protect participants from bad reincarnations and black magic, is held at 9am.

Tamchinsky DatsanTEMPLE

(Тамчинский дацан GOOGLE MAP )

First founded in 1741, this was Buryatiya’s first Buddhist monastery and the mother ship of Russian Buddhism for two centuries. The original complex, 160km south of Ulan-Ude, was destroyed in the 1930s and the modern reconstruction is small scale and surrounded by the slowly dying village of Gusinoe Ozero (30km south of Gusinoozersk). View the newly renovated former school of philosophy, test out the amazing acoustics of the main temple and chat with the mobile-phone-toting head lama who, for a donation, may let you camp in the grounds and eat in the small refectory.

To get there, take the 7.24am Naushki train from Ulan-Ude (four hours) and alight at Gusinoe Ozero. A train runs back to Ulan-Ude late afternoon or you could hitch a lift to Gusinoozersk at the opposite end of the lake, from where there are regular marshrutky back to Ulan-Ude.