Finding Olkhon Island, Siberia’s Largest Freshwater Island

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Lake Baikal is home to some 27 islands of which Olkhon Island is the largest. This long, thin island, which roughly resembles the shape of the lake, is 72 kilometres (45 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) across at its widest part. Its surface area covers 730 square kilometres (280 sq mi). 

Olkhon is the world’s third-largest island in freshwater, after Canada’s Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron and René-Levasseur Island in Quebec’s Manicouagan Reservoir. 

Lake Baikal’s largest island is also the third largest lake-island in the world.

While most of the lake’s islands are uninhabited, Olkhon has a population of about 1,500 people which expands during summer and peak tourist seasons. 

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Why Travel to Olkhon Island?

• The Low-Down: Olkhon Island is the largest island in Lake Baikal, and one of the largest fresh-water islands on the planet. It is also the spiritual home of the Buryat people, and is spectacular all year round, in partidual in the dead of winter.
• The Brightest Highlight: Walking along the shores of Olkhon Island in the middle of winter (Jan / Feb) to discover icy caves and beautiful ice formations. It’s absolutely incredibly spectacular!
• Intrepid destination: All year round Olkhon Island is an intrepid destination!
• Globerovers Score (10 is highest): Such an amazing place that it gets a solid score of 9.3 out of 10.

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The majority of the permanent residents live in five small villages scattered around the island. Most people here work as fishermen, farmers, or cattle-ranchers. However, due to an increasing number of national and foreign tourists, many residents are now employed in the tourism sector. 

Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island play a central part in many locally created myths, and appears throughout Russian folklore

Olkhon is home mostly to the indigenous Buryats, many of whom practice shamanism and believe the island to be a highly spiritual place. The expression of their spirituality manifests itself in the form of many prayer flags and colourful ribbons that are wrapped around stupas, trees, and poles scattered around the island. According to local folklore, the winds carry spirits that read the believers’ prayers and wishes, which is the reason why these are always placed on the highest points available. 

Above photos of the Buryat people provided by Alexey Trofimov: Photographer, Traveler, and Photoguide of Lake Baikal and the rest of Siberia.
Check out our post: Photographer in focus: Alexey Trofimov

While on the island, you may be lucky to witness some of the shamanic rituals in their purest form! The best chance to experience them is during mid-summer when the island hosts the annual spiritual gathering that brings along the shamans. You can expect extended trance-inducing drumming sessions, the sprinkling of stones with milk brandy, and the hanging of multi-coloured ribbons on trees.

The village of Khuzhir, located on the western side of the island, is the administrative capital and home to about 1,200 residents. The village boasts the Khuzhir Museum of Local Lore, a few shops, churches, and several guesthouses. It is the ideal base for exploring the island to the north and the south.

The perfect guesthouse in Khuzhir is Nikita’s Homestead which is owned and managed by Nikita and Natasha Bencharov. Born in 1960 in Usolie-Sibirskoye, a small town of the Irkutsk region, Nikita was a professional table tennis player who in 1986 won the All-Russia championships. 

Nikita was the first person to launch the tourism industry in Khuzhir when he moved here in 1989. Natalia, his wife, moved to Olkhon 16 years ago from Moscow. Both Nikita and Natasha speak English very well, while Nikita also speaks some Japanese. 

For over 20 years, the Bencharov family have hosted travellers from all over the world at their homestead which is located just a five-minute walk from the famous Burkhan Cape and its sacred Shamanka (Shaman’s Rock), its beautiful sandy beach, and many wooden poles adorned with prayer flags overlooking the lake.

Nikita’s Homestead offers accommodation in typical Russian wooden houses. There are two-room houses as well as houses for larger groups. While the houses are mostly heated with firewood burning in traditional iron stoves, they are also equipped with electric heaters. 

The homestead offers tasty and healthy home-made food in a large cosy dining room. They serve ample meat dishes and their fish come straight from the clean waters of the lake. Their cooks reputedly can prepare at least 33 different dishes with omul fish! 

While many dishes are traditional Siberian, some Buryat food is also available including buuza (Buryat steamed meat dumplings) and bukhler (lamb boiled in broth). On site is a cafe, Bistro Français, that mainly serves a selection of fresh pastries with coffee and tea.

The Homestead has two Russian banyas (steam baths) that come with traditional birch brooms for whisking your sauna buddies. 

These whisks release pleasant aromas in the steamy air adding therapeutic benefits because the birch leaves contain a lot of tannins, vitamins, and essential oils. Massage is available upon request.

While the village is close to some spectacular scenery, the staff at Nikita’s Homestead can arrange day-trips on and off Olkhon Island. The island has so many scenic areas and most of these can be explored in two or three days. 

Any time of the year is a great time to be here, though the mid-winter scenery is breathtakingly spectacular. 

While staying in the village, try not to miss a single sunset from high above Shaman’s Rock. From the viewing point you will see thirteen tall poles guarding Shaman’s Rock. These poles represent the thirteen deities of Olkhon. Each pole is wrapped with layers of ribbons called khadag. 

Pilgrims from around the world place the ribbons as part of a spiritual ritual. The colours symbolize different elements: red is for fire, blue for sky, green for earth, yellow for religion, and the white represents milk.

Most Irkutsk-based travel agencies offer tour packages that include transport from the city to Khuzhir, island tours, meals and guides. While travelling on all-inclusive tours certainly has benefits and conveniences, it is possible to arrange all of these independently. 

Mini-buses in Irkutsk are best pre-booked and will pick up passengers at their hotels for the 6 to 7-hour journey to Khuzhir. The packages normally include the minibus ride and the boat-crossing in summer, or hovercraft in mid-winter. 

At Nikita’s Homestead it is easy to book day tours which can be private or shared with a few other like-minded travellers. 

While restaurants in the village are scarce, there are a couple of small supermarkets, though dining is possible at most of the guesthouses. 

The food, service, and atmosphere in the dining room at Nikita’s Homestead is top-notch.

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☛ Read more: Blog posts of Russia

☛ Read more: Frozen Lake Baikal in Winter

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