Olkhon - Transit to Ust Barguzin

Lakes, especially if they are bigger ones, do have a crucial disadvantage. If you want to go from one bank to the other you either need to drive round half of the lake or you depend on a boat. Exactly this problem also exists for Olkhon Island and Holy Nose Peninsula. On the country way one needs at least two days between the two, three days are more down-to-earth. There is no official ferry or ship connection to Olchon anymore. Not even speed boats stop there on their way from Irkutsk to Severobaikalsk.

Therefore the only possibility for transit is to charter a vessel. This gap in the market was discovered by a clever fisherman who offers transit from Ust-Barguzin to Khuzir (and return) with a fishing boat two times a week in summertime. The trip can easily be booked in Khuzir at Nikitas Homestay (ul. Kirpichnaja 8). The bad thing is that the one way trip costs 500 Euro, on that account it is only worthwhile as a group. There is space for about 10 people on the vessel and Nikita generally sees that there are enough people.

You can also try to charter a fishing boat yourself at the port of Chuzir, but often their condition isn't made for a relaxing trip so that you might as well pay 50 Euros more to be on the save side. One should also consider that the journey might take more than 10 hours, because the lake is pretty tricky: Near the shore it looks very calm, but off the shore the sea conditions might become pretty rough. And when, above all, it starts to rain a closed cabin will be all you want. Most of the fishing boats at Khuzir harbour won't have them anymore.