After driving a few hours to Lake Baikal, we eventually reached the village called Khuzhir on Olkhon Island. I was pretty excited to be spending the next couple days here. This village of Khuzhir on Olkhon Island (it sounds like ‘Hoosier’ with a ‘K’ from the similar Russian pronunciation) is the largest on the island inhabiting 1200 people.
There are actually only 1500 total residents on Olkhon Island so Khuzhir is definitely the place to stay when coming here. Believe it or not, most guesthouses were full of tourists so it was a bit troublesome finding a place to stay at a reasonable price. As you will learn in villages like this in Russia, not every guesthouse is labeled as such. You just have to drive around, knock on some doors and ask if you can rent a room or a small cabin. Some will have some type of sign out front but not all. There was a nice guesthouse that we found but it was full when we arrived. However, if you were traveling here, it would be the one I’d recommend trying out first for vacancies as you’ll meet most other travelers here. Its called Nikita’s Homestead. 
Since we didn’t end up staying there, we decided to grab breakfast there instead since they were one of the few places (perhaps the only place) with WiFi. Luckily we met some other travelers there and they had told us there was an excursion that was leaving within twenty minutes. Not having any major plans that day other than to walk around the village and coastline of the island, I decided it would be worth it. There were about 20 people going. We all broke up into 4 groups and piled into 4 separate vehicles. We chose our ride due to the leopard print seat covers… And soon we were off, with plans to head to the north end of Olkhon Island.
Our ride that day…
For some background on this place, the island itself runs a length of 72 kilometers (almost 45 miles) and is about 21 kilometers wide. On Olkhon Island’s eastern side, it is lined with steep mountains with an elevation at 1,276 m (4,186 ft) above sea level.
Edge of the cliffs lining Olkhon Island
The island was first discovered by Russian explorers back in the 17th Century however the local Buryats (natives in Siberia) have been living here long before. And believe it or not, standard electricity wasn’t run to the island until 8 years ago which they ran underwater where the ferry is located.
Underwater electricity running to the island from here…
Prior to that, the locals sought electricity from diesel generators. That was from the 1990’s on however prior to that, they simply lived off the land. What’s even more intriguing is the fact that the ferry only runs from April to mid December. This is when Lake Baikal freezes over. You can only drive on the frozen ice from mid-February which essentially means that the locals are landlocked for at least two months out of the year. Pretty impressive considering this is Siberia and they are living on an island with limited resources.
Of the 1,500 inhabitants on Olkhon Island, many will commute to the mainland when needed but some remain on the island year round. In fact, we learned from our guide that there is an 82-year-old lady living by herself in a home near the northern coast of the island. She has lived there in a very small village nearly her whole life including the years when a short stretch of railroad was running from the coast to the interior island transporting fish that were caught throughout the year. For the most part, the people on Olkhon Island either work as cattle ranchers, farmers or fisherman though a few of them have transitioned into the tourism segment as more and more people come here to visit every year.
Getting back to our excursion to the northern end of Olkhon Island, we had made a few stops along the way as we drove north. It seemed every stop we made was even better than the last and we spent our time hiking around the rocks and hillsides.
Since I am a southerner at heart, I found it hard to believe I was eating authentic ‘grits’ on a small island in the middle of Siberia…
You couldn’t have asked for better weather either. It was just partly cloudy with clear blue skies and a slight chill in the autumn air. Pretty awesome considering this is Siberia and nearly the beginning of their winter season! And with every new stop we made along the way, our guide (born and raised on Olkhon Island) was sharing story after story about the island and its legends. The locals here hold everything on this island to be very spiritual down to every last rock that lies on its coastline. The more time you spend here, the more you begin to understand why…
We did eventually make it all the way to the northern tip of Olkhon island and after the 30 or so kilometers it took to get here from our village, it was more than worth it. The northern end of the island was high up on a cliff as it rose clear up out of the stillness of the lake down below. From where we had parked, it was a good fifteen minute hike to get to the top. But from that vantage point, it was quite a sight with the still waters of Lake Baikal on your left and right and off in the distance, the mountains that bordered Lake Baikal on Russia’s mainland.
After spending about an hour at the northern end of the island, we had eaten lunch with our group. This lunch consisted of some freshly caught fish soup along with a few other Russian staples and probably the best tea I’d ever had (keep in mind I’m not a Tea drinker). When I asked what type of tea it was all that I was told was that it was made from spices and herbs native to the island. And as good as this tea was, they refused to import it off the island for sustainability purposes.
My fish soup for lunch…
After lunch, we headed back south however we drove the opposite coastline much of the way back. There were definitely some nice overlooks on that side as well. We also had the opportunity to walk through the forest on the way back for a small stretch.
It was amazing just how yellow some of the trees were and I was thankful to have visited Olkhon Island during this time of year. In fact, I’d imagine this place is beautiful to travel anytime of the year. If you make it to Irkutsk and have a couple of days to travel around and want to travel to more than just Listvyanka (a typical stop on the Trans Siberian Railway) then catch a ride out to Olkhon Island. It will be well worth your trip!
How to get from Irkutsk to Olkhon Island:
For this, you have two options… OK maybe three. You can take a bus from Irkutsk all the way to the village of Khuzhir on Olkhon Island. Buses leave from Irkutsk’s bus station (there is only one bus station in Irkutsk). This is probably your easiest and cheapest option and will likely take about 5 hours to reach the village. You could also rent a car from Irkutsk which will cost more but cut your travel time down to 3-4 hours. Lastly, you could hitchhike which we saw more than a few people do (since we had picked up 3 on our way out back to Irkutsk). This however could be your slowest option as most drivers will only be going short distances from village to village.
What to bring:
I would bring enough money as needed. There could possibly be an ATM on this island but I sure didn’t see any while I was there. WiFi may also be hard to come by so plan accordingly. You’ll also want to bring plenty of warm clothes as it gets quite windy along the coastlines and cold at night.
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