Lake Baikal and coastal areas and a unique variety of flora and fauna, much of the endemic species of animals. Local residents and many traditionally called Baikal Sea in Russia.

The lake Baikal stretches from the southwest to the northeast at 620 km in the form of a giant crescent. The width of the reservoir is in the range of 24 to 79 km. The area of ​​water surface of the lake - 31 722 km² (excluding the islands), which is approximately equal to the area of ​​countries such as Belgium or the Netherlands. In the area of ​​water Baikal mirror it ranked seventh among the largest lakes in the world. The coastline - 2100 km.Lake Baikal - the deepest lake in the world. The current value of the maximum depth of the lake - 1642 m.In Baikal there are about 2,600 species and sub-species of aquatic animals, more than half of which are endemic, ie found only in this reservoir. By Baikal endemics are about 1000 species, 96 genera, 11 families and subfamilies. 27 species of fish in the lake, are found nowhere else.In 1996, Baikal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Seasons:
Summer on Baikal:
The best months on Lake Baikal for travel are July and August. Water warms up to 20-24. In the middle part of Baikal, June is a rather cold month at night, and ice can even be observed. In late August, the wind blows harder, the weather drops significantly.
Autumn on Baikal:
At the end of September, “Indian Summer” sets in, which attracts travelers with various autumn colors of the forest. In the fall, quiet, calm days. In September, it is quite warm during the day, and at night the temperature can drop to 10 degrees. Storm days fall in the fall, more precisely - the beginning of September. With the beginning of autumn, spawning begins, each tree is filled with different colors, and then the time of storms begins.
Winter on Baikal:
Baikal freezes late, the most severe month is January. The ice on Lake Baikal is very transparent, which attracts most travelers currently. In December it grows late and darkens early. Usually, severe frosts come at this time, the atmosphere is filled with dense fog. At the end of winter, a strong movement of ice, near the shore, large thrusts of ice.
Spring on Baikal:
From mid-March to mid-April, Baikal is more interesting, but rather dangerous, ice begins to melt, and we do not recommend traveling on it at this time of year. Spring on Lake Baikal is lingering and windy. Compared with the surrounding areas, spring on Lake Baikal is delayed by 10-15 days.

The language of communication is Russian. Russian citizens do not speak English. Use a modern smartphone and use a language translator in your smartphone. Do not forget to download the off-line map of the destination region for Google-map (or a similar application) and the off-line Russian language and your native language for the Google-translator (or similar application) onto your phone / tablet. Make sure they work without the internet. With the Google-translator you can read announcements in Russian and even translate colloquial speech. If you have problems with the staff and cannot explain them, call your supervisor (see below).
Do not forget to mark in the Google-map the location of your hotel in case you get lost.
Take an extra battery for smartphone.
Electricity 220V, European sockets.
Date format in Russia is day-month-year, time format is 24 hours.
Present this voucher at the airport at the request of the police or migration authorities.
Do not accept the services of third parties, do not take unlicensed taxis, do not agree to additional excursions with unknown people, do not leave things unattended, do not take expensive things that can become objects for abduction on the trip, leave all jewelry and luxury items At home, do not leave the hotel on your own in the dark, do not visit areas outside the tourist areas on your own.
If the tourist is not present on the tour for any reason, the cost is not compensated.
For no-show hotels apply fines “No Show” - 100% penalty.
Hotels can be replaced with others of the same category.
The sequence of excursions can be changed in accordance with the tour program.
The start time of transfers and of excursions and their sequence can be change. You need to coordinate every next day with a guide who meets you the day before.
In case 10 minutes after the appointed time the driver / guide not arrive, call the numbers indicated in the vouchers or the supervising employees indicated below.
The standard time of check-in in hotels is 14:00 or 15:00, check-out is 10:00 or 11:00. If you do not check-out on time, the hotel may require a surcharge for the next day.
Hotels arrange breakfast, lunch and dinner on a scheduled basis (if meals are included in the price). If the tourist does not get breakfast (lunch, dinner) for any reason, it does not compensate.
In an Airport. Take Russian rubles at an ATM at the airport. The approximate rate of 62 rubles per US-dollar. When calculating the amount, consider the payment of meals outside the program and optional excursion. There are no ATMs and exchange offices on Olkhon Island. You can pay for goods and services only in rubles, rarely with credit cards. Private exchange of foreign currency in Russia is a criminal offense.
Book a taxi in the airport only on the official desk (TAXI/"ТАКСИ"). Do not use private taxis, especially on the street. Show to taxi driver the announcement (see the end of the voucher). The cost of a taxi to hotel within Irkutsk is approximately 150-200 rubles.
List of equipment for winter and spring tours
If you go on a tour to Baikal, you should be well equipped! At the end of January, after the lake freezes, temperatures, as a rule, do not fall below -20 ° in the afternoon.
Since the beginning of March, spring has come to Lake Baikal. Daytime temperatures increase every day. The sun's rays are reflected from the ice surface of the lake and create favorable conditions for relaxation. In calm weather, in March, you can walk on the ice of the lake in one T-shirt and get a chocolate Baikal tan. However, a sharp drop in temperature and strong winds are still possible.
In winter, on Baikal, you need to be prepared for chocolate tan, and for real Siberian winter. We recommend that you use the list of personal equipment for outdoor activities on Lake Baikal in winter and spring.
1. Shoes. In winter, special attention should be paid to the legs. First of all, the shoes should be warm, and it is desirable that they do not get wet. One of the best for the Siberian winter is considered to be traditional Siberian shoes - boots and boots. However, if you do not have felt boots and high boots, we recommend using modern analogues. High-quality sports shoes for the winter are made by Salomon, Sorel, Meindl. The main qualities that winter boots should have are good synthetic insulation, a sole with a shallow tread and soft rubber (so as not to slip), the presence of membranes, and wear resistance.
2. Outerwear. The jacket and trousers should be comfortable, warm, should “breathe” and be light. An ideal option for a jacket is a puff. She has all of the above qualities. You can also consider jackets with synthetic fillers (Thinsulate, Primaloft). The jacket should have a hood, it is desirable that it has cuffs made of soft fabric, puffs on the belt and neck (from the wind). We recommend that you look at jackets from brands such as Bask, Red Fox, Sivera, Marmot, Millet.
Pants should have the same qualities as the jacket. Also, they should not be blown, should have special “gaiters” (protection from snow). Overalls are quite comfortable. A pleasant trifle is the presence of ventilation. Insulation for trousers is better to choose synthetic. Manufacturing companies are the same as for jackets.
For spring tours, ski suits are also good.
3. Hat and mittens. It is better to take hats synthetic with windproof membranes (Windstopper, Windbloc). It is desirable that there was protection for the ears, and of course, that it combined with trousers and a jacket.
Gloves and mittens. To begin with, they need to take 3 sets, because they can tear, get wet, etc. Gloves are best taken from synthetic fabrics. A good option is thin gloves made of fleece or Polartec (in order to take pictures) and gaiters made of waterproof materials (gaiters are large mittens made of dense nylon). In stock you can take woolen mittens.
4. Thermal underwear. For winter and spring tours of Lake Baikal, we recommend that you take a winter
thermal underwear made of fleece or Polartec. See thermal underwear by Guahoo, Red Fox, Virus,
Bask.
5. Eye protection from the sun and wind.
We also recommend taking with you:
• Sunscreen (protection factor at least 20). In the spring on Baikal a very bright sun!
• Ski mask, and sunglasses (with at least 2 UV protection)
• Trekking winter socks, as well as woolen socks
• Bathing accessories (if you are going to a bathhouse or hot springs)
• Personal first aid kit (if you have any specific medical conditions)
• Photo and video equipment
Responsible touroperator is LatinaTravel LLC, number in the unified federal register of tour operators RTO 020256, 109147, Moscow, Marxistskaya str 3, bld. 1, office 405