The Great Sayan Ring

Part 1 / Russia

For the most of people Siberia remains a mysterious and inaccessible land. The main reason is a lack of information. Travel on the Great Sayan Ring will raise the veil of the mystery, and everything you see will remain in your memory for a long time. You will learn how Siberians lived in past centuries as well as present day. You will feel the hospitality of local people and realize the richness of this nation's cultural traditions. Moreover you will touch the origins of religions - from the Orthodox Church to Shamanism.

Day 1

Upon your arrival in Krasnoyarsk you will transfer to the hotel, with a rest and dinner. A sightseeing tour with a visit to a symbol of Krasnoyarsk - a Paraskovya Pyatnitsa chapel, Blagovetchensky Cathedral, and recently reconstructed Regional Museum considered to be one of the best historical and ethnographical museums in Siberia. The Museum in particular will provide an excellent prelude to your travel and your first impression of the Great Sayan Ring tour.

In the evening the tour agency "Sayan Ring" will host the welcoming dinner.

*Accommodation will be in the Oktyabrskaya hotel.

Day 2

The group will travel to the South through the city of Divnogorsk. You will cross the river Yenisey along one of the biggest dams in the world - the Krasnoyarsk Hydro Power Station. You will have lunch in the open air. In 268 km from Krasnoyarsk, in a particular place, you are met with carpets and folding armchairs, plates and cups made of the French unbreakable porcelain, glasses for juice and beer, steel covers. Vegetables, fruit, drinks - you'll enjoy the smorgasbord while sitting on the carpets surrounded by the ancient monuments of the Scythian culture VII-VIII century B.C. After lunch those who wish to enjoy the stunning view of the Krasnoyarsk Sea may climb the nearest hill.

A stop in the historical village Shushenskoe will bring you from the civilization to ancient times. And in the evening the cultural start of our tour will take place - a show-excursion to the State Ethnographical museum-reserve "Shushenskoe". Even the confirmed sceptics will be involved in the amazing atmosphere of the funny adventure in the real Siberian village of the XIX - XX century. A visit to a real tavern will bring you another surprise, then you'll take part in the traditional evening meetings - "vechorka", national rites, games and dances. On parting you will be served a cup of tea and taste a bird cherry pie in the Russian izba.

*Accommodation will be in the "Tourist" hotel.

Day 3

The day begins with a visit to a village "Nyzhny Suetuk". Established by the Russian Cossacks-settlers in 1740 the village has kept all the patterns of the past. The guests are presented with an offering of bread and salt, with pasties and wineglasses. They are carried on the real telega to the house of old Katya to have a look at the marvelous carpets woven by the hands of an 80 year-old woman. Then you come to the 100 year-old house. The husband and wife will play a balalaika (three stringed guitar) and a storyteller and sing the chastooshka (short and funny folk songs) with great pleasure. In the third house - the parting reception will include herbal tea, homemade jam and rolls. And there is nothing to do with it - the Siberian tradition includes the homemade strong drinks with lard and pickled cucumbers.

The group leaves the hospitable village with great regret, but we have so many interesting things to see. The way is going through the Eastern Sayan Mountains, on the other side of which the world's end was believed to be. Whether the end or not, but your eyes will be astonished with the stunning views. You will never tire of looking at it.
Lunch is provided in the mountains with a view to the majestic Yergaki ridge. After lunch the group will move on to Tuva. And en route the tourists will meet with the host of the region - the Sleeping Sayan. You'll see him if you look closely in the contour of the mountains: he is lying on his back with folded arms. Why? - you'll learn it from the guide.

Closer to the evening the group will arrive in Tuva. It is amazing but as soon as the coach crosses the board of the republic the landscape suddenly changes. It seams that you have gone to another planet and into another time. In most of the territory of Tuva there is no sign of civilization. For hundred kilometres there stretches Tuvan Steppes with broken mountains with sharp rocky ridges.

The group makes a stop 22 km from the city Kizil, on the riverbank of Biy-Khem (in Tuvan - Big Yenisey), in the yurts' complex. You will be accommodated in the real Tuvan yurts, built by the Tuvan craftsmen especially for tourists. The yurts will fill you with thoughts and senses of something past, mysterious and eternal.
After dinner - the performance of the traditional throat singing - "khoomei". The throat singing - a fantastical capability of the Tuvan people (and some other Siberian peoples) to emit simultaneously two or three sounds of different tone and to sustain the same sound for 25-30 seconds without taking a breath. If you close your eyes it is hard to believ that the sounds are emitted by a person and not by a musical instrument.

*Accommodation will be in the yurts' complex "Biy-Khem" with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Krasnoyarsk

Part 2 / Tuva

In the big city bustle, in the intensity of the endless workaday routine, the most of us can not find a minute to be tete-a-tete to ourselves. We forgot what is the silence, the rustling of the grass at the daybreak, what colour is the sunset, and how do the rivers murmur. Do you believe that a stone and a tree, the wind and the clouds in the sky - all that you see is alive and you can talk to them? We stop and listen and feel as part of the nature. The greatness of the Tuvan Steppes, the silence of the Sayan Mountains, the sky lying on your shoulders and warm scent of the Siberian pine taiga will inspire you with the feeling of belonging to the "creation mystery".

Day 4

Excursion to Kizil, the capital of Tuva, visiting the Geographical Centre of Asia, which is symbolically situated close to the place of the river confluence - Biy-Khem (Big Yenissey) and Ka-Khem (Small Yenissey). From here begins the famous Great Yenissey river which crosses Siberia from the South to the North. Then a visit to the Buddhist temple where you will hear the sermon of the real lama. The main part of the daily program is a visit to the Shaman clinic. The real shamans, old and young, will tell the guests their traditions, rites and their capabilities. Everybody who wishes to have a look to the future, to pass the purification ritual or to learn about the state of health can make an appointment with any of the shamans.
You will have lunch in the restaurant of Kizil where the traditional dishes of Tuvan cuisine will be cooked especially for the guests. Then a visit to the National Museum of Tuva, the souvenir shop and the atelier of the national dress.

On the way back the group will come to the nomad's yurt. The acquaintance with the daily life of the Tuvan family makes a big impression on our guests.
In the evening camp - a bewitching show: a ritual blessing for health and happiness at the fire ring takes place. It is a talk to the spirits, a real magical ritual at the fireplace, followed by occasion when several shamans take part in one ritual all together. In this purification ritual you can plunge into the meditation or you can think a wish and it will happen.

*Accommodation is in the yurts' complex "Biy-Khem" with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 5

Today the group crosses Tuva from the East to the West, following the road of the ancient nomads. Before lunch we make a stop at the Khayrakan mountain - it is one of the most sacred and respected places in Tuva. In 1992 it was chosen as the energetically strong place and was sanctified by the Dalay Lama XIV. Once in a year the local shamans come to this place to revive, strengthen and clean their spirit. Why not take a chance to use this possibility?
You'll have lunch on the grass, in the company of "Seven Sisters" - century old larch trees, growing from only one root. Then visit the monument to the great warrior - a stone human statue. The people call it "Chinggis-Khaan". The figure 1,2 metres in height, stands alone in the endless step and nobody touches it. Why it is so you will learn from the guide's story.

On the Sayan pass, at a height of 2206 metres, begins Khakassia. Here the mountains are surrounded with the fabulous pine taiga. Over the next two days the tourists will spend time in the taiga camp "Snow Leopard" situated at the height of 1250 metres in the wooden houses made of pine with stove heating. After dinner you'll meet the instructors of "Snow Leopard" - wonderful people who are in love with nature and the taiga (forest), they know all the local paths and medicinal herbs. The guitar songs, heart-to-heart talking, and the warm scent of this native home will calm, caress and lull you into the cozy camping of the "Snow Leopard".
From that very moment our itinerary begins to make a ring - it means that in fact the group is following the reverse road. But it is not a way back: the travel is going on, and who knows, maybe the most interesting things are still in front of us?

*Accommodation is in the taiga camp "Snow Leopard" with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 6

After breakfast - there is a short stroll in the taiga to the most beautiful mountain lake situated at the height of 1520 metres. Inspired by the guides' stories about the ecological cleanness and energetic strength of these places, the tourists can plunge into the lake where the temperature is approximately 12-14 degrees! And then - a herbal tea is served with the cowberry jam at the fire place.
After lunch you have free time. You are offered to experience a "phytosauna" - a very agreeable restoration procedure like a sauna with herbal steam. During the berry and mushrooms season the tourists collect taiga gifts, which you don't even need to look for - they are just under your feet.

And in the evening you can enjoy the real Siberian banya. After the first visit you'll lay down on the forest moss that will seam like a cozy warm bed. And after the second visit you can plunge into the ice-cold steam and feel great.
After dinner - the evening is spent at the fireplace. The taiga, the star-spangled sky and the silence that we forget about in the city surround us - there is only the crackle of the blazing fire.

*Accommodation is in the taiga camp "Snow Leopard" with breakfast, lunch and dinner

Tuva

Part 3 / Khakassia

The ancient earth of Khakassia takes the lead over Siberia and even Russia for the abundance of its archeological relics. Here right by the road you can see the rock drawings, every twenty metres - a burial mound or a stone figure, which is still serving as a cult place for the local people.
Feel the energy and power of the Khakassian land. This unearthly peace of mind and inner cleanliness, ease and lucidity will accompany you. Suddenly you will recognize yourself and no. This world is full of mysteries. And you are a part of these mysteries, you should only let yourself become free. Khakassia is a centre of the favorable emotions, diluted by amazement before the fantastical proximity of eternity.

Day 7

From the morning you are getting familiar with the taiga and mountain medicinal herbs. The guides will tell you how you can render first aid to recover without contemporary medicines.
After lunch - bid farewell to "Snow Leopard" and taiga. And it won't be the simple "good-bye" but a real ritual and you'll get to take part in it.
Toward the evening we arrive in the valley Kug (in Khakassian it means "delight") situated in 137 km from Abakan. And for the second time you are offered an opportunity to live in the yurts but this time in the wooden ones, Khakassian. They are also built especially for the tourists.
After dinner - a performance of the national folklore group is given.

*Accommodation is in the yurt complex "Akhtas" with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 8

Excursion to the State museum-reserve of Khakassia "Kasanovka". It's hard to believe but you'll really see the rock drawings that are more then 3-5 thousand years old. Moreover you will witness how the archeologists make the copies of the petroglyphs onto the paper for the further study. You can take these copies as a rare souvenir. You will also learn the purpose of the mysterious vertical stones, standing upon the earth all over Khakassia. And you'll see the real archeological excavations.
After lunch - the sequel of the archeological excursion: you will see the sacred signs of the ancient shamans and a cult obelisk "Akhtas", which possesses a strong healing energetic field.

*Accommodation is in the yurt complex "Akhtas" with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 9

Say "good-bye" to Akhtas and in a couple of hours you arrive to Abakan, the capital of Khakassia. A visit to the Republic Regional Museum follows, to view the unique collection of the cult stones and the echo of the ancient worship and religions. It is believed that most of the stones have retained their power up until now. Anyway, in the collection there is a stone that is still very popular among the Khakassian women who wish to give birth to a child. They worship it and bring gifts, praying for fertility.

From Abakan the group is going to "The Valley of the Kings", there are about 30 burial mounds aged from the III-IV century B.C. The culmination of the trip will be the Great Salbyk Mound, once constructed over the grave of a noble family and excavated by the archeologists in 1954-56 years. It measured about 0,5 km by perimetre and over 11,5 metres high. The weight of the vertical stones reaches 60 tones. They say that in that very place the local shamans derive their strength. The guide will tell you what to do if you want your wish to be fulfilled.
Lunch is held close to the Great Salbyk Mound with a view to the Valley of the Kings, then we make our way back to Krasnoyarsk.

And do not try to make a sense of everything you see during the tour - as this will come later. The most important thing for the beginning is that you receive strong emotional inspiration. Let it live inside of you till the next voyage to Siberia.

*Accommodation is in the hotel "Oktyabrskaya" with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

DATES OF TOURS IN 2004

1. From 11 May till 20 May
2. From 18 May till 27 May
3. From 25 May till 03 July
4. From 01 June till 10 June
5. From 08 June till 17 June
6. From 15 June till 24 June
7. From 22 June till 01 July
8. From 29 June till 08 July
9. From 06 July till 15 July
10. From 13 July till 22 July
11. From 20 July till 29 July
12. From 27 July till 05 August
13. From 03 August till 12 August
14. From 10 August till 19 August
15. From 17 August till 26 August
16. From 24 August till 02 September
17. From 31 August till 09 September
18. From 07 September till 16 September

Cost:

The price of the tour per person - 1548 USD.
Single supplement for SGL accommodation - 495 USD.
The cost covers transportation expenses (bus), accommodation, FB (including mineral water, juice, coffee, tea and local beer), transfers, excursions, folk concerts, luggage carrier, entrance tickets to the museums, parks, medical insurance and visa support.

Age Restrictions:

Children under the age of 5 are not permitted on the tours

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