SIBERIA & THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST JULY 14-31, 2021 TOUR LEADER: DR MATTHEW DAL SANTO SIBERIA & Overview THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST Embark on the tour of a lifetime to one of the world's last great travel Tour dates: July 14-31, 2021 frontiers. This 18-day tour reveals the cultural and geographical wonders of Siberia and the Russian Far East. Tour leader: Dr Matthew Dal Santo We begin in Irkutsk, a former Cossack settlement forever linked to the Tour Price: $18,975 per person, twin share memory of the immortal ‘Decembrists’ – public-minded nobles who, exiled to Siberia for their part in an 1825 rebellion against the Tsar, recreated Single Supplement: $1,900 for sole use of with their wives the cultural and artistic life of St Petersburg for the benefit double room of Siberia’s rough frontiersmen. From Irkutsk we then travel to beautiful Lake Baikal, the world’s largest, oldest and deepest lake to spend two Booking deposit: $1,000 per person nights on Olkhon Island, which, widely regarded as the “jewel” of Baikal, is Recommended airline: Korean Airlines sacred to the indigenous Buryat people. Maximum places: 20 Taking the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway along Baikal’s southern shore, we arrive in Ulan Ude, capital of the Buryat Autonomous Republic Itinerary: Irkutsk (3 nights), Olkhon Island, and centre of Russian Buddhism, with centuries of close links with Tibet. Lake Baikal (2 nights), Irkutsk (1 night), The valleys of the surrounding steppe are also a stronghold of the so- Ulan Ude (3 nights), Khabarovsk (2 nights), called ‘Old Believers’, a long-persecuted Orthodox sect who have Petropavlovk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka (4 nights) preserved in Siberia’s remote wooded valleys a centuries-old culture that Vladivostok (2 nights) includes a rich repertoire of songs of exile. From Ulan Ude we fly to Khabarovsk, a frontier town on the border with China that played a leading Date published: June 19, 2020 role in Russian colonisation of the Far East, and onto steaming, volcano- studded Kamchatka, Russia’s Alaska, to explore its jaw-dropping landscapes, extraordinary wildlife and the fascinating culture of its indigenous husky-raising people, the Koryaks. The tour concludes in the bustling port city of Vladivostok. Closed for decades to foreigners, the undisputed capital of the Russian Far East is once again very much open for business, and famous for its seafood and stunning setting on one of the world’s great harbours – the Golden Horn. Your tour leader Dr Matthew Dal Santo is a historian and writer with a longstanding interest in, and love for, Russian history and culture. With a BA from the University of Sydney and PhD from Cambridge, he has been a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; the University of Copenhagen, Denmark; the Kennan Institute for Russian and Eastern European Affairs, Washington, D.C.; and the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. His current research project examines Russians’ changing attitudes Enquiries and towards politics and religion in the setting of the revival of Orthodoxy that bookings has taken place since the fall of Communism. Despite Siberia’s desolate reputation, Matthew is convinced that it has charm all its own. He first fell For further information and to under its spell while researching his forthcoming book, A Tsar’s Life for secure a place on this tour the People: The Romanovs and the Redemption of Putin’s Russia, to be please contact Lynsey published soon by Princeton University Press. Jenkins at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 Living in Copenhagen, Denmark, Matthew also leads Academy Travel’s 699 (outside Sydney) or email Moscow and St Petersburg tour and speaks Russian, French, Italian, and [email protected] Danish. Tour Highlights LAKE BAIKAL Immerse yourself in the invigorating environment of Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest lake. Marvel at the rugged beauty of its dramatic Western shore, and savour the picturesque tranquillity of Olkhon Island. Cruise between the capes and headland of the ‘Little-sea’ admiring one of the richest and most unusual ecosystems on earth formed in a rift in the earth’s surface 25 million years ago. RUSSIAN BUDDHISM Listen to the sounds of Russian Buddhism as the lamas chant their ancient mantras in Buryatia’s revived monasteries, a hybrid of architectural elements from Buryat culture, Tibetan temples and Mongolian and Chinese architectural traditions. Learn about the dynamic blend of Tibetan Buddhism and indigenous Siberian shamanism, once again thriving after decades of suppression under Communism. THE OLD BELIEVERS Hear the heart-rending stories of the persecuted Old Believers, a people who have preserved their beliefs and customs in Siberian exile for centuries. An enigmatic people of religious dissenters, they split from the Russian Orthodox Church into a number of different sects in the 17th century after they refused to accept the liturgical reforms being imposed by the Russian Patriarch. (image courtesy of MIR Corporation) VOLCANOS, SALMON & BEARS Join a thrilling helicopter tour through Kamchatka’s surreal, volcano-studded landscape to Kuril Lake in the UNESCO-listed Southern Kamchatka Wildlife Reserve. Watch, from the safety of a viewing platform, Kamchatka’s powerful brown bears feast on the thousands of salmon that return to the lake every summer to spawn. Reboard the helicopter for stops to explore the active Ksudach Volcano and the natural Khodutka Hot Springs. VLADIVOSTOK See the sights and sample the glorious seafood of the bustling North Asian port city of Vladivostok, unofficial capital of the Russian Far East and home to one of Russia’s most important commercial ports and naval bases. Explore the state of the art Primorsky Aquarium on picturesque Russky Island and admire the world’s longest cable-stay suspension bridge that soars over Golden Horn Bay. Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D. Tour start & finish time The tour begins with arrival of the Korean Airlines flight into Irkutsk Airport in the late evening of Wednesday 14 July. The tour ends after breakfast on Saturday 31 July, at the Lotte Hotel, Vladivostok. Wednesday 14 July Arrive Irkutsk, Russia Your tour leader, Matthew Dal Santo will meet the group arriving on the Korean Airlines flight arriving in the late evening at Irkutsk Airport and transfer with you to our hotel. Overnight Irkutsk Above: Irkutsk’s oldest standing structure – the 1706 Church of Christ the Saviour Thursday 15 July Below: tiger or beaver? A bureaucratic bungle resulted in this statue of this mythological creature known as the Babr with a sable in its Irkutsk jaws; the Taltsy Folk Architecture Museum offers a window into the Founded as a Cossack fortress in 1661, Irkutsk later prospered everyday life of Siberians as a way station for the fur and tea trade between Russia and China. In the 19th century, the surrounding districts became a place of exile for thousands of political prisoners. Today, it is a pleasant, tree-lined city of 600,000 people with important aeronautical industries. We begin our exploration with a visit to Irkutsk’s oldest standing structure – the 1706 Church of Christ the Saviour, which once stood at the centre of the original Cossack fort, out of which the modern city grew. From here we depart for Volkonsky House Decembrist Museum, which tells the story of the Decembrists – Russian noblemen who rebelled against the Tsar in 1825 and were exiled for life to Siberia. Among the most famous of the noblewomen who voluntarily followed them into exile was Princess Maria Volkonsky who sought to recreate in Irkutsk the cultural and intellectual life of Imperial St Petersburg. We visit Maria’s home in exile. In the afternoon, we visit Irkutsk’s central marketplace before returning to Christ the Saviour for a masterclass in the art of Russian church bellringing. Dinner is at a local restaurant. Overnight Irkutsk (B, L, D) Friday 16 July Irkutsk This morning we make a visit to the superb Taltsy Folk Architecture Museum, which offers an evocative window on life in Old Siberia, including a 17th-century Cossack fort and the log cabins of 19th-century homesteaders. In the afternoon we drive to Lystvyanka, Lake Baikal’s main port. In addition to gaining our first glimpse of the great lake, we visit the local aquarium to get up close and personal with its most famous denizen, the mysterious freshwater Baikal seal or nerpa. For dinner, we are guests of a local Siberian family, who prepare a typical Russian meal from the produce of their own garden. Overnight Irkutsk (B, D) Saturday 17 July Olkhon (Lake Baikal) Today, we travel north from Irkutsk through the lands of the Western Buryats, a formerly nomadic people related to the neighbouring Mongols. Claiming the mother of Genghis Khan as one of their own, the Buryats have driven their herds across these lands for centuries. Buryat culture is a dynamic blend of Tibetan Buddhism and indigenous Siberian shamanism and, though suppressed for decades under Communism, today it is again thriving. Reaching the shore of Lake Baikal in mid- afternoon, we board speed boats for a thrilling cruise across one of the lake’s most picturesque arms, the so-called “Little Sea”, to the enchanting “Stupa” Island. From there we make our way, again by speed boat, to Khuzhir, the main town of Baikal’s largest island, Olkhon. Overnight Olkhon Island (B, L, D) Sunday 18 July Olkhon (Lake Baikal) A deep inland sea separated by thousands of kilometres of steppe and forest from the sea, Lake Baikal (which is estimated to hold about one quarter of the world’s fresh water) is an ecosystem like no other. This morning we climb board 4WDs to cross the forests and grasslands that lead to the soaring cliffs of Khoboi Cape, where the “Little Sea” meets the waters of Baikal’s main body.