If you cross the Baikal strictly in a straight line from Listvyanka, you will get to Tankhoy, a village located on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal in the Republic of Buryatia at the foot of the Khamar-Daban Mountains. The name comes from the Buryat "tokhoi" - bend.

The village was founded in 1903 in connection with the construction of the TRANS-Siberian Railway. When the Circum-Baikal Railway was under construction a ferry connected Baikal Port and Tankhoy: icebreakers "Baikal" and "Angara" carried trains and passengers across the lake. When the Baikal ice was too thick for icebreakers, rails were laidon ice – cars and locomotives were pulled across the lake by horses. The ferry terminal has existed in Tankhoy since that time.

Tankhoy is the office of the Baikal State Nature Biosphere Reserve with a huge territory along the southern coast of Lake Baikal. The main purpose of the reserve is to keep the unique local ecosystem, environmental education and training.

How to get

-From Irkutsk (220 km) or Ulan-Ude (230 km) by car or by train.

-By boat or ship from Listvyanka. 42 km across the Baikal and you come from the western lakeshore to the eastern one.

Possible activities:

First, we recommend you to visit the Baikal Reserve information center, located on the shore of Lake Baikal. The modern, interactive center tells about the Baikal in a non-boring form – everything can be touched, pressed and you get great pleasure from exploring the story, geology, flora and fauna of the lake. The central place of the exposition is a table in the form of a huge ice floe with an interactive map of the Baikal, where you can see all the processes of life in, on and around the lake, controlling it from one of the displays. Two sable live in the center – Thunder and Cloud. There is also a small exhibition dedicated to the story of the TRANS-Siberian Railway.

Second, walk along the shore of Lake Baikal. The shore there is rocky; the water is clear, clean and cold. You can goup a hill to see the beautiful panorama of the lake. The Buddhist Stupa of Perfect Victory, built in 2017, is on the observation deck.

Third, visit the Nature Museum. It is small, but cozy. You can see stuffed Siberian animals and birds.

Fourth, hike along an eco- trail. The reserve built about 20 trails here to develop eco-tourism and education. A picturesque 2.6 km eco-trail exists in Tankhoy itself– a simple, fitted with wooden flooring, available for people with disabilities.

Finally, go to a nearby village to a station of birds ringing. Here you can see how ornithologists of the reserve catch and study birds, and in the summer even take part in the procedure of ringing.