There are dozens of reasons to go to Transbaikalia. For example, to see a real desert, go down into an ice cave, feel the history of the Decembrists and visit Buddhist datsans. Not to mention excellent fishing, river rafting and safari in nature reserves. All routes start from Chita, the capital of the Trans-Baikal Territory.
Contents
- How to get there
- Where to stay
- What to see and do
- Where to go in the vicinity
- What to try
- What to bring
How to get there
- A direct flight from Moscow to Chita takes six hours. The cost of air tickets starts from 19,000 rubles one way.
- It takes three hours to fly from Novosibirsk, the ticket price starts from 15,000 rubles.
- From Yekaterinburg — 4.5 hours, flights — from 16,000 rubles.
Chita can also be reached by rail from Moscow, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude. You will have to pay not much less for train tickets than for a plane, but the road takes longer.
Chita can also be reached by rail from Moscow, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude. Photo: Mikhail Rafibekov/Shutterstock.com
Summer literature list
Pick up ideas for what to read on a long journey and during long summer evenings on a long-awaited vacation.
Where to stay
- One-bedroom apartment in the center is suitable for those who travel with a pet.
- Neat hostel “Decembrist”: a budget option near the city center, as well as “Fox Hole” — according to reviews, this is one of the best options for a combination of price and quality.
- Tuzhi recreation center is located one kilometer from the city center. There is a restaurant for guests, and you can pass the evening in a cozy bar.
“Fox hole”.
What to see and do in Chita
The Decembrist Museum. The history of the city is inextricably linked with the Decembrists. To get acquainted with their hard labor life, go to the museum, which is located in the church of the Archangel Michael. Documents, books, household items and personal belongings of the prisoners have been preserved here.
Chita datsan. An elegant Buddhist temple, which attracts not only believers but also tourists with its architecture and atmosphere.
The Museum of Local Lore of Transbaikalia. Here you can learn about the history, culture and nature of this region. The museum houses an extensive collection of exhibits, which includes archaeological finds, ethnographic objects and works of art.
Titovskaya sopka. A popular place for hiking and outdoor recreation. From the top of the mountain there is a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding area.
An elegant Buddhist temple, which attracts not only believers but also tourists with its architecture and atmosphere. Photo: Regina Erofeeva/Shutterstock.com
Vacation on Lake Baikal in summer
From Chita, you can fly to Irkutsk in about an hour, and there you can reach the deepest lake of the planet at hand. Find out what to do on Lake Baikal in the summer.
Where to go in the vicinity
Butin’s Palace in Nerchinsk
Gold and silver were mined in Nerchinsk, and smelters were operating. It was a rich city through which trade routes passed. Now the Butina Palace reminds of the former fat times.
Parquet floors, exquisite furniture, Persian carpets, Flemish paintings and statuettes explain why the palace was called the “Trans-Baikal Versailles”. This mansion belonged to the gold miner Mikhail Dmitrievich Butin and was built in the second half of the XIX century in the Moorish style.
Butin acquired huge Venetian mirrors at the Paris World’s Fair in 1878. Now it is not so much the size of the mirrors that impresses, as the history of their delivery to Nerchinsk: by steamships, then on a specially built barge, and the last kilometers of the way — on hand.
On the territory of the museum, look into the Moorish gazebo: it served as an observation deck and a place to relax: guests admired the garden from it, poetry evenings were held here and an orchestra played.
Now the Butina Palace reminds of the former fat times. Photo: Gennadiy Solovyev/Shutterstock.com
Heetei Caves
Dry. The Dry temperature in the cave remains positive all year round, and even in the colder months there is no ice here. Passages with a rusty-red clay soil extend for 30 meters and end in a stone blockage.
The Dry temperature in the cave remains positive all year round, and even in the colder months there is no ice here. Photo: Sergey Erkhituev/Yandex.Maps
Wet, or Icy. It’s like entering a magical kingdom of ice, where every element of the decor sparkles under the light of lanterns. Frozen waterfalls, frost-covered vaults and walls, stalactites, stalagmites and columns grow at every step. From the inside, the cave is decorated with a cover resembling huge snow crystals.
At the entrance, the guest is greeted by a majestic ice waterfall with a height of 12 meters, which can only be overcome with special equipment. After descending, you find yourself in a spacious grotto with a ceiling height of up to 26 meters and a temperature varying between -7 °C and +1 ° C depending on the season. There is perfect silence inside.
We recommend going tocaves with an organized tour, including a transfer, a guide and the necessary equipment.
Here you seem to get into a magical kingdom of ice, where every element of the decor sparkles under the light of lanterns. Photo: Nick Em & Marina Prokopets/Yandex.Maps
Daursky Reserve
Lovers of steppe landscapes will love the Daursky Nature Reserve. The main attraction here is the Torey lakes: Barun Torey and Zun Torey with white-tinged water. This color is obtained due to the high content of bicarbonate salts, limestone and silt.
Various birds nest on these lakes: Daurian, Japanese, gray and black cranes, krasavka, sterkh. It is especially interesting to watch the birds at the end of summer, when they gather in large flocks and prepare to fly south.
The steppes around the lakes are the only habitat of the dzeren antelope in Russia. Here you can also see camels grazing peacefully in the open spaces.
Lovers of steppe landscapes will love the Daursky Nature Reserve. Photo: Gennadiy Solovyev/Shutterstock.com
Excursions. All local tours start from the village of Nizhny Tsasuchey. You can go to them by car or by sightseeing transport. In any case, tourists are accompanied by a guide. It is forbidden to stay on the territory of the reserve at night, but it is possible to stay near the cordons and spend the night in the field.
There are four options for excursions:
- The bus tour to the Torey Lakes lasts about 9 hours. During it, you will have the opportunity to observe birds and herds of dzeren, as well as swim in the waters of Lake Zun-Torey.
- Combined bus and walking tour lasting 9 hours to the Adon-Chelon massif.
- The hike to the Tsasuche forest will last about six hours, it is a walk through the centuries-old pine forest.
- The shortest tour “Steppe Legends” for three hours includes visits to natural and historical monuments, as well as stories about the hero Babji Baras Bator and the conqueror Genghis Khan.
There are two ways to get to the village of Nizhny Tsasuchey from Chita: rent a car or take public transport from Chita station. The distance in one direction is 255 kilometers.
A combined bus and walking tour lasting 9 hours to the Adon-Chelon massif. Photo: Shchipkova Elena/Shutterstock.com
Charsky sands
The road to Charsky Sands consists of two stages. There is an airport in the village of Chara, where flights from Chita are operated several times a week. The flight time is 1 hour and 40 minutes. The second stage is casting. It is best to visit the desert as part of a tour group in order to cross the swamp and rivers in an SUV without any problems.
Charsky Sands is a mysterious desert surrounded by taiga, lakes and snowy peaks. Photo: Valery Sidorin/Shutterstock.com
Deserts of Russia
Russia is so vast that the Arctic landscapes in the north are replaced by real deserts in the south. The island has a sandy selection — they told us where to see dunes, dunes and endless deserts.
What to try
Meat and dairy products predominate in the cuisine of the Trans-Baikal Territory. Buryat, Mongolian, Chinese and Japanese cuisines are mixed here. Buryat and Mongolian dishes can be ordered at the Ayan chain, the Belaya Yurt Cafe or the Nomad Star restaurant.
A few dishes that are definitely worth trying:
- Booze.They look like a cup of dough, and inside there is a meat filling made of minced meat mixed with onions.
- Buchler. Rich lamb bone soup with meat. A lot of coarsely chopped onions and spices are added to it: bay leaf, black pepper and herbs to taste.
- Shulap. Lamb-based noodle soup.
- Khushura. Finely chopped meat mixed with spices, which is wrapped in dough and fried in oil.
- Shangyi.Pies made of yeast dough with sour cream, butter and milk. The filling is made from mashed potatoes mixed with egg and butter.
- Bots. Dessert made of thinly rolled dough toasted in butter.
Shangi — pies made of yeast dough with sour cream, butter and milk. Photo: Chatham172/Shutterstock.com
What to bring
You can safely come to the Chita art salon for souvenirs: stone jewelry, paintings with landscapes and sights of Transbaikalia, malachite caskets and carved chess are sold here.
The main specialties of the region are smoked fish, honey and jam from wild berries, and among the handicrafts are all made of birch bark. No wonder, according to one version, the name of the city of Chita means “birch bark mat”!
The main specialties of the region are smoked fish, honey and jam made from wild berries. Photo: BlkG/Shutterstock.com
In Transbaikalia, the endless steppes turn into salt lakes and are replaced by high mountains and a real desert. This is not surprising, because the region surpasses Germany, Italy and Japan in area. Come conquer your native expanses!
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Cover photo: SnapSaga /Shutterstock.com
