'''Buryatia''' [http://www.buryatia.ru/buryatia/index_e.html] is a republic in Eastern Siberia, which borders Tuva to the west, Irkutsk to the northwest, Chita Oblast to the east, and Mongolia to the south.
Regions
Cities
Ulan-Ude — the capital
Arshan — a hot springs resort town in the Tunkinsky National Park, with a nearby Buddhist Temple in the woods
Gusinoozyorsk — a large coal town on Lake Gusinoye
Kyakhta — a town near the border with Mongolia founded in the 18th century as a trade center between Russia and the Qing Dynasty
Orlik — the principal town of the beautiful Oka region on the Border with Tuva and a convenient base for exploring nearby rivers, volcanos, and hot springs; great destination for horseback riding, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, and mountain climbing
Severobaikalsk — a large Baikal-Amur Mainline town on the northern shore of Lake Baikal
Tarbagatai — inhabited by the "heretical" Russian Orthodox Old Believers, this village is about 50km north of Ulan-Ude
Other destinations
Baikalsky Nature Reserve
Barguzinsky Nature Reserve
Dzerginsky Nature Reserve
Khoyto-Gol — a mountain hot springs spa
Lake Baikal — the deepest and oldest lake in the world and, by volume of water, also the planet's largest freshwater body or water.
Olkhon — the largest island in Lake Baikal.
Tunkinsky National Park
Zabaikalsky National Park
Understand
The republic was founded in 1923 with the joining of two territories and it currently has the status of a republic within the Russian Federation. Russians constitute the majority of the republic's one million inhabitants, although the native Tibetan Buddhist and Shamanist Buryats (a race of Mongolian descent) remain a large minority (about 30% of the population); indeed, the Buryats constitute Siberia's largest ethnic group after Russians.
Aside from its cultural attractions and capital, Buryatia is a nature lover's paradise. Almost 80% of the territory is covered by mountains, and more than half the shore-line of Lake Baikal falls under Buryatia's jurisdiction. Outside the capital Ulan Ude, the major tourist attractions include hot springs, Lake Baikal and Mongolian style Buddhist monasteries.
Talk
The indigenous Buryat language is widely spoken by the Buryat minority. Nonetheless, everyone understands Russian.
Get in
The Trans-Siberian Railway makes four stops in Buryatia, from west to east: Tankhoi, Babushkin, Ulan-Ude, and Zaigraevo.
Ulan-Ude Airport is served by domestic flights from Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, and Yakutsk. Passenger service to/from Ulaanbaatar has been discontinued.
Get around
Commercial bus lines will take you from Ulan-Ude to most locations within the region. To get to the Oka region and Orlik, however, you will need to hire or rent a jeep to make it down the long dirt road.
The Ulan-Ude–Naushki rail branch off the Trans-Siberian Railway will take travelers to Gusinoozyorsk.
See
'''Ivolginsky Buddhist Datsan''' [http://www.baikal.eastsib.ru/places/ivolginsky.html] — a large Buddhist monastery 23 km outside of Ulan Ude; buses leave the central bus station in Ulan Ude at 10AM, 12 noon and 5:40PM for the forty minute journey (taking the later bus will mean having to spend the night in at the monastery guesthouse or returning by taxi)
Itineraries
Do
take a '''hot spring bath''' at Khoyto-Gol Warm Springs in the Sayan Mountains - simple cabin accommodation available.
'''trekking, biking, and horseback riding''' in the Sayan Mountains - highest peak: Topographov Peak, 3044 mts.
'''whitewater rafting'''
Eat
Drink
Stay safe
Get out
The next major stops on the Trans-Siberian Railway are Irkutsk to the west; to the east, Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky and Chita.
The Ulan-Ude–Naushki rail branch leads on to the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar.