Excursion-ethnographic tour "Initiation into shamanism" (7 days/6 nights) is held in Republic of Tuva.

About Tuva

Tuva is situated on the South of Eastern Siberia in the geographical center of Asia. It borders Krasnoyarsk region, Khakassia republic, Mongolia, Altai republic. Tuva is very rich in natural resources: besides huge geological deposits, there are about 8000 rivers, including famous Khemchik and Yenisei, about 20 big fresh and salt water lakes, lots of healing mineral springs.  Fauna of Tuva is very unique and diverse: here one can meet a camel, a desert dweller, and a reindeer, inhabitant of northern territories, Tuvan mountains Tannu-Ola are the realm of snow leopard. Also bear, wolf, squirrel, moose, sable, roebuck, lynx, glutton and birds like hazel-hen, blackcock, goose, duck, eagles and even swans are often met here.  From fish such species can be mentioned:  Siberian and Mongolian grayling, salmon, bass, pike and many others.

The population of Tuva is about 315 thousand people. The capital of the republic is Kyzyl, the place having been calculated and depicted to be the geographical center of Asia. Distance from Abakan – 460 km, from Krasnoyarsk – 1000 km.  Time difference with Moscow is +4 hours.

Main confessions: Orthodox Church, Buddhism, Shamanism.

Places of interest in Kyzyl are: free Arat square, “The center of  Asia” obelisk, Regional Tuvan museum of 60 heroes; Tuvan national theatre;  Shaman clinic.

Holidays and customs of Tuva

Shagaa – New Year according to the luni-solar calendar. (January-February)

Constitution day of Tuva Republic – 6 May

Republic Day – 15 August

Naadym – summer holiday of cattle farmers.

Season rituals of worshipping nature (sug bazhy dagyyr, taiga dagyyr, ot dagyyr).

If you happen to appear at a Tuvan family’s place, you should know that it is used to give little presents to hosts. You present children with sweets or cookies, and adults may be presented with something useful, for example a torch. It’s very important to deal with older ones with respect, following subordination.

Singing songs in a company of people is much preferred by Tuvans, so be ready to be asked to sing, Good vocal abilities are not important – it’s important to support singing anyway. In their songs Tuvans chant the praises of great rivers Yenisei and Irtysh and of great mountains Sayan and Altai, steppes and valleys. They sing about their friends – horses.

How to get

The journey starts in Kyzyl. Time difference with Moscow is +4 hours.

You can get to Kyzyl from Krasnoyarsk by airlines “Dexter” (8 seats). Telephone in Krasnoyarsk +7 (391), 2666-999 and 2555-955. There is a fixed timetable for the summer.  The flight Krasnoyarsk-Kyzyl is Mon-Sat at 11:10, arrival in Kyzyl at 12:30. The timetable could be changed during the summer. The one way tickets cost from 190 Euro.

You can also get to Kyzyl from Novosibirsk by an 8-seat plane Pilatus PC12 on Mondays and Fridays. The departure time from Kyzyl is 09.15 and from Novosibirsk is 16.10. The flight time is 2 hours 20 minutes. The minimal ticket cost is 275 Euro one way. The timetable and the cost can be changed during the season. 

There is no railroad in Tuva. In the republic there are 2 roads of federal significance: Kyzyl-Abakan and Kyzyl-Ak-Dovurak-Abakan. From Krasnoyarsk, Abakan, Novosibirsk you can get to Kyzyl also by regular and fixed-route taxis.

If it is more convenient for you to fly to Krasnoyarsk.

Krasnoyarsk airport “Emelyanovo” accepts boards from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Barnaul and Norilsk from the following air companies: “Aeroflot” www.aeroflot.ru, «Vladivostok Avia» www.vladavia.ru,  «Sibir» www.s7.ru, «Utair» www.utair.ru, «Transaero» www.transaero.ru, «Taimyr» taimyravia.ru  and others.

Information about flights to Krasnoyarsk airport “Emelyanovo” (KJA) can be queried at 007 (391) 2666-999, 2666-955 

Then you can fly to Kyzyl or spend a day in Krasnoysarsk going to a city sightseeing excursion and then in the evening go by train to Abakan.

From Krasnoyarsk to Abakan and back you can go by fast and passenger train ¹ 124, ¹ 658 that go every day.. Information on the phone: +7 (391) 259-41-49. Schedule for the summer can be changed, now we focus on the departure on the first day of the tour at 21 o'clock, arrival in Abakan in 10:46. From Abakan departure at 20.00 and arrival in Krasnoyarsk at 06.00. The cost of railway tickets Krasnoyarsk - Abakan: 3rd class - 30 Euro, 2d - 50 Euro.

If it is more convenient for you to arrive in Abakan

To Abakan you can get by airlines “VladivostokAvia” www.vladavia.ru and “Siberia” www.s7.ru from Moscow, Vladivostok, Barnaul, Norilsk. All information in Moscow at  +7(495) 436-34-80, 250-96-46, in Abakan +7( 3902) 282-864, 282-798. Moreover, you can get to Abakan by train from Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Moscow, all information at +7(3902) 29-41-01, by bus, by fixed-run taxi and by electric train.

From Abakan to Kyzyl you can get only along motor roads:

1) transfer ordered in advance, which will be arranged for you by our company, traveling time 6 hours, the price for a car - 200 Euro, a minibus up to 7 seats - 330 Euro, minibus up to 13 seats -490 Euro.

2) by regular bus: departure from the railway station Abakan daily at 12:00 and 19:00, traveling time 9 hours; from bus terminal on Thursdays at 16:10. Ticket price - 25 Euro. Ordering a ticket through our company you pay an additional service fee of 7 Euro. Phone of ticket office 8 (39022) 9-41-69. Transportation by buses LAZ. Due to frequent breakdowns of that buses, long time on way we recommend using them in the last resort.

3) by private fixed-run taxi and cars (Toyota Fielder, Honda Odyssey) from the railway station from 06:00 to 20:00. The car leaves as soon as it is full, so passengers usually wait up to 3 hours. Traveling time 6 hours, the price from 35 Euro. Ordering a ticket through our company you pay an additional service fee of 7 Euro.

4) by private car on the highway M-54, the distance Abakan-Kyzyl - 400 km.

Accommodation along the tour

Yurt-complex “Biy-Khem”

Yurt-complex is a yurt camp near Kyzyl specially designed for tourists’ accommodation. Yurts for two people made of felt are very comfortable and cozy are furnished with wooden beds, little wardrobe and cupboard. Shower with hot water and bio-closet facilities are situated in the big detached yurt. Canteen and bar are also situated in another yurt.

In the complex there is a stone “ovaa” – witchcraft rite place sanctified by shamans, campfire where in evenings a ritual “kamlanie” and concerts are held.

For corporate customers yurt complex offers organizing business events, seminars, retreats. At good weather it is possible to pull the tents and organize a workshop in the open air, for your guests we make a coffee break, install projectors and screens. In case of rain the business part takes place in a yurt-canteen.

At the time of departure of tourists on the radial routes for 2-3 days involving overnight stays outside the yurt complex tourists have to check out the yurt, leave extra luggage in a cloakroom, taking to the route what you need, some valuable things. Arriving back in the yurt complex tourists are accommodated in free yurts.

Additional services: excursions, horseback riding, cooking meals to order Tuvan cuisine, rafting on the river "Bii-Khem", concert performers of throat singing, rite shamans.

Excursions, horse riding, Biy-Khem river rafting, national cuisine cooking and other services are available for additional fee.

Camping

Camping is made at time of radial trips on the route at convenient places for tourists. Tents are set by the accompanying staff.

Camping has tents for 2 or 3 people. To stay at the complex you will be given a full set of tourist equipment: mats and sleeping bags. There is no electricity in the complex, so we recommend precharging the batteries of mobile phones and cameras, as well as taking a spare set of batteries. During their stay in tents tourists will be provided three times a day hot meals, which the cook prepares to fire. On the way we organize picnics, tourists get lunch boxes.

Weather

The climate in Tuva is sharply continental. Summer there is dry, temperature up to 40 C. Winters are cold – 50 C and not snowy.

• It's very beautiful in June, as the greenery is still fresh, everything is in blossom, at the same time you can see snow high up in the mountains. It's warm during the day, but rather cool in the evening.
• July is the hottest month, but sometimes there might rain for a week. The weather is stable and it's warm in the day time and at night. At the end of the month the steppe starts getting dry.
• The first half of August is warm, but later it starts getting colder. Nights get colder. At the end of the month there is a change of colors in nature surroundings: leaves get red and yellow. At this time of the year there is a great many of mushrooms and berries.
• September is rich with a diversity of nature colors, red, yellow, and green colors prevail. Usually, the first half of the month is warm but nights are cold. During the second half of September it can be rainy, the temperature can drop to +5C.

Miscalleneous

Meeting and seeing off

Group of tourists or a tourist transfers from airport or bus terminal of Kyzyl are organized at fixed time. Tourists are met with a board, where tourist’s name or a name of a company is printed. Seeing off is organized according to your tickets. Tourist are transferred to the airport 3 hours before a flight. The contact numbers of guide will be given to you 7 days before the day of start.

Transportation terms

Traveling by minivans, minibuses, cars UAZ, jeeps according to group’s size. All transport is with air conditioner. In every bus there is a bar, fridge, audio and video system. During the tour there are several stops, rest, walks and picnics. On the most difficult tracks we use the services of the most reliable transport – UAZ.

It is forbidden to smoke in buses, stops in some places, preserves. Driving during the night is also forbidden because of the seasonal pasture.

Guide services

We have highly qualified guides working in our company, due to this fact the tours of the company "Sayan Ring" have become so interesting and fascinating. They say, without a guide any journey, even a short one is nothing more than going some distance, but with a guide it is already traveling. On some trips you will be accompanied by experienced instructors. Tourists are also accompanied by a shaman, who organizes seminars, ritual of kamlanie, tells about shamanism secrets.

Meals

In any tour you will be offered two or three meals a day, be it a hotel, a nomad's tent. On the way short picnics or packed lunches will be organized. Mineral water, local drinks, coffee, tea, and juice are included in tours' pricing. Alcohol beverages are not included in price. We also consider the tourists' preferences, those who follow special diets or are vegetarians. For this you need to fill in a form in advance indicating your wishes and submit it to us. In case the meal preferences were not specified one will be provided with standard menu. Any alterings in meal during the tour are possible only for additional fee.

The national Russian and Tuvinian cuisine will be an integral part of the program.

Traditional Russian dishes are pancakes, fried and baked pies, dumplings, pickled cucumbers, salad, soup, fruit drinks and much more. Speaking about Tuvinian people, they can’t do without meat and diary products. In fact, they eat mostly meat and all other food is just an addition to it. Various dishes made of meat and flour are quite popular with local people, these are soup with meat and noodles (uzken bydaa), meat dumplings prepared on steam (boozy) and traditional ones (manchy), round fried meat pie (khuzhuury), minced meat with pastry (tyrtykan) and many others.

Moreover, you can find on the table of Tuvinian people vodka made of milk (araga), which is made of sour milk, boorzaki – pieces of pastry fried in boiled oil, cakes, which are eaten not with prepared food, but as “individual dish” and soktaan dolgan – ground barley. Also Tuvinian people like blood pudding, green tea with milk (it is drunk with butter or salt). The importance of diary products as well as meat product is very high for these people. They developed different ways of cooking products made of  milk such as – cheese (bashtyk), butter (sarzhag), cream (oreme), koumiss (khymys), kefir (tarak), sour clotted milk (khoitpak), dried cottage cheese – of hard  and crumbly consistence (kurut and aarzhy respectively).

Security

All vehicles along the route are equipped with first-aid kit and all our guides have been specially trained to do primary medical assistance. Also all our tourists are insured against accidents (insurance Ingosstrakh, telephone customer service center +7 (495) 589 20 82). District of Tuva is the area where there are snakes, ticks encephalitis. Follow the rules of precautions and personal safety.

Mobile communications on the route

On the most area where we travel you can use services of mobile operators “MTS”, “ETK”, “Beeline”, “Megaphone” with no cuts-off. Their SIM cards you can buy on official offices in Kyzyl.

Useful tips

It is necessary to take going on the tour:

The clothing should be comfortable, first of all. Please take what you usually put on for hiking and holidays. In case of chilly weather, especially in the evenings, make sure you take a warm sweater, socks, wind resistant jacket and 2 footwear pairs: a pair of sport shoes and a pair of water resistant shoes. A light colored shirt with long sleeves and light pants (trousers), which can protect your legs from thorny grass in the steppes of Tuva.

• Sunglasses, and sun cream (the sun activity is high in Tuva).
• Swimsuit (you may need it in “banya”, Russian sauna).
• A hat or a baseball hat to avoid sunstroke.
• A knitted jacket and warm sweater.
• Light wind resistant jacket, in August – warm jacket.
• Shorts, T-shirts, easy clothing and footwear.
• You also should take a contract confirming tour purchase, medical insurance card, tick-born encephalitis  insurance certificate (if you have one), individual medicines.

Pecularities

You don’t need any special knowledge for taking part in training, but you can’t take part, if you have some mind diseases (schizophrenia, falling-sickness etc.)

Ticks and mosquitoes

In Tuva there are not many mosquitoes, but there can be a lot of mosquitoes because of continuous rains, which is a rare phenomenon for Tuva. There are ticks in Tuva, the dangerous season is May-June, but the accommodation places are treated with special chemicals. Anyway each tourist is given the individual means of protection, also we recommend tourists to make sure their arms and legs are covered in twilight because mosquitoes are enlivened in the evening time.

Water

Water provided during the tour is clear and doesn’t need any additional purification. You will be given  water for drinking (still or carbonated) in any amounts you like, that’s why there will be no need in taking water with you. Water in hot Tuva is necessary.

Other information

Information  including meeting guide telephone and timed program is provided 7 days before the first day of the tour. You can get your insurance certificates, air and railway tickets booked in advance from your guide at the starting day.

Enjoy your holiday!