Cape Burkhan
Anyone who has heard anything about Lake Baikal knows that there is an unusual rock on the Island of Olkhon that, from time immemorial, the indigenous people have esteemed, and that, notwithstanding the formidable word «Russia» nor the frankly terrifying «Siberia», people come from all over the world to see. This wonderful creation of Baikal has many names: Cape Pesherny, Cape Shamanskiy, Shamanka rock, Cape Burkhan. Historically, the first name was Cape Shamanskiy, Shamanka. When shamanism had been ousted by Buddhism a new name for the sacred place of the Buruat was adopted - Burkhan (in Buryat - «Oikhon-ekhe-babai»). Today the cape has the status of a state natural-historical monument. Burkhan is situated in the central part of the western coast of Olkhon, in the Pribaikalskiy National Park, near the settlement of Khuzhir. A pathway from the edge of Khuzhir imperceptibly leads one to a long cape ending in a steep slope leading straight to the rock of Burkhan.
