Days

Notes

Day 1

As soon as the tourists' arrived to Kyzyl they'll be met and transferred to the yurt complex "By-Khem"*. There they can have a rest, walk through the outskirts, if somebody wishes, he can climb the mountain and observe all By-Khem hollow. In the evening there will be a bewitching show - concert of throat singing*.

* Accommodation will be in the yurt complex "By-Khem". Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

• "By-Khem" is a yurts complex, situated on the bank of the river By-Khem, in 22 km. from Kyzyl. In Tuvan By-Khem means Big Enisey. It consists of real felt yurts, built by tuvan masters especially for our tourists. The yurts will fill you wit thoughts and feelings of something past and eternal.

• Throat singing - "hoomey" - is a fantastic capability of Tuvan people and some other Siberian peoples to emit simultaneously two or three sounds of different tone and to sustain it the same sound for 25-30 seconds without taking a breath. If you close your eyes it is hard to believe that the sounds are emitted by a person, not a musical instrument.

Day 2

Excursion to Kizyl*, the capital of Tuva, visiting the Geographical Centre of Asia*. Then - a visit to the Buddhist temple where the tourists will hear the sermon of the real lama. The main part of the daily program is a visit to the Shaman clinic*.

Lunch is provided in the restaurant of Kizil where the traditional dishes of Tuvan cuisine will be cooked especially for the guests. Then a visit to Republic Regional Museum of Tuva*, the souvenir shop and the atelier of the national dress.

On the way back the group will come to the nomad's yurt. The acquaintance with the daily life of a Tuvan family cuts a fine figure on our guests.

*Accommodation will be in the yurt's complex "By-Khem". Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

• Kizyl is situated just in the place of confluence of rivers By-Khem (in Tuvan - Big Enisey) and Ka-Khem (in Tuvan - Small Enisey). They form famous Yenisey (Ulug-Chem). Kizyl was founded by the tsar's government in 1914 as a base for floating. Nowadays Kizyl is a small town, buried in verdure, the main sightseeing places are: monument The centre of Asia, Republic Regional Museum of Tuva, Shaman's clinic.
• Monument The Centre of Asia is symbolically situated not far from the place of confluence of two rivers - By-Khem and Ka-Khem. From here begins Great Yenisey river that crosses Siberia from the South to the North.
• In the shaman's clinic real shamans will tell the guests about their traditions, rituals and possibilities. After that those who wish to have a look into the future, to pass a purification procedure or to learn more about the state of health can make an appointment with any of the shamans.
• The building of Regional Museum of Tuva is itself a historical monument. There are really interesting archaeological finds of different epochs presented there.

Day 3

After breakfast the group goes to Dus-Khol lake* (Svatikovo). There you'll have a rest, to bathe and sunbathe. During this trip the tourists will also visit Chadyn lake*. Then our itinerary comes to the mineral spring Argolic*, where there will be a tent camp set.

* Accommodation will be in tents. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

• Dus-Khol is a very salted lake, it possesses curative power. By its salinity and healing power is not worth than Dead Sea.
• Chadyn lake is situated in 3 km. to the East from Dus-Khol lake, 10 meters deep.
• Mineral spring Argolic - in tuvan it means "saint water, curative spring"; there are more than 50 "arjaans" known in Tuva, tuvan people sing songs about them, keep rites connected with them, worship these springs.

Day 4

The next lake the group is going to visit Chagytay* lake which is also curative. After the day spent at the open air with bathing everybody will feel great. In the evening - bonfire and guitar songs.

The next day the tourists are going to visit national celebration of Naadym - traditional Tuvan holiday.

*Accommodation will be in the yurts' complex "By-Khem". Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

• Chahytay is the deepest and the sweetest lake of the Tuvan hollow. It is located at the foot of the northern mountainside of the ridge Tannu-Ola 1003 meters above the sea level, 17 meters deep and its square is 2860 square meters. The water in the lake is sweet and there is different fish inhabit the lake: pike, bream, carp.

Day 5

Breakfast, transfer "By-Khem" - Kyzyl. The celebration begins in the morning with the parade of the participants of Naadym*. The unveiling of the festival will be at the square. The participants are the best cattlemen from different parts of Tuva. They wear national costumes* and it makes the parade very colourful and attractive.

After lunch - the competition for the best yurt*. For this competition participants bring their yurts with them to the festival. When all the yurts are gathered together they form a yurts-town. As a matter of fact, yurts from different parts of Tuva are unlike. The winners will be announced on the sixth day.

In the evening there will be the concert in the musical-drama theatre with the performance of dance and chorus ensembles.

*Accommodation will be in the yurts complex "By-Khem" along with breakfast, lunch and dinner.

• Nadym is a tradition national tuvan celebration of cattlemen, which is hold annually in august. The program of Nadym includes "huresh" - national tuvan fighting, horse racing, and archery.
• As for national tuvan dress, summer outer clothes for men - gabardine caftans of so-called Mongol cut; such caftans are sewed of plain material, with lining. Women wears light outer-clothes, a bit like Khakas, from XIX century, these are gabardine dresses with flounces at the knee-level and colour laces along the seams. Summer cups are sewed of fleece-wadded material, they have conic crows and high edging of fur and cloth. An imperative addition to the dress is a belt, made of fabrics or leather, keys, knives and other necessary things are attached to them.

• A tuvan yurt is still one of the most popular houses in all districts of Tuva. Yurts are sectional and handheld, with light wooden frame, covered with felt. In the centre of every yurt there is a fireplace for cooking, it also lighten and heats the room. Yurts are divided into two parts - male and female. There is also a honourable corner for receiving guests.

Day 6

After breakfast - transfer to Kyzyl. This day is mostly for horse racing*. The cattlemen bring their best horses. The trade fair* is also held this day. There you can by any national souvenirs.

During all the day, you can taste traditional tuvan cuisine*.

*Accommodation will be in the yurts complex "By-Khem".

• Horse racing are held for different distances - from the shortest to the longest. Horsemen show first-rate racing, various types of riding. Even 12-15 year-old children take part in such competitions. Sometimes it happens, that horses cant reach the finish, they are just driven too hard.
• At the trade fair everybody can buy popular tuvan souvenirs - stone and wooden figures, national dress (caftans and caps), knives, pipes, whips, national wooden dolls, ceramics, national instruments, dish, boots.
• The base of Tuvan cuisine contains mostly products of cattle breeding. The most respected products are milk and mutton. During the celebration the tourists will have an opportunity to taste milk vodka - araka. Very popular and esteemed drink is kumys - turned sheep's milk. Favorite dish of tuvan people is sogaja - fried on the carbons soft part of liver. Tea with milk - is the favorite drink on tuvan people, the tea must be green, it is boiled in a big cast-iron pans, with salt. Except tea people in Tuva like dalgan very much - dalgan is meal, made of fried barley.

Day 7

Today the tourists are to watch the national fighting "huresh"*. After the huresh there will be a festive firework at the square. And in the evening - the most sacramental and unusual part of the program - camlanie of the tuvan shamans. As a matter of fact, shamans don't lead their rites together, usually they do it alone, but Naadym is an exception. All the shamans try to invite all the spirits for them to protect the tuvan people, help them during the next year.

*Accommodation in the yurt complex "By-Khem". Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

• Huresh is as popular among tuvan people as throat singing "hoomey". Huresh, horse racing and archery are permanent attributes of all celebrations. The rules of the huresh are very simple: loses that who touches the floor with any part of his body except feet. Every round is held between two, only men can fight, they wear special costumes "sodak-shudak" and after the victory the winner plays a small role-mimic scene, representing an eagle. Fighting of famous champions can attract huge crowds of people. There are a lot of legends about best fighters.

Day 8

Breakfast. Transfer to the airport. Flight from Kyzyl.