Altai Mountains, Chemal District

Chemal District is central in Altai Republic. It is spread over the Lower Katun valley and a bunch of smaller rivers flowing into it. The district starts in Ust-Sema village. A drive along the Chemal Tract brings you to Chemal, the administrative center. 

Horse Yard (Konny Dvor) near Belokurikha

 

During our stay in Belokurikha we went on one guided tour only. We visited the Horse Yard (Konny Dvor). It was very expensive, but my boys and I enjoyed it very much. I thought it would be interesting for the kids because the description of the tour said that one can see horses, birds, Siberian stags and much more. I was right, the boys loved it! Though we paid 40 euros for a 3hours tour for the three of us, we were not disappointed. But to those wishing to visit the place I recommend not to join an organized tour, but to go by yourself. Even if you go by taxi, it can be much cheaper.

Belokurikha, a Balneotherapeutic Health Resort in Altai

In the end of March my older son had a short vacation at school and I thought it was a good idea not to spend this time in the dirty city, but to go somewhere where there’s fresh air, beautiful nature and lots of opportunities to spend time outside. I was thinking of Altai mountains, Chemal District, but my mom offered another idea, which sounded even better, besides, I’ve never been in that place before. So we went to Belokurikha, a famous balneotherapeutic health resort. Actually it is in Altai mountains as well, at the beginning of Cherginsky Range.

German National District in Siberia

I suppose this post can be more interesting for my German readers, but I hope everyone will find it informative.

Not long ago I had a chance to travel to the German National District. If you think that I had to make a long journey, you are mistaken.

Ust-Koksa and Tyungur, Altai

Now when it's about -30 outside, it's the right time to remember the summer and one of the most attractive and amazing destinations in Altai mountains - Ust-Koksa district, a mecca for thousands and thousands of hikers not only from Russia, but from all over the world. I've met a couple from Germany there, for example, and I often see questions and opinions about the district at various international forums and discussion boards.
The reason of such broad interest is Mt.Belukha, the highest peak in Altai and one of the highest in Russia, which is a hiking and mountaineering goal for loads of travelers, picturesque Akkem lake at the foot of this mountain, plenty of other beautiful mountain lakes, Multa lakes inclusive (I've written about it earlier) and a lot of other attractions, which make this long trip worth doing. Tyungur is about 900 km away from Novosibirsk, but we didn't mind, because we didn't drive too much within one day, so the travel was rather relaxed.
And what I liked most is that the region is really wild, with as little civilization as one can possibly imagine. Of course there are cell phones, internet connection and television there too, but  it is not pronounced and one doesn't even feel one needs all these things there.

Museum of Nikolas Roerich in Novosibirsk and Verkhniy Uymon, Altai

Nicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (Russian: Никола́й Константи́нович Рéрих; October 9 1874 – December 13, 1947), was a Russian mystic, painter, philosopher, scientist, writer, traveler, and public figure.
I love his paintings very much. His style is unique and recognizable, it's impossible to mix him up with someone else. As to his philosophy, I hadn't been interested in it much until recently. Perhaps it's my 'middle age' crisis, or I just reached the age when one starts some spiritual search for the meaning of this life, or mere coincidence, but somehow I feel that Roerich's philosophy and view of life is close to me. I haven't read any of his literary works yet, and I haven't read any of the works of his wife, Elena Roerich, but I'm definitely going to. Their philosophy is not completely Christian, and many true Christians say that the Roerichs were even opposed to Christianity, but to my mind its basic principles coincide with Christianity and all other common religions, as it is based on the principles of love and peace.
I don't want to dwell on the philosophy much, as I'm not an expert in it.

Shinok Waterfalls

I was thinking about visiting Shinok waterfalls for a long time, but I read that it is not so easy to reach the waterfalls, as the path was not a simple one and it could be difficult with kids. Many stories about a hike there were written by travelers with kids and I thought it would be reasonable to wait a little for my sons to be older. But this summer  I thought we could at least try to do it, and after a hike to Multa lakes I got rid of my fears, so we did it!

Altai. Multa (Multinskiye) Lakes

This summer we went to Altai Mountains again. I can never get bored of Altai, it's a fascinating, fantastic, wonderful region with so many attractions, that one can spend a life and don't see them all.

I was dreaming about visiting Multa Lakes for many years. The lakes are located in Ust-Koksa district of Altai Republic. This district is a near-border area, and one has to obtain a permit to enter it. This is not difficult at all, and takes only about an hour, but if you are a non-Russian citizen, you have to apply for the permit in about two months.

I didn't manage to visit the lakes in my youth, and it's still difficult for me, as my kids are not big enough to go on a many-days hiking tour. But fortunately, one doesn't have to make a long hiking tour to get there, it's possible to drive there, though not by every car. Not even all off-road cars can get there. The most typical vehicle delivering lazy tourists is of this kind:

Altai. Teletskoye Lake

Somehow I can't stop writing about Altai. Perhaps I would write about Caucasus if I lived close to Caucasus, or about the Alps, if I lived there.
But I happen to live in Siberia and one of its main attractions is Altai.
Today I'll write about Teletskoye Lake.
It's the biggest and the deepest lake in Altai.
Situated at a height of 434 m above sea level, the lake is 78 km long and 5 km wide. Its surface area is 233 km²; however, due to its considerable depth (325 m), the lake contains no less than 40 km³ of fresh water. The lake transparency is high, with the visibility of the lake water ranging from six to fourteen meters. The water temperature is no more than 8-10 degrees C in summer, but there are small bays where it can be up to 15-17 degrees C warm, thus it's possible to bathe there.

Here's what Wiki says about Teletskoye Lake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Teletskoye

Altai Mountains, November 2010

I started dreaming of the next Altai travel as soon as came back from there in the end of August. Altai is able to capture you, perhaps the same way as all mountains do.
November 4-7 is a public holiday in Russia and everyone can enjoy some days-off. Unfortunately the weather is usually dull-gray within this period. It's late autumn, no leaves on trees, sometimes it snows, sometimes it just freezes, but sometimes we are lucky to have relatively warm and sunny weather.

Altai Mountains, Chuya Road and surroundings. Conclusion.

Hello, everybody reading my blog.
I'm finally up to writing the last part of the story about our Chuya Road travel.
And it is just the right time to finish the story as spring is already here and I'm packing my backpack for the next tour, not knowing yet where we'll go.

Altai Mountains, Chuya Road and surroundings. Part 4

In the end of the previous part of my story http://mytravelog.blogspot.com/2011/02/altai-mountains-chuya-road-and_20.html
I said we were going to see the the Northern-Chuya mountain range. And we did it. We saw many other amazing sights too.
It's just unbelievable that all these things are less than 1000 km away from Novosibirsk. This distance is not large, if we remember the total dimensions of Russia.
But when one comes to those remote places, one feels as if one would be in another world or even on another planet.

Altai Mountains, Chuya Road and surroundings. Part 3

After some time of silence I'll continue my story, the second part of which can be found here:
http://mytravelog.blogspot.com/2011/02/altai-mountains-chuya-road-and.html. Hope I'll be able to finish it by August when, hopefully our next Altai travel  is going to happen.

Having left Kur-Kechu camping we went on our travel along the Chuya Road, in the direction of the border with Mongolia.
The day was wonderful! The sun was shining in the clear sky. It was a bit cold in the morning, but it's typical for mountains.
In a small village called Inya we bought a big sack of potatoes, carrots, cucumbers and onions for as cheap as a bottle of vodka. Unfortunately the locals are addicted to drinking, and all travelers should be aware of that.

Altai Mountains, Chuya Road and surroundings. Part 2

I've been pretty silent for nearly a month.
A lot of work...
But the sun is shining brighter and brighter and it's the right time to start planning the next travel.
And to remember the past summer, of course.

Well, I started to describe our Altai travel here: http://mytravelog.blogspot.com/2010/12/just-to-remember-summer-in-middle-of.html
And I stopped on Seminsky Mountain Pass.
So I'll continue.
Seminsky Pass is high, 1700 m over the sea level, the road to the top of it and down is almost straight, hardly any bends, so it's not so easy to get on top even by an off-road vehicle. But the way down the pass is quite easy.

Altai Mountains, Chuya Road and surroundings. Part 1.

I've been silent for so many days and even week. A lot of work, a typical situation for the end of a year.
And today I've managed to finish the last project I had to translate, to cope with the necessary bookkeeping and even to clean the house.
It's quite cold outside, which is typical for the middle of winter.
Real Siberian Christmas and New Year frosts...
I'm looking forward to New Year's Eve and thinking about summer.
It's quite a long time to wait, and too early to make plans, so I'd rather remember the last summer.
It was really great, with our travel to Altai Mountains. It is something like a tradition for our family already.
It was the second time we went to Altai with our kids.
And for me it was somewhat the 10th travel there.
The first time I visited Altai was when I was 16. My cousin, who was 26 at that time, took me with her. She was with her boyfriend and paid almost no attention to me, so I had a lot of time and opportunities to walk around, to look and listen and to fall in love with that wonderful region so deeply that all my numerous travels to Europe, which I also love, cannot replace that passion for Altai.