Altai - Hemingway's Dream
Every morning, wrapped in clouds like a white fluffy blanket, the city of Gorno-Altaisk wakes up. A city full of plans, hopes and life. With a rich past, an interesting present and a great future.
The main square of the capital of the Altai Republic is the center of holidays. It is held carnival, Nauryz and Chaga Bayram. There is no fuss of big cities, everything is comfortable and measured.
Surrounded by mountains, the city is in constant harmony with nature. Many springs and water sources go directly to the city and, thanks to this, residents of Gorno-Altaisk can bring home clean spring water every day.
Altai keeps traces of ancient glaciation. At the time when the glaciers retreated, lakes appeared and one of them was on the site of the current capital of the Republic. Then, the stone dam was swept away by water currents, and they rushed north. The city grew on the site of swamps and impassable swamps. Now it is rapidly developing, becoming popular not only among Russian tourists, but also foreigners.
In the book One-Story America, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov describe their meeting with Ernest Hemingway: And we returned to the old conversation about fishing, about traveling and other beautiful things. It turned out that Hemingway wants to go to the Soviet Union, to the Altai. What drew the great American writer here, Ilf and Petrov did not indicate, but, undoubtedly, travelers always had something to see in their wanderings around the Altai Territory.
The territory that this region occupies is 168,000 square kilometers. It would easily accommodate Switzerland and Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Bahamas and even Singapore would have a place.
Full-water rivers, remnants of ancient seas, unique ribbon mountains, primitive caves, mysterious mounds, jasper and jade scattered at the foot of granite mountains, all this and much more interesting can be seen on the expanses of the region.
For those who travel by car in the region have developed two main routes. The length of the Small Golden Ring of Altai is about 300 kilometers. Travelers on this path can take from two to five days. During this time, you can visit where the rivers Bia and Katun meet, in the village of Srotki, in the homeland of Vasily Shukshin, in the resort city of federal significance - Belokurikha, on Lake Aya and on the shore of Turquoise Katun.
The Great Golden Ring of Altai stretches for 2,000 kilometers. This path can take from 10 to 15 days. Here travelers can get acquainted with the native places of German Titov, Robert Rozhdestvensky, actress Ekaterina Savinova, Mikhail Kalashnikov, film director Ivan Pyrev. There is an opportunity to visit the salt lakes and the Klyvan Mountain - the birthplace of the largest bowl in the world (the queen of vases).
On the route of the Big Ring there is an ice-free Lake Svetloye. Every year, the winter tourist season opens in the region with the arrival of swans-screamers. The summer tourist season begins with the flowering of maral, it is also called Altai cherry. In early May, the foothills of Altai are painted in soft lilac shades.
The city of Belokurikha is famous for its healing springs, which were discovered a century and a half ago. Here, during the war years, was the pioneer camp Artek. Here, Konstantin Paustovsky worked on the novel “Smoke of the Fatherland”. Later he wrote: "Belokurikha is remembered as a small intermission in the gloomy fog."
Today Belokurikha is one of the best resorts of federal importance. The only center of restorative medicine beyond the Urals. Here you can improve your health with therapeutic mud, thermal waters and surprisingly clean, mountain air.
A two-hour drive from the health resort town is a special economic zone Turquoise Katun. There is a turbulent river, Tavdin caves, mixed forests and burial mounds of the Turkic era. To attract tourists, there are three mountain slopes, year-round hotel complexes and an artificial pond with attractions. Turquoise Katun occupies 3,326 hectares. This is the largest area of the special economic zone of tourist and recreational type in Russia.
One of the main attractions of the Altai Territory is the Big Spring Lake. This is a drainless mountain-salt lake, which is located in the western part of the Kulunda plain. The water here is similar in composition to the waters of the Dead Sea in Israel. The water in the lake is so dense that it is impossible to drown. Every year, there are more than 75,000 holidaymakers on the shore of the lake.
For those who are tired of the city bustle, the region is actively developing rural tourism. There are about two hundred guest houses, the owners of which will always welcome you. There is peace and quiet in the village. You can pick fresh vegetables and berries directly from the beds, take care of pets and walk in the forest with a mushroom basket. The atmosphere is clean and calm. Perhaps, here it is best to take a break from the dirty city air, the noise of transport and the hustle and bustle of people.
The Altai region attracts travelers with fascinating views of nature, purity, water springs and tranquility. Over the decade, the total tourist flow has more than tripled. It is projected to grow by 10% annually. For this purpose, not only are existing tourist sites being developed, but they are planning and already creating new ones.
Text by Anna Bochkareva
Photo: vtourisme.com, plot-altai.ru, adventure-team.org, altai.aif.ru, altaizhemchuzhina.ru