Travel to the Altai Mountains: Alpine meadows without leaving Russia

This summer, I decided not to go to Turkey or Egypt and prefer Russian beauty abroad. Since I don’t like water, but I do like horses, I decided to direct my feet to the Altai, especially since a friend of mine opened a new base there. My friends and I were the first tourists to visit.

Getting a long and difficult: first got on the train “Yekaterinburg-Novosibirsk” and drove for a day, constantly irritated by the screaming children rushing to Baikal. In Novosibirsk, I admired the local girls for six hours: I liked them much more than the Urals, a special breed. After six hours I had to say goodbye to the beauties and take another train that took us to Biysk. It was terribly hot in the car, I almost fryed to a fit, but still drove. In Biysk we sat in the "Pazik" and dragged like turtles to Elekmonar, in the forty-degree heat. The road was terrible, primarily because of its dinner, so the bus went slowly and we got to the place for a little more than four hours.

Elekmonar is home to very friendly people, perhaps because the region is largely supported by tourists. While waiting for the next bus, we managed to go to the banks of the Katun River and wash the legs. Then we went to the Karakol tract, and here on this part of the way I felt a real pleasure: there was a beautiful juicy grass around and very few mosquitoes - in general, a great atmosphere decorated with magnificent views! At the same time, the path is very, very extreme: sometimes I had to go up by bus directly on a mountain stream - I am still surprised that nowhere stalled.

Finally, here we are. The first thing we had was lunch, and the second thing was to choose horses. They are absolutely not constrained in movement, they are given complete freedom – just run along the clearing and occasionally given to a person to conduct a “test drive”. We chose our horses according to their height and immediately learned to harness them independently. When I galloped, I thought that I would be blown away, but I got no less pleasure from it - a real delight! Then there was a bath, alcohol and bathing in a mountain river, shallow, but very stormy and cold – you go into it, and all the muscles instantly reduce.

The next morning, at 9, we went to the Castle of Mountain Spirits - such rocks are a very popular attraction of the Altai Mountains and a rather bizarre phenomenon of nature. From afar they resemble ancient medieval castles (hence the attractive name) and, of course, like any castles, covered with a huge number of legends. One of them says that if a person stays overnight under the stone vaults, he will surely go mad by the morning. We did not experiment and, enjoying the views, went back down, especially since the passes were still covered with snow.

The next day, a new excursion was arranged for us - we went to the Muikhta Falls, another attraction of Altai. It is not very large - about 10 meters - but very picturesque. On the way, they met marals - real noble deer, proud animals in the grandest way.

I want to acquaint you with the recipe of severe Altai mojito: 200 grams of pure alcohol, 200 grams of cleanest fresh water from the glacier and currant leaves - surprisingly vicious and tasty! There is no need to look for ice because glacial water itself does not need additional cooling. But this is still half a joy: what is especially pleasant, there is a large amount of garlic that can be picked and used as a seasoning for hot dishes - we, for example, cooked pilaf with it.

The next day, after recovering from the Altai mojito, we went to the crystal clear Karakol lakes. They have lake trout and watch it at the same time and joyful and seductive. In order not to get wet, combined arms protective kits (UGC) were used - they rolled on them from the glacier into the water.

Upon returning to the camp, a surprise was expected: an orthodox beekeeper from among the local residents visited us and offered honey - a liter and a half for 150 rubles. I quite accidentally said about mead, which my grandfather accidentally had a lot – I remember that we bought a huge candy and drank mead mugs. I don't remember anything else.

Although no, it is recalled that the next day there was still a championship in horse racing between three bases and a championship in destructive Altai football. Why destructive? Because it's literally survival football: it's extremely difficult to stay after a match without fractures or at least bruising. Of course, no one thinks of getting off a horse or, God forbid, using the ball. The point is... What can I say? It is better to play once and understand everything yourself! But – attention! – this is entertainment on 18+ and without any “sherche la fam” there!

In general, I took only joyful impressions and sweet memories from this trip. I will definitely repeat all this next summer. And I recommend you to go to the Altai at least once for the incredibly beautiful landscapes and the opportunity to see the alpine meadows without leaving Russia. I advise you to start in June, because this month you can grab a nice discount. Ten-day tour for one person will cost about 12 thousand rubles, plus the cost of the road: 2300 rubles - on the way from Yekaterinburg to Novosibirsk, from Novosib to Biysk - 400 rubles and from Biysk to Elekmonar - 150 rubles.

According to Alexander Ivanov recorded Ekaterina Smirnova