Altai is quite well studied, but at the same time inaccessible. Usually tourists travel along the base locations of the Chuysky Tract – dozens of offers for rafting, rafting, horseback riding and jeeping lure right along the road. A collection of impressions will be collected, but will you have time to understand this place and find out what its strength is?
If you forget about “travel fast food” and just stay somewhere longer, a completely different Altai will open up. How about the Kurai steppe? There is no point in driving a car and getting out to take a couple of photos for social networks or a phone screensaver. Just breathe, look, feel and don’t lose the feeling as if you are on another planet.
It’s as if some cosmic artist scattered colorful mountains, bright red gorges, endless mounds with stone boulders, neon turquoise rivers and wrinkled rocks in one area. The relief of the steppe resembles frozen waves, and vegetation, uncharacteristic for Altai, paints it golden. Similar flora is found in the deserted steppes of Mongolia, which adds mystery to the place. Although there are enough mysteries in Kurai – in this paradise for archaeological expeditions, a lot of evidence of the ancient Turkic (Kurai) civilization was found, including the famous statue of a kezer, transported to the Gorno-Altai Museum of Local Lore, and even the grave of a Chinese princess.
Before departure, do not forget to prepare for temperature changes – the thermometer shows completely different numbers at night and during the day. There is almost no rain, but there is always a chance of catching a rare shower, so raincoats will come in handy.
How to get there
Photo: © Suzanna Zhivulina
It is most convenient to fly to the airport in Gorno-Altaisk. The cost of a ticket from Moscow is from 9 thousand rubles roundtrip.
There are daily passing cars from Gorno-Altaisk to the Kurai steppe, the drivers of which charge 1000–1500 rubles per person. If you decide to rent a car (from 3,000 rubles per day), then the last opportunity to do this will be in the city itself.
The brave and hardy can go on a road trip along the Chuysky tract from their city. Contacting a service center if it breaks down near the steppe is 3-4 times more profitable in the village of Kosh-Agach, and not in the more touristy Aktash.
Where to stay
Photo: © Suzanna Zhivulina
It is better to book accommodation several months in advance: prices are lower, and the chances of spending the night somewhere in your own tent are significantly reduced. In September, the cost of an apartment in Gorno-Altaisk starts from 2000 rubles per day, but on average it fluctuates around 3000–4000 rubles.
A few kilometers from the city, more and more loft-style cafes, glamping sites, high-comfort sports centers and other interesting locations for living are appearing.
For example, the AYA eco-hotel with a sauna and an outdoor pool or the Manzherok park hotel with direct access to the Katun River. Even further along the Chuysky tract the Raft-Premier recreation center with triangular cottage houses, bungalows, a tent camp, a Russian bathhouse and a beach. Among the water activities, they will offer classic and motor rafting.
In the Kurai steppe, which will be discussed, there are several bases (Yasnaya Polyana, Chuya Alps), camps (for example, Aktru Alpine Camp) and even authentic plagues – local activists Emilia and Sergey offer this too.
In the latter case, prepare not only for unity with nature and the morning among the peaks of three colors – green, terracotta and snow-white. Here you will have to improve your skills in lighting the stove and strategic gastro planning. Food must be purchased several days in advance in the nearest village of Kosh-Agach (about 70 km from the base), and if food needs to be stored at low temperatures, you will have to use a natural refrigerator – a mountain river. And forget about the Internet, there is practically no network here.
On the journey through the Kurai steppe
Photo: © Suzanna Zhivulina
What to do if you have a week to rest and want to be filled with that Altai power of nature, which Efremov wrote about? Now we’ll tell you about everything.
Cosmically popular mountains “Mars-1”, “Mars-2” and “Moon”
The three of them form a mountain complex reminiscent of the landscapes of the Moon and Mars. And it’s not just about the silvered sand or the terracotta-raspberry-burgundy-fiery red gradient (and this is only part of the shades, the palette includes up to 100). The “Mars” relief refers to science fiction films about landing on other planets: it is layered, with geometric patterns, and resembles a red Sicilian orange in cross-section. And the Moon is the same endless, smooth, monochrome white, with small stones scattered everywhere, like the Earth’s satellite.
The planetary mountains are located in the same area near the village of Chagan-Uzun. Here compact trucks and UAZs with local guides will immediately be waiting for you. They are only responsible for delivery and will not tell stories, but you can get anyone to talk – smile and ask about interesting things.
It’s easy to drive around the “planets”. Within half an hour, several people will definitely gather at the starting point, with whom you can rent a car on a budget (on average 4,500 rubles). Don’t believe the frightening “we’ve been waiting since the morning, there’s no one.”
The route itself takes up to two hours, including a short walk along Mars-1. But there is an inspiring alternative: many hours of walking along the gorge between Mars 1 and Mars 2. The trail is also popular with motorcyclists – mountain bikes are welcome, and company will quickly be found on the spot.
Kurai steppe
Photo: © Suzanna Zhivulina
It’s definitely worth just taking a walk along the lonely steppe, with its mounds, as if they came to life from Vasnetsov’s paintings, and carelessly scattered stones. They say there used to be a deep lake with random rocks and sagebrush-laced air. Wormwood is generally the aroma of Altai. Drive to the exit from the Chuysky tract into the steppe, choose a route and breathe deeply.
Where to start? Look on the maps for the turn to Mezhelik or save the coordinates: 50.207327, 88.044367. Folklore festivals are held on the territory of the historical and cultural reserve, but the main treasure is the view of the rippling Kurai steppe. The “alien” relief was formed due to the accelerated melting of glaciers and resembles the soft waves of a slightly choppy sea. Sometimes red-listed ruffed ducks fly here – bright red and with electric green plumage along the wings. Their dances will compete with current contemporary dances, watching is how to get to the show.
The legendary tourist location is the Aktru Valley and the Small Aktru glacier located here. Every day a queue of cars and hardy enthusiasts, eager to climb, accumulates here. How to be alone and find yourself in a place similar to what the hobbits admired during their journey for the ring? Choose the route from the top of the Dome of the Three Lakes. Narrow paths above the gorge, mountain slopes covered with sharp peaks of stone crystals, somewhere in the distance – an emerald forest, and ahead – the ice domes of Aktru and the neon of turquoise lakes await you.
Photo: © Suzanna Zhivulina
To feel like the heroes of the cartoon “Pocahontas”, enter the coordinates nameless valley near the Aktru River: 50.207955, 87.847969. Here you will find an icy current, colorful stones and an absolutely wild, living, endless territory with whitish snags, winding trees and literally palpable energy. And to look at the valley from above, take the road to the lookout at the Chuisky tract (coordinates 50.239456, 87.864909).
If you are lucky and get the locals to talk, they will tell you about the “unknown” path to the Tyute River valley. Usually you go there through Aktra, but there is a picturesque path through a cedar forest near the Kyzylyaryk River, which flows into the Tyute. You can get there on foot. The road is relatively easy for a hike, but long and dangerous. Meeting a bear is normal. To play it safe, take a guide and also an experienced driver, and drive an SUV or even a truck. Then the route will become calm (if you are prepared for a wild road and increased shaking of the car), and you can enjoy the views. The aromas of larch, fir and cedar are in the air. The cry of a hawk is heard in the distance, and majestic, absolutely inaccessible mountains, thickets of wild honeysuckle and fireweed are revealed to the eye. An untouched but neat forest with straight trunks of various conifers, plains with wildflowers with an intoxicating sweet smell, and mountains, each time new and different from each other. I would like to leave the details of the route secret, since the Altai people keep legends and the purity of inviolability.
Food: what to try
Photo: © Suzanna Zhivulina
Local superfood — chok-chok ball made of barley and cream.
A sourdough-type product called chegen. You can get it from Aunt Masha, who sells homemade pies and honey at the confluence of the Chuya and Katun rivers.
A fermented milk drink made from mare’s milk – kumiss. Be careful, he’s very much an amateur. To see if you are one of them, take a small sip. It’s definitely not worth drinking in one gulp.
Smoked cheese of various shapes – from a flower with a diameter of 4 cm to voluminous bars. It can be sweet and salty. It’s harsh, reeks of kumiss (although they claim that it’s based on cow’s milk), with a smoky flavor – you either like it right away, or “never again”, like the same kumiss. But it will definitely be remembered.
And if you don’t want to experiment, look for the “Legend of Altai” in local stores. This young cheese is called the same by almost all brands. It is reminiscent at the same time of first-class Adyghe and Indian paneer – fire is only good for it, great for frying over a fire or in a frying pan.
Main photo: Suzanna Zhivulina
