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Where
to Go at Altay Mountains: Aktru Glacier
Aktru is
the most accessible glacier at Altay. It is one of the most
impressive places at the mountains and we highly recommend
to visit it if you have more than 5 days at Altai.
What
is Aktru Glacier. There
are two places at Altay where you can experience the "real"
mountains with snow, impressive heights, remote lakes, and
mysterious glaciers: Beluha and Aktru. While
Beluha attracts
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Aktru glacier and mountains |
more tourists,
Aktru is the destination for alpinists
and snowboarders.
The distance from Gorno-Altaysk to Beluha and to Aktru is about the same, but one should walk
about 50 km to Beluha, and Aktru is just 8 km away from the
place that can be accessed by car.
Aktru is the mountain area about 400 km away from Gorno-Altaysk
along Chuysky
Trakt. The heights start from 1500 m and go up to 3000
m high. At the height of 2500 m the mountains are covered
by snow all year round.
Among the main attractions are the "Blue Lake" located on
the height of 2840 meters and "Teacher's Saddle", from where
you can have a view on Altay mountains hundreds kilometers
ahead. The path to the "Blue Lake" lies along the glacier
itself, so it's quite an interesting experience: the surface
of glacier seems to look like a surface of another planet...
In summer there's a path along the stones, so you won't need
special equipment.
Also, in the area of Aktru there are various plants (like
Kuril Tea, Badan used in tea) and berries (Brusnika). All
of them are ready in August.
There's accommodation in wooden houses and cottages available
at Aktru camp (it's small and unpretentious) as well
as places for camps and sauna. On our trip to Aktru we
met a very nice person who works in Aktru tourbase (he made
a banya for us), his name is Nikolay and you can read an interview
with him at Life
in Russia / Russian People section.
Once you settle in Aktru, it's possible to make short 1-day
walks to the mountains around and to glacier itself. Also,
it's possible to do snowboarding and skiing there (there
are no elevators, it's "wild" and at your own risk).
How to Get There. Located
400 km from Gorno-Altaysk along Chuysky Trakt, Aktru is best
accessed by car. There's a daily bus to Kosh-Agach as well, but
it takes really long and is not very reliable. You should stop
at Kurai village and then turn to the right to go to the direction
of Aktru. There's no auto-road, so the car will have to go about
1 hour and a half along the
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The "Circus" area at Aktru |
gravel path through the field. If
you go there in the evening, you will see beautiful dusk and
the vast space around is very impressive also.
After 1.5 hours you will arrive to the place with a wooden house
and a bridge over a river. That is a check point, where you can
camp and leave your car. You can walk from there further to Aktru
tour camp, which is 8 km far through the forest road (about 2
hours). It's also possible to get there with a 4WD car. Once
you walk the first 4 km, you will see the area called "Circus",
which is a name for flat valley, covered with grey gravel, with
mountains on both sides. Three are small rivers flowing through
the "Circus", but you can walk along the right side - there's
a walking path. When you reach Aktru camp you can settle there
and ask the staff about the walks you can make. Nobody speaks
English there, but they will readily show you the direction.
If you travel there by your own, a good idea may be to take a
guide with a car from Barnaul, make him wait about 3 days at
the check point before Aktru and then come back. This would cost
about $300-$350 for a minivan fitting 6 people. See more information
in Transport section.
What to Do & Where to Live. The
best place to live at Aktru is a tourist camp base called "Aktru",
which is located at the foot of Aktru glacier. This base was established
by Tomsk
State University for scientists who study glaciers and local mountain safety
team. Nowadays there are a few wooden houses and more comfortable cottages,
where you can get full board for 300R ($10) per night per person. During
Summer the base is often full, but if you bring your own tent, you can
camp there as well - there are many nice spots and you can make a fire
there. To reserve a room at the tourbase you can contact their travel agency
in Tomsk: (3822) 210-213, email: promalp@mail.tomsknet.ru
Also, there's a Russian banya (sauna), which you can have for 200 R ($7)
per hour.
Here's a list of top activities at Aktru:
| Russian
Banya. Have a real Russian sauna and then jump in the mountain
lake just opposite. Unforgettable and completely "stoning" experience.
Banya can be ordered at Aktru camp. |
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| "Blue
Lake". The lake is located at the height of 2840 m and is
in about 4 hour ascend from Aktru camp. The water is blue because
the bottom of the lake is icy, but it's not really cold. There's
a little wooden house-shelter, where you can sleep overnight. |
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| Climb
the nearby mountains. There are many paths on the nearby
mountains. You can just walk around this area and enjoy breath-taking
views and pristine nature. Also, sometimes there are local snowboarders
coming, so if you're into it, you can join them. |
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