Altai tour - july 2015

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As I watch from the view point of the Katu-Yurik pass, I ask Anton, standing next to me, smoking, which way we go from there. He points to what looks like a very steep bad goat track down the edge of the mountain into the valley.

“Jesus! Christ!” my jaw drops to the floor. That’s a road? Anton laugh and tries to reassure me by saying : “It’s actually not as steep as it looks”. What he failed to tell me was that cars that are not 4 wheel drive have to be pulled up by a tractor; that sort of track!

But let’s start from the beginning! If you followed my adventures last year (London to Mongolia and back!) you will know that just before we crossed into Mongolia, in a campsite, we met with Russian bikers. The guys were Vladimir and Anton. Vladimir is a professional motocross racer, and one of the best in Siberia, Anton is a computer programmer from Tomsk, and was helping with translation. My Russian is very basic!

The guys were so nice and interesting, I thought it would be nice to discover the stunning Altai with them. Vladimir was starting a guided tour company: Moto Altai (see Altai moto - Home and Алтай-МОТО for details), he would be able to guide you to the most remote places in the mountains!

So in the last few months I sorted the visas and plane tickets, and on Sunday 28th of June, at 8am, we landed in Gorno-Altaysk, the capital city of the Altai Republic, Russia.

Anton was there to pick us up. After loosing 5 hours night with time change, we were dropped to a chalet in Manzherok, for a rest.

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We then went to the moto-house, which is still under construction, to meet with the rest of the gang. Vladimir welcomed us and we were also introduced to Andrey, who would also join us in the tour.

Andrey appeared quiet and observant. He is from northern Siberia and wanted to visit the region. He had never been off-road before so would be a good match to my level of off-roading skills, or so I thought!

Vladimir was his usual friendly, smiling and exuberant self. Standing next to him I felt like a hobbit.

We also had the 1st meeting with our bikes. Anton had brought his own Honda XR650L, while the rest of us would be on Suzuki Djebel 250 (and 200cc for me as I am too short for the 250!).

We then went to visit the Altai Museum, as this would show us all about the culture and ancient sites we would be visiting during our trip. It was a very interesting visit and well worth it to start understanding the traditions and way of life in the Altai.
The weather was splendid with not a cloud in the sky.



Then it was time to get back to the moto-house for a very traditional Russian BBQ!
We got talking with Boris who showed us pictures of his “4x4 club” expedition to Mongolia last year. 3 of their cars got so stuck in the mountains that they had to be pulled out by helicopter! Very expensive!

The following morning we got to the moto-house, and after loading our bikes we first rode to Gorno-Altaysk, check out if our border permits were available. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. Maybe next time! It was time to hit the road.