Days 8-9
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EnglishLife in the Altai Mountains
Uitgebreid dagprogramma
Back to route Days 8-9
Day 1
Arrival in Ust-Kamenogorsk and transfer to a hotel (choice between a basic, old style Soviet sanatorium or hotels of different levels of comfort).
Afterwards you may opt for having a rest, or enjoy a city excursion including a visit to the ethnographic museum.
Lunch and dinner in the city or in the hotel.
Day 2
Day travel distance:
420 km 
We depart from Ust-Kamenogorsk in eastern direction. The road passes through the foothills of the Altai Mountain Range, through landscapes consisting of forested mounains and hills, and steppes. In August numerous sunflowers will bloom here. We have lunch in a Uygur cafe halfway to Uryl.
450 kms from Ust lies Uryl, our destination, that we'll reach in the end of the afternoon. A comfortable guesthouse will serve as our base in the next days. The guesthouse offers a Russian sauna (Banya) that you can use as often as you want for (daily) relaxation! A local sauna master may add excitement by (traditionally) beating you up with a bunch of small birch branches!
The program as offered on the following days is just an example, dependent on the client's wishes. It serves to give an impression of the (many) interesting opportunities for excursions and sporting activities in the region.
Day 3
A day for adaptation and exploration. We hike in the village and its surroundings. By car we visit a Kazakh village where the locals offer koumiss (=fermented horsemilk) for sale in yurts. Koumiss is very populair and healthy, but also very typical.
We return to Uryl for dinner (and maybe a banya...).
Day 4
Today we'll go out rafting on the (nearby) White Bereli and Buchtarme rivers. Fast rivers but the rafting (under guidance) is safe. The White Bereli has white, milky water coming straight from the glaciers of Mount Belukha (with 4,506 meter the highest and also holiest mountain of the entire Altai). The Buchtarme river has transparent, emerald-like water.
We enjoy lunch (picnic) along a river or on a small island. On this day we also have plenty of opportunities for collecting mushrooms - a favourite Russian pastime.
Evening and night are spend again in the Uryl guesthouse.
Days 5-7
We travel, on foot or on horseback, to the grasslands in the high mountains (dzhailao in Kazakh), where Kazakh semi-nomads spend the summer months with their herds and their families, living in traditional yurts. An excellent place to acquaint ourselves with their way of living. In addition we may fish for trout in the mountain rivers.
We make small hikes in this area and spend the night in our own tents or in the yurts, depending on the possibilities.
On day 7 we return to Uryl, either on foot or on horseback.
Days 8-9
Day travel distance:
200 km 
In the ancient village of Korobiha, far and away in the Altai mountains, live so-called old-believers, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church that refused to accept reforms in 1666-1667 and seperated from the main Church.
Today we'll visit them, living approx. 100 kms from Uryl. We acquaint ourselves with their traditions and may (if we are lucky enough) witness a concert of folkdance performance.
in Korobiha we'll spend the night, only to return to Uryl the next day.
Day 10
Day travel distance:
420 km 
We leave Uryl direction Ust-Kamenogorsk.
Depending on the weather we'll enjoy a swim in the Bucharme reservoir.
25 kms before reaching Ust-Kamenogorsk, af the foot of the Kurzhumbai mountains, we visit the holy place of Akbaur. Here are located an ancient astronomical laboratory (one believes), a holy cave and rock carvings - all of it in open, unprotected nature...
On we move, to Ust-Kamenogorsk for diner and to our hotel.
Day 11
Leaving Ust-Kamenogorsk by plane (dependig on your plans).
Below you'll find a list of possible excursions and activities in and around Uryl, intended to help when creating a program for yourself.
1) Kokkol waterfalls
These 60 m high falls are the highest in all of Kazakhstan
2) Kokkol mine
Close to the waterfalls one finds the deserted mine village of Kokkol. Between 1938 and 1954 quartz and wolfram were being mined here.
Both the waterfalls and the deserted village are situated on the trekking way from Uryl to Mount Belukha.
3) Maral Farm
The farming of maral (a big red deer) for economic motives was already in the 18th century introduced from Russia into the Altai. The main goal is collecting the young maral's antlers, that contain precious amounts of pantokrin, a medicin for numerous diseases in both Russia and Asia. The antlers are cut from the deer and grow back every year. These kind of farms, with thousands of marals, exist only in Canada, New Zealand and in the Altai.
4) The Berel excavations
In 1998 French and Kazakh archeologists made a spectacular discovery in the valley of the river Berel. They found a.o. the entirely intact body of a Scythian Prince in one of the 36 burial mounds that are scattered around in this area, dating back from the 3rd-4th centuries B.C. The Prince has left but the site is still open.
5) Horseriding
In and around Uryl you can ride a horse with a guide, who will bring you to the loveliest places to enjoy a pic nic.
6) Rafting
On the river Buchtarme you can raft - under guidance.
7) Hiking and collecting mushrooms
From Uryl you can make hikes in the surrounding mountains or in the village itself. You may, together with a guide, look for mushrooms that will be prepared for evening dinner.
8) Visiting a village of 'old-believers'
In the ancient village of Korobiha, far and away in the Altai mountains, live so-called old-believers, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church that refused to accept reforms in 1666-1667 and seperated from the main Church.
9) Drinking koumiss in a yurt
In summer one finds many a yurt along the road where Kazakhs offer fermented horsemilk (koumiss in Kazakh) for sale, a very typical and healthy drink. You may visit a yurt and acquaint yourself with its people and koumiss.
10) Trekking to Mount Belukha (note; minimum of five days required, so the program will be extended with at least two days)
A tough hike to Mount Belukha, the highest mountain of the Altai Mountains at 4,506 meter, partly situated in Russia and much revered.
