For the first time ever, the Russian government decided to embrace their independence day by creating a four day weekend. A four day weekend can only mean one thing...ROAD TRIP! Having just gone west last month to Yekaterinburg, we decided to go east, to the wilderness of Altai. I realize that four days isn't much time to work with, but in this case, it was just enough time to be awestruck by the beauty of the mountains in the east.
I had read that there are two cities to choose from when it comes to going east, Barnaul and Bisk; however Barnaul is preferred because it's more modern and the people are nicer. This opinion has come from Russian tourists as well as travelers before me, so who am I to argue? On this trip, I had a different travel companion than Gabriella, this time it was Sasha. This made getting around much easier since he speaks the language.
The bus ride to Barnaul from Novosibirsk is about 4 hours, which isn't bad considering the distance and roads; and on this day summer decided to stop being lazy and finally pay Siberia a visit. The bus was hot and crowded, but when you're riding high on the travel rush it doesn't seem like such a big deal. The weather only becomes an issue if the bus breaks down....which of course is what happened. There are two choices when this happens, you can either wait and hope that the driver can repair the bus or you can hitchhike, which a few fellow passengers opted for. After waiting and strolling around in a field for about twenty minutes another bus came to offer their assistance. There. Problem solved.
My first impressions of Barnaul was good, we were greeted by clean and refurbished buildings, wide streets and only moderate traffic. Where was the sleepy village I had read about? Just to be crystal clear, Barnaul is not a village, it's a proper thriving city, which never lets you forget where you are. On about 90% of the signs, buildings, cafes etc you will read 'Barnaul Gorod (city)' or 'Altaiski Krai' or some other version reminding you that you are in the Altai region of Siberia; never mind the fact that the mountains themselves are still a good 5 hours away. This humorous fact aside, the bus station was easy to navigate around and then began the hunt for the hotel. After sitting on a hot bus for hours on end, a walk seemed like a good idea.
Fedorov Hotel-Apartments
We strolled around for about 45 minute looking for the elusive hotel, and I was surprised when we found it, what surprised me what that there wasn't really a clear sign advertising their location of business. We walked into a dark corridor with a security guard wanting to know what we wanted; needless to say I was bewildered and couldn't quite process where we were so Sasha had to step in. We then had to climb another flight of stairs and only then did it begin to look like a normal hotel, but the woman had to ask me how much the room cost and how long we would be staying. Just to restate the obvious, I've been in a many hotels in this country, and never have I encountered such unusual behavior. Trying to not look like a silly tourist, but failing miserably I told her the price I saw online and asked if she needed to see my passport. Of course not. She didn't even give us a receipt. Strange just doesn't even begin to cover it. Naturally I was a bit worried about the condition of the room, but happily we were impressed with a very large room complete with air conditioner, robes and slippers. Perhaps most importantly, the wi-fi worked. So despite the less than ideal entrance and non-existent service, the room was comfortable and well worth the price.
I had read that there are two cities to choose from when it comes to going east, Barnaul and Bisk; however Barnaul is preferred because it's more modern and the people are nicer. This opinion has come from Russian tourists as well as travelers before me, so who am I to argue? On this trip, I had a different travel companion than Gabriella, this time it was Sasha. This made getting around much easier since he speaks the language.
The bus ride to Barnaul from Novosibirsk is about 4 hours, which isn't bad considering the distance and roads; and on this day summer decided to stop being lazy and finally pay Siberia a visit. The bus was hot and crowded, but when you're riding high on the travel rush it doesn't seem like such a big deal. The weather only becomes an issue if the bus breaks down....which of course is what happened. There are two choices when this happens, you can either wait and hope that the driver can repair the bus or you can hitchhike, which a few fellow passengers opted for. After waiting and strolling around in a field for about twenty minutes another bus came to offer their assistance. There. Problem solved.
My first impressions of Barnaul was good, we were greeted by clean and refurbished buildings, wide streets and only moderate traffic. Where was the sleepy village I had read about? Just to be crystal clear, Barnaul is not a village, it's a proper thriving city, which never lets you forget where you are. On about 90% of the signs, buildings, cafes etc you will read 'Barnaul Gorod (city)' or 'Altaiski Krai' or some other version reminding you that you are in the Altai region of Siberia; never mind the fact that the mountains themselves are still a good 5 hours away. This humorous fact aside, the bus station was easy to navigate around and then began the hunt for the hotel. After sitting on a hot bus for hours on end, a walk seemed like a good idea.
Fedorov Hotel-Apartments
We strolled around for about 45 minute looking for the elusive hotel, and I was surprised when we found it, what surprised me what that there wasn't really a clear sign advertising their location of business. We walked into a dark corridor with a security guard wanting to know what we wanted; needless to say I was bewildered and couldn't quite process where we were so Sasha had to step in. We then had to climb another flight of stairs and only then did it begin to look like a normal hotel, but the woman had to ask me how much the room cost and how long we would be staying. Just to restate the obvious, I've been in a many hotels in this country, and never have I encountered such unusual behavior. Trying to not look like a silly tourist, but failing miserably I told her the price I saw online and asked if she needed to see my passport. Of course not. She didn't even give us a receipt. Strange just doesn't even begin to cover it. Naturally I was a bit worried about the condition of the room, but happily we were impressed with a very large room complete with air conditioner, robes and slippers. Perhaps most importantly, the wi-fi worked. So despite the less than ideal entrance and non-existent service, the room was comfortable and well worth the price.
After cooling off and snacking on the tea and cookies we went exploring around the city. There's a cute little amusement park where you can see the city by riding a Ferris Wheel, so naturally that's what we did. Like most cities around the world, especially in Russia, they are gray and sometimes a little underwhelming. Barnaul proves to be no different in this case. However, there are a few architectural gems along with statues and flowers which makes any place a little more interesting.
The ride from Barnaul was hot and long, but happily uneventful. No breakdowns this time. We were greeted with the grassy and green hills of Gorno-Altaisk, which was a much welcome change from the flat and tree covered scenery of Novosibirsk and Barnaul.
Manzerok
Upon arriving in Gorno-Altaisk we had to hunt for hour hotel which was in a settlement called Manzerok. This proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated and involved us waiting for two hours for a bus which never came, only to have to take another bus to a town called Chemal and request the driver to stop at the town. So, for all my fellow travelers who want to see Altai, one word, patience. Yes, it's rather annoying to have to wait for hours for a bus and then have to walk endless kilometers just to reach your destination, but the pay off is more than worth it.
After checking into the hotel which did not provide an eatery,slippers, or phone in our room, we had to go hunting for food. My biggest complaint about this resort is the overall lack of comfort. Yes, the room is teeny tiny, but nice and yes there's hot water and Wi-Fi; but as I mentioned before they didn't have the advertised cafe, which meant no coffee, tea or water. Also, there wasn't a proper double bed, just two twin mattresses place together, which I would be willing to forgive if we had been staying in a Soviet style hotel; but we weren't, this was new. They are still in the process of building so there's no excuse for such a lack of details, especially now that it's tourist season- this is just extreme cheapness. The perk of the hotel was that we were able to us the ski-lift for free, which is a 350 ruble value (about $10). We were also advised to invest in a couple of bandannas since the sun was blazing, which we accepted.
About a week before the Altai region had received record breaking rainfall and had caused some damage to the towns in the area. The result of all this rain meant fewer tourists and unbelievably lush green forests and mountains. There's no way a camera or even a paintbrush capture such beauty, but we can't say that people don't try.
After touring the top of the ski-lift and taking in the beauty of the area, we descended back down the mountain and decided to book a tour which would take us to a cave and an apiary. The apiary was the highlight for me since I had never been to one before. Yes, the cave was also quite impressive and fun, not to mention a serious workout for my legs, but the apiary was educational and relaxing. Despite the intense heat, the valley where the small honey farm was located offered a small sanctuary from the sun. The buzzing of the bees was quite calming and soothing, and yes, Altai does live up to its reputation of having the best honey in the world. While I can't honestly say that I've had honey from every place on the planet, there were multiple declarations of this inscribed on the walls in various languages including Arabic and Japanese.
Overall, the trip was marvelous. Nature, friendly people and warm weather. What more could a person ask for? Well, perhaps a cup of fresh coffee.
