Touch the glacier

Challenge yourself

Experience real off-road

Uncover thousands of years of history

Adventure & Expeditions

12 days

13.07–24.07.2024

Fee

1.499 EURO

Start & Finish

Gorno-Altaisk

Group size

min. 4, max. 12 participants

Overview

Spend 12 exhilarating days exploring Altai, the land of beautiful untouched nature, archeological mysteries and authentic traditions!

Our adventure holidays’ itinerary combines enjoying fascinating sceneries and observing wildlife, off-road driving, hiking and horse riding, meeting local people and learning their traditions. It will be also a kind of physical challenge – some of the fantastic viewing points are only reachable on foot. Almost every day of our adventure tour we will explore a new location and you will see how diverse Altai nature is – alpine peaks with eternal snow and broad steppes, dense forests and green valleys, narrow rocky canyons and high-mountain lakes.

As our trip is a kind of expedition in some days we visit new places for us too or try to find some interesting object about which we only have heard or read. So we will need your help too. 

We will watch wild animals and birds – marmots, ground-squirrels, wild sheep and goats, foxes, eagles, vultures, kites, cranes and many other species. Altai is a home to rare and threatened animals. 

We will uncover thousands of years of Altai history, exploring ancient petroglyphs, stelas and kurgans. Due to low utilization of the lands, they are saved almost in their original state. Many of them are still an enigma for scientists, especially which belong to a mystery civilization of Siberian Scythians (5-2 century BC).

We will get to know modern nomads’ way of living. We will communicate a lot with local people in order to understand their traditions and customs.

Join us on this tour and make your holidays a real outdoor adventure!

Brief itinerary

Day 1. Welcome to Altai!

Today you will arrive at Gorno-Altaisk. We will have a relaxing day with some sightseeing and kaichi concert in the evening.

Day 2. To the sacral Karakol valley

We will start our trip along the Chuyskiy tract. In the afternoon we will arrive to the Karakol valley which is considered a sacral place among Altaians.

Day 3. Horse trip in taiga

Today we will have horse riding in the real taiga with stops at nice viewpoints and a picnic at the lake.

Day 4. Along the Chuyskiy tract

We travel deeper into Altai with a lot of stops at picturesque places and end the day in the red mountains.

Day 5. Coloured mountains

We spend the morning on Mars and then will drive through the Moon to the place, where we set up our first camp.

Day 6. Hiking to the glacier

It is a day of a very interesting hiking up towards the snow mountains and glacier. You will be able to touch eternal snow and watch how the River Akkol impressively emerges from the glacier.

Day 7. Through the Chuya steppe

We start the day driving across the Chuya Steppe to our next destination. We will enjoy stunning landscapes and stop at the archeological monuments.

Day 8. To untouched nature

Today we will drive to the place that is the farest that we will get during this trip and in a few kilometres from Mongolia. There will be our second camp.

Day 9. Mongolian landscapes and severe rocks

Today we will have a day of hiking, we will get higher than 3000 meters. At the highest point we will have a great view over the endless steppe on one side, and black rocky mountains on the other side.

Day 10. Tarkhata megalith and Kurai steppe

You will visit the Tarkhata megalithic complex. We stop for a night in the middle of the Kurai steppe with a fantastic view at the mountain range.

Day 11. Back to Gorno-Altaisk

Today we continue the drive along the Chuiskiy tract in the direction of Gorno-Altaisk.

Day 12. Farewell

After breakfast we will transfer you to the airport for your flight home or your next destination.

Details

Accommodation

We will stay in various accommodations, but as we have an outdoor trip, 4 nights we will spend in tents. From time to time we will stay in yurts (a nomad tent) or houses. As we travel in remote and wild areas, it can be possible that there are only 2 or 3 houses with 3-5 beds in each. So, be ready to share a room with 2-4 new friends. For washing you will be able to use a Russian banya (sauna) every evening when we stay in houses or yurts. The toilet in some places is a type of pit latrine. The first night we will stay in a hotel in Gorno-Altaisk. 

Level of fitness

Your level of fitness have to be moderate to good, most places are easy to reach. But we also have in the program of this adventure tour 2 full days of hiking (10-15 km) and a day of horse riding.

Meal

3 meals a day, prepared by our cook. Some days we will visit local cafes. Usually for breakfast we have milk porridge /scrambled eggs/ cottage cheese/ pancakes and other snacks, for lunch – sandwiches (bread, cheese, sausages, jams, butter, vegetables and so on), for dinner – a salad and a hot meat dish. Drinks – black and green tea, instant coffee.

Weather

Temperature range: +10 °C to +25 °C.
Keep in mind that the temperature during the night can occasionally drop below zero. Rainy days are possible.

Vehicle

We use specially prepared 4WD cars, one of them is a legendary Russian 4WD UAZ Bukhanka (Loaf). This car was not designed for comfort, but it is able to overcome any off-road obstacle and can be repaired in every village. We have upgraded the salon and installed modern seats for our guests.

Fee

Fee: 1.499 EURO from Gorno-Altaisk, Republic of Altai.
Deposit: 400 EURO per person

Included in the trip fee:

  • Accommodations (Yurts, Hotel, guesthouses)
  • Camping equipment (tents, sleeping matts, group outdoor equipment)
  • All meals (3 meals a day)
  • Non-alcoholic drinks
  • Transport (by car)
  • Entrance fees for places to visit, excursions
Not included in the trip fee:
  • All flights
  • Insurance (travel, cancellation, health)
  • Personal items (souvenirs and other personal things you want to buy)
  • Visa for Russia (passport should be valid 6 months after the end of your trip)
  • Alcoholic drinks

Other trips you may be interested in:

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Altai Heritage

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Kaichi Travel

Adventure travel, nature tours to Altai – one of the most beautiful places in Siberia.

© 2023 by Kaichi Travel 

Contacts

tel.: +7 983 103 88 55 (WhatsApp)

e-mail: [email protected]