Russian Map

 

 

               Map of Central Asia

latest picture: November 4, 2016

• click a picture to see details

079  View from a hill near the

“Vorota Sartakpaya Gorge” to the village

of Chemal (~5’000 people), surrounded

by the Iolgo mountain range, about

60 miles south of Gorno-Altaysk

080  The former power station “HPP”

(1935-2011) – today a museum –

at the Chemal River just at the

confluence of the Katun River .....

081  ….. the so-called “Vorota Sartakpaya

Gorge” of the Katun River, which joins at

Biysk the Biya River from Lake Teletskoye

and is called afterwards ‚Ob‘. It is 7th-longest

river of the world (3’364 miles [5’410km]

082  Upside down world: The Perevertysh-House

in Manzherok, 22 miles [36km] south of Gorno-

Altaysk, is built in the style of a typical European

summerhouse, with one exception: It is upside

down, also inside. It now is a tourist attraction

083  Lunch along the Chemal River in

Chemal: Being alone amidst the beautiful

Siberian surrounding lunch tastes even better!

084  A couple of daisies still brave the

approaching autumn, which is changing mid-

October pretty abrupt into winter time

085  “Who wants to drive past?” Curious

well-fed cows are gazing at us at the “Deja Vu”

Chalets in Uznezya along the Katun River

086  White nocturnal moths are settling

down in their thousends on a high

pole due to its light …..

087  …. at the end the whole pole is

“plastered” by them and many lie dead

on the ground. Artificial light kicks

them completely out of cadence

088  A cutely decorated Siberian

home in the village of Uznezya

089  The village of Shebalino along the

Chuysky Trakt. See also picture No. 145

on the return journey

090  Enjoying his beer, Emil is gazing

into the quietly flowing Katun River

while Liliana prepares some lunch

Glorious natural scenery along the Chuysky Trakt – the Siberian silk road that served initially as a major route from China to Europe.

The Chuysky Trakt itself, former highway M52 – new R256, runs 600 miles [966km] from Novosibirsk via Barnaul, Biysk and

Gorno-Altaysk to the Mongolian border at Tashanta. It is completely sealed, 23 ft. [7m] wide and well-developed. The construction

was during the 1930's by Gulag inmates. The highest elevation is 8’153 ft. [2,485 m] on the Durbet-Daba pass on the Mongolia border,

12½ miles [20km] southeast of the Tashanta border gate

091

092

093

094  Autumn is announcing itself. The forests

of the Karakol region along the Chuysky

Trakt are slowly changing the colors …..

095  ….. partly the trees have already

reached the climax of their

golden autumn color

096  The Chike-Taman-Pass (4’249 ft.

[1’295m]) of the fine Chuysky Trakt

runs through the sweeping Karakol

region, flanked by mountains

097  The old Chike-Taman mountain pass

road is visible. It worked until the opening

of the new one in 1984. 25% of the Altai

territory is forested

098  Doesn't our blue LandCruiser look

good next to the little autumn tree?

099  The Chuysky Trakt meets 11 miles

[18km] south of the Chike-Taman pass

at Kordon Kur-Kechu again the

mighty Katun River

100  The little 200-soul hamlet Malyy

Yaloman at the bank of the mighty

Katun River with a sweeping view

to the Saldzhar (Saljar) mountains

101  “We are just taking a little nap” …..

102  ….. we make also a little break

in that rather inhospitable place

103  Lunch break in the solitude of the

“Golden Mountains”, shortly before Inya

View from the Chuysky Trakt monument

104  One of the most beautiful sights of the

Altai region: The turquoise shining Chuya

River meandering down a stunning valley

105  A row of autumn colored trees

lines the shore of the Katun River

At the Chuysky Trakt monument:

108  Our LandCruiser is rolling mile after

mile on a good tarmac road through an

untamed and outstanding landscape. First

snowfall set in on 9/22/2016 overnight at

higher elevations (~6’600 ft. [~2’000m])

106  We did not reach Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

We turned back at the border because: 1st)

Mongolia on a sudden temporarily introduced

a bond for old cars (US$12’232.50 for our

34-years old LandCruiser), 2nd) the emergency

repair of our front pillars in Gorno-Altaysk did

not prove to be sufficient and 3rd) snow and

freezing temperatures were announced on the

weather forecast

107  The Soviet truck AMO and “Ford jeep”

at the “Monument to Drivers”, in honor of

those who died on the Chuysky Trakt. The

previous Trakt, constructed 1930, lies about

165 ft. [50m] east and 65 ft [20m] higher

109  Ibexes mark 13 miles [21km] east of

Aktach the entry to the district of

Kosh-Agach, Altai’s last outpost of any

significance before the Mongolian border

110  On one side lined by bare rocks, on

the other side by a colored forest – the

Chuysky Trakt never stops enchanting us.

Here shortly before Kuray

111  Patches of dark clouds sail past

revealing a glimpse to a snow covered

mountain ridge – another sign of

the approaching winter

Different moods at the “Golden Mountains” between Aktash and Kosh-Agach conjure up

unique sceneries over and over – they can change within hours

114  Our LandCruiser during a break at a

little pond in the dry Chuya Steppe,

4½ miles [7½km] before the center of Kosh-

Agach on an altitude of 5’768 ft. [1’758m]

112

113

115  A colorful rural settlement in the flat

Chuya Steppe on the way to the Mongolia border,

at the foot of the gorgeous northern mountain

scenery (Kuray Range) after Kosh-Agash

116  The little village store for everything

(Photo, Car, Pharmacy, etc.) in Kosh-Agash

reflects the charm of the remote place

117  Our LandCruiser joins the famous

“camel/eagle/yak trio” at the northern

entrance of Kosh-Agash

118  Red, blue and green rooftops – they

give some color to the small settlement

in front of the Kuray Range in the

Kosh-Agash district

119  A beautiful reflection

picture in Kosh-Agash

120  Due to its outstanding scenery, the

Altai mountains are also called “Siberia’s

Switzerland” – here again the Kuray

Range north of Kosh-Agach

121  A lovely farm sandwiched between

one of the countless water courses of the

Chuya River and the imposing Kuray Range

122  A Kazakh cemetery at the village

of Kokorya 13½ miles [22km] east of

Kosh-Agash on the old Chuysky trakt.

About 6% of the Altai population are

Kazakhs (Coord. 49.90898/88.95641)

123  Sheep are grazing in the dry Chuya

Steppe as they have done it for decades.

Here in front of the snow covered Kuray

Range, shot shortly before Tashanta

A particularly beautiful golden autumn on the banks of the Chuya River along the Chuysky Trakt, 1¼ miles northwest of Chagan-Uzun

124

125

126

127  Peacefully grazing sheep in the Kuray

Steppe, rolling hills and the snow coated

Kuray Range – its beauty can hardly be

outmatched (about 6 miles [10km] before

the village of Kuray)

128  A typical picture of the Altai region:

The village of Kuray nestles between the

Kuray Steppe and the eastern foothills

of the Severo-Chuyskiy Range

129  Towards the South: Birch and fir

forests crisscross the plain. In the

background the Severo-Chuyskiy

Range rises towards the blue sky

130  Towards the North: Ascent to the Kuray

Range – only our blue LandCruiser disrupts the

warm brown color of the pristine landscape

131  Liliana poses in front of the beautiful

Severo-Chuyskiy mountain scenery. The

Altai region belongs to the Unesco

World Heritage sites, which named it

“Golden Mountains of Altai”

132  The brilliance of the golden birches

appears especially intensive in the barren

strip of the steppe (view towards the South)

133  The majestic Altai Mountains

(here the Kuray range)

134  Colorful autumn and glorious winter

scene side by side. In the front the Chuya

River, behind it the 13’704 ft. [4’177m] high

Mt. Kara-Tash of the Severo-Chuyskiy range

135  Golden reflection: The pristine pine

forest along the banks of a branch of the

Chuya River in its golden autumn look

136  In Altai mythology the white “Jalama”,

the prayer ribbons hanging from the lower

branches of trees, are part of the Altai’s

people tradition of honoring their ancestors

137  The Lenin Statue in Inya stands

probably at one of the most

memorable places in Russia

138  Liliana between standing stones from

Bronze Age (2000-3000 BC) in Inya left by

nomads of ancient civilizations, presumably

from Turkic people

139  A babushka (Russian mommy) on

the way to her neighbor for a chat

140  Yaks eying us. Yaks (Bos grunniens)

can survive also in inhospitable lands above

snowline and carry loads of more than 100kg

141  A wooden house of Altai people in

Inya with an attached traditional six-sided

Altai home, called “ail”

142  At the Chuysky Trakt along the Katun

River. The clear water of Katun has been

colored 11 miles [17½km] earlier by the

turquoise water of the Chuya River

143  The scenic Chuysky Trakt follows the

banks of the wide Katun and the somewhat

narrower Chuya River, directly in the heart

of the Altai Mountains

144  Matching the golden autumn,

a golden flower meadow

stretches along a cliff

145  The attractive Russian Orthodox

‘Church of the Assumption of Mary’

[Церковь Успения Пресвятой Богородицы]

of Shebalino along the Chuysky Trakt

146  Shipping from Vladivostok (east) or

Odessa/Ukraine (west)? Emil is studying the

road map. From Gorno-Altaysk the distance is

even about 650 miles [1’000km] shorter to

Odessa. The freight from there to East Malaysia

is also just half. Thus, the decision is made!

147  The first snowflakes fall on

October 7th, 2016, in Gorno-Altaysk.

View from the window of our guesthouse

148  The winter season reached Gorno-

Altaysk, after we had been “warned” on

September 22nd, 2016, in Kosh Agach (pic

#108) – a joy missed for a very long time, the

last time on January 29th, 1999, in Turkey

149  Emil is enjoying the winter landscape

through the window of our guesthouse

‘Gostinitsa Traktovaya’ in Gorno-Altaysk

while doing some computer work

150  A deep wintry landscape in Gorno-

Altaysk – only Santa Claus is missing!

151  Covered with a layer of virgin snow,

our LandCruiser experiences the start of

the Siberian winter in Gorno-Altaysk

152  A great tit (Parus major) that can

be found from all of Europe and then

between the 45th and 55th parallel until

Khabarovsk in the Far East of Russia

153  Our corner shop in Gorno-Altaysk

after the onset of winter

154  The icicles hanging from the Land-

Cruiser’s roof are a warning that it is

high time for us to leave Siberia

155   Before departure Emil is shoveling

the heavy load of snow from our

LandCruiser’s roof rack in front of

our guesthouse in Gorno-Altaysk. There

are 3’100 miles [5’000km] ahead of us

156  10/19/2016: Escaping the Siberian

winter: Shortly after leaving Gorno-

Altaysk to the West, we run into

an approaching new snow storm

We are driving now from Gorno-Altaysk the following route to Odessa in the Ukraine (actual driven miles/kilometers):

(M52)-R256: Gorno-Altaysk - Novosibirsk (Chuysky-Trakt) 289mi [465km];

(M51)-R254: Novosibirsk - Chelyabinsk 955mi [1’537km] (through Kurgan, Ishim and Omsk);

M5: Chelyabinsk - Ufa - Samara 578mi [930km]; R228: Samara - Saratov 244mi [393km]; A144: Saratov - Kursk 449mi [722km];

R199/P44/M02: Kursk - Rylsk - Hlukiv - Kiev 318mi [512km]; M05: Kiev - Odessa 303mi [488km]; total 3’136mi [5’047km]

157  We are caught in a Siberian snow storm:

Clouds of snow sweep across the street. The

visibility gets worse and worse. Snow starts

sticking on the road. Locals are already

mounting spike tires and we are driving with

summer tires and a jammed windshield wiper!

158  It is snowing and snowing. The hay

bales that are still laying on the meadows

get a snow cap

159  Emil is enjoying the wonderful mix

of autumn and winter colors. We are now

on the Trans Siberian Highway, the former

M51 – today R254. We left the

Chuysky Trakt in Novosibirsk

160  We drive westwards on the monotonous

but pretty smooth Trans-Siberian Highway

through endless birch forests

161  Anastasia and her husband of the

Berkana Backpacker in Chelyabinsk invite

us to a cheese platter and wine – a feast.

Emil talks about our world trip

162  Among other stuff, metal containers

called “samovar” are sold along the street

(on the left side). In Russia they are traditionally

used to heat and boil water for tea

163  At 32°F [-5°C] temperatures, the

pond along the Trans Siberian Highway is

already partly covered with a thin coat of ice

164  10/27/2016: A “sugar coated” winter

wonderland at Urenga Pass, where we cross

the Ural range for the second time on our

journey around the world. The first time was

on July 2nd, 1995. The Ural marks the

geographical border between Asia and Europe.

So we are actually leaving Siberia too

165  Just fabulous: Each tree, each branchlet

bears the imprint of a deep winter

Typical for Russia: Modest wooden houses along the road between Satka and Ufa

166

167

168

169  Side by side at the town pond:

A smoking industrial chimney of an iron

smeltery and the beautiful golden domed

church of St Nicholas in Satka …..

170  ….. Emil taking pictures

of the surroundings …..

171  ….. and of the Russian Orthodox

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

[Храм Святителя Николая Чудотворца]

in Satka in its full splendor

172  Emil at the breakfast table in our

room of the Hotel Europe in Ufa, enriched

by various cheeses from our board kitchen

– just according to Emil’s taste!

173  View from the room of our Hotel Europe

in Ufa over the wintry landscape and the Ufa

River, which flows via the Kama River into

the Volga that ends in the Caspian Sea

174  Around 4 inches [10cm] of new snow

fell in Ufa during the night. Emil is mounting

our snow chains in front of our Hotel, as the

road slopes sharply. On our world journey

we only used them in mud (Zaire-Congo +

Guyana), not yet in snow up to now

175  Our LandCruiser in the Toyota Ufa

workshop: The rear differential broke when

leaving the hotel. It will be replaced by the

used spare one that we carried along on

our roof rack during 3’613 days, resp.

80’683 miles [129’846km] from

Jakarta/Indonesia since 12/11/2006 …..

….. the corpus delicti: the broken differential; the differential case cracked

 

176

 

177

178  After the record time repair at Toyota

Ufa the house photographer takes a couple

of pictures. In the picture is Dimitri, our

contact person (left of Emil). As a gift,

we get a huge glass of honey

179  At Toyota Ufa Liliana is posing

next to a Samurai. When leaving, we

get an already framed picture with the

two of us with the same scenery

180  Toyota Ufa has an interesting museum

with a collection of nostalgic vehicles.

Emil cannot help to sit behind the

steering wheel of a Fiat 500 vintage car

181  A mausoleum in a wintry landscape

along the Ural Highway M5 (Trans-Siberian

Highway) between Ufa and Oktyabrsky

182  The magic of wintertime: A bunch

of Viburnum berries (Sorbus aucuparia)

covered with snow

183  A last sunset in snow-covered Russia:

Our 3-months journey comes to an end after

3’391 miles [6’423km] on Russian roads. On

Nov.11th, 2016, at 11am, we reach Gorodishche

near Krupets the exit border to the Ukraine

The African trip 2013-16:

CapeVerde: Santiago/Praia part 1 – November18th to December 13th, 2013

CapeVerde: Fogo – Dezember13th to 23rd, 2013

CapeVerde: Brava – December 23rd to 26th, 2013

Cape Verde: Santiago/Praia part 2 – December 26th, 2013 to February 28th, 2014

Cape Verde: São Nicolau – February 28th to March 13th, 2014

Cape Verde: São Vicente/Mindelo part 1 – March 13th to 20th, 2014

Cape Verde: Santo Antão/Eastern side part 1 – March 20th to April 7th, 2014

Cape Verde: Santo Antão/Western side part 2 – April 7th to 10th, 2014

Cape Verde: São Vicente/Mindelo part 2 – April 10th to 29th, 2014

Namibia Part 1 – from Walvis Bay to Windhoek

Angola Part 1 – September 26th to October 4th, 2014

Angola Part 2 – October 4th to 22nd, 2014

Namibia Part 2 – from Windhoek to the Angolan border, back again and on to South Africa

South Africa Part 1 – from Namibia border to Capetown – January 22nd to February 23rd, 2015

3rd Major Repair of our LandCruiser FJ60 - 1982  (due to two broken sideshafts)

South Africa Part 2 – from Capetown to Tsitsikamma National Park – February 24th to March 13th, 2015

South Africa Part 3 – from Addo National Park to the Lesotho border – March 13th to April 7th, 2015

Lesotho – April 7th to 15th, 2015

South Africa Part 4 – from the Lesotho to the Swaziland border – April 15th to 23rd, 2015

Swaziland – April 23rd to 28th, 2015

South Africa Part 5 – from the Swaziland to the Botswana border  – April 28th to May 15th, 2015

Botswana

Zimbabwe

Mozambique

Malawi

Armed Robbery in Malawi on July 31st/August 1st, 2015

Tanzania

Kenya

Ethiopia Part 1 – from Kenya to Djibouti – October 25th to November 18th, 2015

Djibouti – October 18th to 27th, 2015

Ethiopia Part 2 –  from Djibouti to Sudan – November 27th to December 9th, 2015

Sudan – December 9th, 2015 to January 8th, 2016