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Russia travalogue
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This is the travelogue of our trip to Russia.
The thumbnails of all pictures are on this page.
| Date | Route | |
| Mo 7/28 | Brussels - Stockholm - Москва [Moscow] - Барнаул [Barnaul] [diary & photos] * 6u00 : With Gaston and Olga to the airport. Group gathers here. * 10u15 : Flight to Stockholm, and at 13u30 futher to Moscow (+2h). * 17u30 : Transfer to another airport in Moscow. * One hour delay when leaving (0u30) for Barnaul (+3u). |
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| Tu 7/29 | Барнаул [Barnaul] - Тюнгур [Tyungur] [diary & photos] * 7:30 : arrival at te (short) runway of Barnaul. * With our bagage on top of the bus, we leave for Tyungur (700km). * 20:30 : We enter Tyugur over the suspension bridge to arrive in the base camp. * After dinner we enjoy a good sauna. |
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| We 7/30 | Тюнгур [Tyungur] (rest) [diary & photos] * 9am : breakfast, our first "meeting" with Russian "pap". * Small walk (5 km) with Micha and Anna. * In the afternoon we walk to Kucherla (village and river). * After dinner we have an extra sauna. |
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| Th 7/31 | Тюнгур [Tyungur] - Байда [Bajda] berg [diary & photos] * Today is the start of a two day acclimatisation hike. * Breakfast at 9:00, and walking only starts at eleven. * Just after 1am we have lunch near a little source. * The horses (who carry tents and food) have already passed us. * A nice walk over the grassfields near the top conclude this day. * Just below the summit we camp with a great view on the mountains at the other side of the Katun river. |
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| Fr 8/1 | Байда [Bajda] berg - Тюнгур [Tyungur] [diary & photos] * This realy is holiday : wakeup call at 8:30. * Over the real Bajda top (2070m), we walk the shortest way down. * Lunch is at the same source as yesterday. * Back in Tyungur we leave the second shop without beer. |
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| Sa 8/2 | Тюнгур [Tyungur] - Ороктой [Oroktoi] [diary & photos] * Today starts the "big journey", but not walking -- rafting is a beter way to start. * The first group leaves at 10am, the second group has to wait until 2pm. * The 20km to the Akkem river has 3 (action-)rapids. * We camp next to the Oroktoi rivier. |
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| Su 8/3 | Ороктой [Oroktoi] - Тухман [Tukhman] [diary & photos] * A fixed morning ritual: 8am wakeup, 9u breakfast, 10u start walking. * Today is a long climb through the forrest, including two hours of thunder. * At noon we are near a beautiful meadows, and luckely the sun is also there to dry us. * Camp is at 2200m, where we arrive just before a new rain cloud. * After diner the rain sends most people to bed for an early sleep, but not everyone... |
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| Mo 8/4 | Тухман [Tukhman] - Акташ [Aktash] [diary & photos] * Today is a long but flat walk (maximum height 2500m). * The weather often limits our views. * After a small lake the tents are setup, near the Aktach river (2150m). |
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| Tu 8/5 | Акташ [Aktash] - Текелю [Tekelu] [diary & photos] * A short walk today. Over a 2410m pass, and then down to the Tekellu rivir. * Before lunch our tents are already installed. * The afternoon is used to visit two nearby waterfalls (one upstream, one downstream). |
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| We 8/6 | Текелю [Tekelu] - Akkem lake [diary & photos] * Climbing a muddy path to 2400m ("Yellow noon"). * Along the ridge (and in the rain) we walk towards UFO-valley. * Down to the Yarlu rivir, and with the help of the horses we cross the Akkem river. * Arriving in the second basecamp, we can again enjoy the sauna. * The evening is spend along the fire, in the yourt. |
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| Th 8/7 | Akkem lake (Akkem glacier) [diary & photos] * At 10:00 we leave, but the weather will decide where we will walk to. * At the junction we make the risk to walk to the glacier. * Over the end-morene and a lot of jumping over rocks we arrive at the glacier. * We also have a short walk on the glacier, but the weather is not 100% to have a great view. * Returning over the same path, it's almost 7pm when we arrive at the camp. Time for dinner and a sauna. |
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| Fr 8/8 | Akkem lake (rest) [diary & photos] * Today would be a hike to "seven-lake-valley", but rain and fog let us decide to take a day off. * Card games, reading and wood gathering get us to lunch. * After lunch some risk to hike around the lake (using a 1-day bridge). * This bridge is built for the arrival of a Russian group. * We have a little singing-contest with our Russian friends. |
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| Sa 8/9 | Akkem lake (Seven lake valley) [diary & photos] * A cloudless sunrise ensures a great walk and views to seven lake valley. * After the Akkem-lake is a short steep climb to the hanging "valley of seven lakes". * A long path takes us along all the different lakes (up to 2600m). * At our lunch spot we can see 4 lakes, together with a great view on the Ak-Oyuk gletsjer. * Over an alernative route we return to the Akkem-lake, and back to our basecamp. |
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| Su 8/10 | Akkem lake - Каратюрек [Karatiurek] pass [diary & photos] * Today starts the second part of the trek, with the hardest day. * Again to the Akkem-lake, but then a long steep climb to Karatiurek pass (3080m). * On top of the pass we have lunch, and between the fog, we can enjoy the great view. * Then a decend to 2250m ti put up the tents. |
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| Mo 8/11 | Karatiurek pass - Kucherla lake [diary & photos] * Today we hike along the hills of the Kucherla river. * Just after 15h we arrive at the campsite of Kucherla lake. * The rain makes this a calm night. * Today we celebrate Sacha's birthday (one of the horse-man)... with cake and beer. |
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| Tu 8/12 | Кучерла [Kucherla]-lake - Кучерла [Kucherla]-river [diary & photos] * Today is the longest day of the trekking. * Some 20km along the river banks in one long muddy path. * In a flower meadow the tents are set up. * Some hail makes that we have to put up some cover real fast. * Tonight is the last evening of the trek, which is celebrated with speeches, beer and vodka. |
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| We 8/13 | Кучерла [Kucherla]-river - Тюнгур [Tyungur] [diary & photos] * It was a cold night, the morningfog is frozen onto our tents. * Because we stopped early yesterday, we have another 20km ahead. * The path id beter then yesterday: passing some petroglyphes and a long walk through the wide (and warm) valley, we arrive at 16u in the village. * This was the last day of the trekking, so the finish is perfect: sauna, a delicious meal, some speeches and a gig from Luka (gitar) and his friend (Mongolian throath-songs). |
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| Th 8/14 | Тюнгур [Tyungur] - Барнаул [Barnaul] [diary & photos] * A short report of a long day : 700km in 2 busses from Tyungur to Barnaul. * We stay in hotel Central (state-hotel) and eat dinner in a Mexican restaurant. |
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| Fr 8/15 | Барнаул [Barnaul] - Москва [Moskou] - Санкт-Петербург [Sint-Petersburg] [diary & photos] * Early rise to catch the 9 o'clock flight to Moscow (-3u). * Here we need to drive to a second airport. This give us time for a thirty minutes visit to the "Red Square". * And then off to Sint Petersburg. And eving rush ours in this city delays our arrival. * A late evening meal in the hotel concludes the day |
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| Sa 8/16 | Санкт-Петербург [Sint-Petersburg] [diary & photos] * Today we visit Sint Peterburg the Japanese way : one half day touring with the bus throughout the city, with 5 or 10 minutes breaks to make pictures, all this with explenations of a dutch speaking guide. * In the afternoon we visit the Hermitage, followed by a boattour on the channels. * One "last" dinner and then making sure to be "over the bridge" before they open. * Some celebrate these last our until the early morning (the russian way). |
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| Su 8/17 | Санкт-Петербург [Sint-Petersburg] - Stockholm - Brussel [diary & photos] * One last free half day can be filled with a visit to the city center (metro) or to the monestary. * At noon we leave the hotel for our last fligths. * Via Stockholm (-2h) and a gap of 3 hours we arrive at 19h15 in Brussels. |
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