quired great care and caution, but I
did it and it was definitely worth it!
The Tiger made it all the more easy to
ride and complimented my relatively
low experience.
From the top there is a stunning
view of the valley of the Chuya Riv-
er, the northern Chuya Range with
peaks over 4000 meters high and the
surrounding mountains. At the end
of July, there is still snow and in clear
weather you can see Belukha itself,
the highest peak in Siberia.
At the top I talked with an old man
- a former miner who worked for 25
years in the USSR at the abandoned
mercury mines. He had a wrinkled
face and mutilated hands, it was clear
he had had a very difficult life.
He told me about the history of
these places, about the dead lake of
Mountain Spirits nearby, about the
mercury mines abandoned after the
collapse of the USSR, and I bought
from him a small piece of rock quartz
called the "stone rose" for memory.
Descending was easier and, being
on the asphalt road, I turned to the
side of the pass Katu-Yaryk and the
valley of the river Chulyshman – an-
other must visit sight within the Altai.
Through the Red Gate (narrow rocky
gorge), passing dead and living lakes,
through wonderful views, fields and
forests, I reached a 3.5 km long pass
and steeply descended into the can-
yon. After the Aktashinsky repeater
the road was wet, yet very easy to ride.
Down in the canyon I did a 77 ki-
lometers road along the river to the
southern shore of the Teletskoye
Lake. The place is relatively inacces-
sible and there are almost no tourists
here. When I first got to the lake the
sun was shining brightly, the whether
quickly changed, it started to rain. I
relaxed and just enjoyed the amazing
atmosphere of this beautiful place. In
the evening I returned to Biysk with
the wonderful views along the Chuya
Highway.
Altay is beautiful. I saw only a
TRAVERSE 65
small part of its beauty and will re-
turn, hopefully next year, with more
time. Empty roads, no factories, no
railways, few tourists, recently built
hotels and camps, clean air and water,
high mountains and deep lakes. What
else can a real motorcycle traveller
dream about? MB
Mike Bibichkov lives in Moscow
and oftens explores his native Rus-
sia. A passionate motorcyclist since
he was a kid, there's nothing he loves
more than riding into the mountains.
A year ago he gave up an office job
to be able to take others around Russia
as a part of Rusmoto Travel. You can
find their details and information on
rides at www.rusmototravel.com