Altay

There in the middle of Asia, we enter the Altay Republic (still part of the huge Russian Federation). Moscou and "white" Russia are far far away, actually 3400 kilometers. The relaxed atmosphere and the environment are welcoming. The old traditions are alive with "natural" religious rites and burial sites still in use. There are even rumours that archeologues who come to uncover tumbs annoy the "spirits" so much so that they generate earthquakes and natural disasters. Do I need to say that many rites are forbidden to women.The landscape is quite similar to Switzerland, with high peaks, large glaciers, many rivers, thousands of lakes and sparse vegetation. The Altay Mountains are one of the oldest mountain range in the world and made it to the list of Unesco natural World Heritage sites.

We drove so close to the borders with China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, that we had to stop at a "pre-frontier" border post. It sounds much more serious than it actually was. On our trip, we visited some local firms mostly linked to the agricultural sector. We saw a farm active in the export of deers, in particulars of the antlers to South Korea and of the meat to Germany. We also got a taste of the very sour fermented mares milk. All these are family businesses that have no support from governement. Tourism is becoming more popular with river rafting a favorite attraction on these stormy waters.

We spent a few nights in a traditional house, sleeping on yak skin and eating all sorts of traditional products. We felt very welcome even though it was close to impossible to speak with the local population. In the village, people still go around with horses. The shops, the clinic, the schools are mostly made of wood.

We spent two nights camping in the middle of nowhere, but close to a river. Very nice area, except that little mouse and squirrels liked it as well and were running below my tent early in the morning. It did get very cold at night. Fortunately, the night is short at this time of the year. The evenings were spent around the fire with good food, singing competitions (in Russian, Kazakh and French) and good vodka. And of course, we could admire the stars and the planets (Jupiter and its moons) above us.