Hiking to Belukha with pack horses

During the first three days of the hike, the horses will carry all the equipment, food and personal belongings. The cargo is transported at the rate of one horse per two tour participants. 

With the horses, we will walk to Lake Akkem, then the horses will return to the village of Tyungur, and the tour will continue without a horse escort. 

In addition to the main one, you need to have a small everyday backpack for 20-25 liters for basic necessities during transitions with horse escort. 

In the last two days of the hike (days 7 and 8 according to the program), tourists themselves carry backpacks not only with personal belongings, but also the remaining food, as well as general equipment, which is divided equally among all. 

About 2-3 kg of public cargo and food will be added to personal belongings. On average, a backpack during such a transition can weigh from 11 to 13 kg.

When booking a tour for a foreign citizen (including CIS countries), it is necessary to provide all data 1 month before the start of the hike. You must have a passport with you.

Air and railway tickets are not included in the price of the tour. You can purchase them yourself or contact us for help.

On the first day of the tour (the day of arrival), tourists pay for breakfast and lunch themselves. Stops will be made at roadside cafes along the way.

During the hike, the guide-guide organizes three meals a day. Hot meals are provided for breakfast and dinner, lunch is provided with a lunch package. Food is cooked over a campfire, a gas burner or a primus stove. If you wish, you can help your guide. The tourists wash the dishes (plates, cups, cutlery) themselves.

The following products are purchased during the campaign: cereals (rice, buckwheat, hercules), pasta, milk powder, sausage, stew, cheese, dried fruits and nuts, chocolate, condensed milk, coffee, tea, bread, crackers, sweets, cookies, vegetables (potatoes, carrots, cabbage), fruits. The choice of products depends on the type of tour, its complexity and duration. On the route, the food is supplemented with fresh fish, berries (depending on the season and the area – raspberries, blueberries, currants, rosehip, shiksha), wild onions. 

When hiking, we take water from streams, rivers, or, during winter mountain hikes, we drown it from snow and ice.

Tourists are sure to help the guides to prepare firewood for the kitchen and evening campfire.

The kitchen fire is served by a guide.

It is forbidden to dry personal and group items during cooking. Clothes can be dried on a campfire built for this purpose. Tourists maintain such a campfire on their own, without using firewood prepared for a kitchen fire.

Special information for vegetarians, vegans and people on a special menu for medical reasons.

If you do not eat meat, fish or milk, they will be put into a common pot before cooking, and you can set aside soup or porridge without them. However, products are purchased based on the needs of the majority of tourists. The list includes meat and fish pates, stewed meat, cheeses, sausages, condensed milk and powdered milk. Vegetable products are also present: cereals, vegetables, nuts, fruits and dried fruits, but their quantity is calculated for each of the participants of the hike in equal volume.

Important! Unfortunately, we cannot purchase special products and add them to the menu. There are usually no more than 1-2 vegetarians in a group of 10 people, and trying to provide them with vegetarian products means organizing individual meals. This will distract the guide's attention, which he needs for a high-quality tour organization. Therefore, if you adhere to a certain food system for personal beliefs or medical reasons, we recommend that you take your usual nutritious foods with you for a snack and as an addition to a hot meal.

How to get to Altai. The starting point of all our routes is the city of Biysk. To the city of Biysk, we have organized (included in the price) a transfer from Novosibirsk railway station (main), the airport and Barnaul railway station and back. In Gorno-Altaysk, we pick up the tour participants along the way, in this case you do not need to go to Biysk.

- Novosibirsk can be reached from almost any city in the Russian Federation. You can arrive in Novosibirsk by plane, by train or by intercity bus.

- Barnaul can be reached in several ways: by plane, by train, by intercity bus.

- Biysk can only be reached by train, or by motor transport and intercity bus. 

- There are direct flights to Gorno-Altaysk from Moscow and some other regions. An alternative method may be motor transport and intercity buses. 

Meeting of tourists. Be sure to provide us with information about the transport by which you arrive in Novosibirsk / Barnaul / Biysk / Gorno-Altaysk (flight number, arrival time or train number). Local time is the difference from Moscow time – 4 hours (when it is 12:00 in Moscow, it is 16:00 here).

  The meeting of tourists is carried out:

• At the Novosibirsk railway station from 03:00 to 04:00 local time.
• At the airport of Barnaul from 07:00 to 08:00 am local time.
• At the railway station of Barnaul from 08:30 to 09:00 am local time.
• At the railway station of the city of Biysk, approximately from 11:00 to 12:00 local time.
• At the Gorno-Altaysk airport, approximately from 13:00 to 14:00 local time.

A bus will meet you at the appointed time. Look for it in the car park near the train station or airport. If you can't find the bus, you can contact the driver. It is possible to wait at the meeting points and in the office in Biysk on the day of arrival.

We will send you the exact information: the registration number of the bus, its make and the driver's phone number in an SMS the day before the meeting. Wait for the message at 14:00 – 15:00 local time. In case of force majeure (bus breakdown, driver change), there may be a slight delay in the mailing list.

Backpacks and equipment are transported in the trunk or cabin, depending on the size of the bus.  The driver does not make unplanned stops in the city, so please arrive at the designated meeting place on time.

If your flight is late, try to inform the tour operator immediately.

The day of arrival is considered the day of the start of the tour.

After gathering the group, you will arrive in Biysk at the transshipment base (office, warehouse). Here you can apply for documents, including insurance, pay for the tour, as well as get acquainted with the guide and get equipment.

If you arrive in Gorno-Altaysk, then your guide will have all the necessary documents, in this case you will not go to Biysk. You will need to pay for the tour in advance, or an instructor guide, all the necessary information will be provided.

Items that are unnecessary on the route can be left in the luggage room. Be sure to sign your bags and packages! Valuables (computers, phones, etc.), documents, tickets and money are not accepted in the luggage room. The company is not responsible for the safety of valuables.

From Biysk, the group travels to the starting point of the active part of the tour, traveling from 4 to 11 hours, depending on the route, with small stops. Please do not delay the group at the stops.

Important information! The distance from Novosibirsk to Biysk is about 350 km. It is 160 km from Barnaul to Biysk.

From Biysk, you will have to get to the starting point of the active part of the tour. For example, from Biysk to Chibit — 440 km, to the village of Tyungur — 560 km, to the village of Multa — 520 km. It is 100 km from Gorno-Altaisk. closer than from Biysk.

We recommend calculating the route so that you arrive in Biysk the day before the start of the tour and relax at the hotel. Another option is to choose a night train flight, which will tire you less than a daytime one. For example, you can take a train that leaves Novosibirsk in the evening and arrives in Biysk in the morning.

Attention! The tour operator's service begins at the beginning of the active part of the route (Biysk, or Gorno-Altaysk), at the time of meeting with the conductor, and ends at the end of the active part (Biysk, or Gorno-Altaysk).

Since we cannot influence flight delays, the traffic situation and other circumstances beyond our control, sometimes it is not possible to dock all groups on the minute. We ask you to understand that when meeting or recruiting groups in Biysk, you will need to wait a few hours for other participants. 

The return trip at the end of the tour is carried out depending on the program of the last day. Approximately in Gorno-Altaisk / Biysk / Barnaul / You will be in Novosibirsk:

• in Gorno-Altaisk, approximately: 18:00-19:00 (local time);
• in Biysk approximately: 20:30-21:30 (local time);
• in Barnaul, approximately: 23:00 - 00:00 (local time);
• in Novosibirsk, approximately: 03:00 – 04:00 (local time) the next day.

It is possible to arrive a few hours earlier than the designated time.

It is better to take a return ticket from Barnaul on the day following the last day of the tour. If the tour ends on July 10, then you need to take a ticket back on July 11. You can stay overnight in hotels or hostels.

The bus does not deliver to hotels, but follows only the designated route. Gorno-Altaysk Airport – tour operator's office – Barnaul railway station –Novosibirsk railway station. If you need to go to the hotel, then provide additional taxi costs.

In Barnaul and Novosibirsk, the return transfer is only to the railway station, you will need to get to the airport yourself, for example, by taxi. When planning, please set the travel time from the railway station to the airport.

You need to take a return ticket with a margin of at least 2 hours from the time of arrival. This is especially true for the train departing from Barnaul railway station at 00:30, we usually catch it, but on the road, for various reasons beyond our control, delays are possible. If you do not catch this train or other transport without a 2 o'clock time reserve, then the company is not responsible. 

The arrival time is set with a margin, for us the main thing is that you do not miss the plane or train. Please be understanding if you arrive at your destination city a few hours earlier than the designated time.

There are folding seats in transport during transfers, and air conditioning is not provided everywhere.

There are practically no mosquitoes and midges on the route, if there are, then not in large numbers and as an exception. The tick is active mainly in April, May and June. There are practically none in July and August.

To prevent a tick bite, you should follow the following rules:

• clothes should fit snugly to the body, preferably with elastic cuffs on the arms and on the legs of the trousers. It is easier to notice a tick on plain clothes;
• Special chemicals, creams, and aerosols should also be used. One of the means of prevention and treatment of tick-borne encephalitis is "Iodantipyrin", a drug that has antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. This drug is sold in pharmacies;
• when a tick is bitten, it is not recommended to try to remove it yourself. It is necessary to contact medical professionals or route instructors who have experience in such situations. Remember that the sooner the tick is removed, the lower the dose of the pathogen it will transmit.

Our standard tents are for three or two people. Instructors always try to make the participants as comfortable as possible for everyone, since psychological comfort in the group is the most important component. It is also possible to move from one tent to another during a hike. If you are going as a couple, then we will not get a third person to join you. If you want to take your tent, then it's possible.

The temperature in the mountains ranges from +35 at noon to 0 at night. The mountain climate is changeable and harsh – frosts are possible in September, May and even in summer. The weather is changing rapidly – a clear and quiet day can suddenly turn into rainy and windy. Fog is often present, sleet is possible, unexpected thunderstorms and gale force winds. Therefore, we ask the tour participants to bring clothes suitable for all types of weather. Your comfort on the hike, your health and safety directly depend on the right clothes and equipment.

The main condition for participation in the tour is the ability to withstand moderate, in some areas significant physical activity. The technical skills necessary to pass obstacles, organize overnight stays and others are acquired directly on the route. Special training will be needed only when climbing Mount Belukha, Aktra and other peaks of the Altai Mountains.

Children from 12-14 years old can participate in some tours, but on condition that the adults accompanying them are ready to personally bear full responsibility for them. 

For participants of hiking and combined hiking trips, there are age restrictions, in the opposite direction, no more than 55-60 years old.  Exceptions are possible, but all conditions are negotiated in advance with the manager. When setting restrictions, we are guided not so much by age limits, but by the state of physical health of each individual tourist. Therefore, prior approval is necessary in most cases. Please do not try to mislead us about your physical shape, it is important first of all for you personally. 

Purchasing a tour means that you are ready to become a full participant in it. You have sensibly assessed your physical and psychological health and are confident that you will cope with the passage of the chosen route.

In the presence of chronic diseases of the heart, lungs, musculoskeletal system and nervous system, it is not recommended to go on a camping trip if there is a high probability of their exacerbation or they can cause difficulties on the route. Be sure to consult with your doctor beforehand and listen to his recommendations! 

If there are any abnormalities in your health, you must notify your instructor in advance. All your problems will be kept secret.