The Big Altai. Comfort sightseeing tour of Altai to the border with Mongolia

Documents for citizens of the Russian Federation:

• A valid domestic or foreign passport.
• The birth certificate for the child.

Documents for foreign citizens:

• A valid foreign passport.
• The birth certificate for the child.
• A completed visa (if required).

Money:

• We have tried to save your money as much as possible by including almost all expenses in the tour price. Despite this, it is better to have a certain amount of cash with you to pay for souvenirs, personal purchases, meals in a cafe (lunch cost 250-300 rubles), baths, additional services. Altai is a place practically untouched by civilization, so you will have to pay in cash, since the possibilities of non–cash payments with bank cards are very limited here.

Any group on active routes is a team.

The team has accepted mutual assistance, friendly communication with all participants, decision-making on issues not included in the program in consultation with the entire group and the guide.

The guide, who is also the head of the group, monitors the successful completion of the travel program, provides information about sightseeing sites.

You will have one guide and driver for all 10 days of the trip.

If you are going to travel alone and are worried about staying in a room with a person you did not know before the trip, then we can inform you that very good, cheerful and interesting people from all over Russia and the world are going on active tours. We always try to select roommates of the closest age and the same gender, the beds in the room will be separate. But, we must point out that the possibility of selecting people of the same age is not always present. Also, for obvious reasons, we cannot know about the character, habits and temperament of the guest in advance. You decide on a double room with a check-in or an additional payment for a single room on your own. It is not always possible to resolve the issue of guest accommodation directly on the tour. Also, if you decide to check out directly on the tour, then the payment for half of the double room included in the price of the tour will burn out and you will be forced to pay the full cost of all rooms along the route.

If you are going to travel with a family or a company of 3-5 people and you would like to stay in a room with three / four / five people, then if possible we will take this into account, but you need to inform us in advance so that we can book a suitable room for you. You need to coordinate this point directly with the manager who issues you a ticket.

If you want to travel only with your company /family, then we can offer you the organization of an individual program, just for you. We can adjust the route according to your wishes. The cost will depend on the number of participants, the class of accommodation along the route, meals and the class of the selected car.

Route 1 refers to active, adventure tourism, does not have any sports category of difficulty. There is no strong physical activity. You will be in the absence of civilization and familiar infrastructure. There are no signs, railings and urns on the trails. The sightseeing sites are natural and historical, not prepared for the show and reception of guests. Please note!!! There is practically no infrastructure in Altai. You're going to see nature.

2 Altai has the lowest possible service, which is at the beginning of its development, but extremely friendly people who will try to improve your vacation.

3 During trips on some excursions, there will be dirt roads and dust. From the 6th to the 8th day, there will only be a dirt road with a lot of dust on it, you should not take expensive suitcases on a trip that you will worry about.

4 People who have no experience of horseback riding can take part in the horseback ride. The horse ride will be carried out in the mountains, along the natural terrain.

Route 5 is suitable for participation with children from 6 years old. Children from 8 years old and older can take part in the horseback riding with the consent and supervision of their parents. For safety reasons, only children aged 14 and over can take part in rafting. In case your child is younger, we can offer either a visit to the motor rafting, or a refund for this event.

6 Please note that the descent from the Katu-Yaryk pass on day 6 is carried out on foot, about 1 hour way down. At the same time, things are lowered by a car or passable equipment. This is due to the fact that the descent from the Katu-Yaryk pass is dangerous when passing it by car, bus or passable equipment.

Public hospitals are located in the area of the tour program (except for the 7-9 day of the trip). There are pharmacy points (except for 7-9 days of travel). Medicines are purchased at their own expense.

Insurance. You can purchase from us medical insurance and life insurance "Ingosstrakh", "Uralsib", baggage insurance, non-departure insurance, maternity insurance and other types of travel insurance for an additional fee. Insurance assistance will be provided to you in public hospitals, where treatment for citizens of the Russian Federation is free. So far, there has not been a single case of Ingosstrakh or Uralsib requesting payments from guests traveling under this tour program.

It is very important to tell about the ticks that scare tourists.

The peak, when there are a lot of ticks, is the end of April and until the end of June. Not every tick is encephalitic. That is, many of them are completely harmless. But it is possible to distinguish a vector from a regular one only in the laboratory.

How to minimize the risk of tick-borne encephalitis?

A few points:

1. Don't let the ticks bite you. Look around when hiking in the forest, take off your clothes on time. It is not difficult to notice a tick on the body. If you hit a bush, you looked at your feet, if there is a tick, just throw it off. In practice, this is a very, very effective way (and I am writing about what I have tested, the advice is extremely practical). Additionally, it is advisable to treat clothes with a repellent.
2. Vaccination. It is done in a polyclinic. If you do a full course of three vaccinations, then immunity can last up to 3 years. I will not dissuade from vaccinations, but in practice, vaccination does not always work. A lot of people, hoping for a vaccination, get sick. Maybe that's why neither I nor my friends make them. This is a big topic for discussion, many believe that there is a lot of harm from these vaccinations, etc. Everyone makes their own choice.
3. After a tick bite, carry out emergency prevention. Within 72 hours, you need to get an injection of immunoglobulin and take iodantipyrine. This is not a vaccination, but a fight against an infection that has already been received. Such an injection is quite expensive (about 1000 rubles per 10 kilograms of body weight).

But there is a method of protection that is used for the unvaccinated, and which allows you not to force your immune system unnecessarily. It consists of three stages:

• we insure ourselves in case of a tick bite in an insurance company, which allows us to compensate for the cost of an immunoglobulin injection. You need to send us an application for tick bite insurance now if you have purchased a ticket for April-May;
• in case of a tick bite, we pull it out and take it to the laboratory for analysis for the presence of infections (Gorno-Altaysk, 17 Kommunistichesky Ave.). It is better to take it right away, since there are only 72 hours for everything about everything;
• if the tick is "clean", then we sleep peacefully. If the tick-borne encephalitis virus is found, then we proceed to emergency prevention, then we reimburse the costs for insurance.

This method minimizes unnecessary medical interventions. I repeat, everyone is responsible for their own health, someone can just rely on "maybe", pull out the tick and move on.

From April 20 to June 15, there may be ticks on the route. The highest tick activity is in late April and early May. From mid-May to mid-June, cases of bites are rare. However, we recommend that you purchase tick bite insurance (the cost is 350-500 rubles). In local hospitals, it is possible to administer immunoglobulin. If you plan to purchase insurance not through our company, pay attention to the fact that in the policy, in the list of places where medical care can be provided, the Republic of Altai, the village of Elekmonar or Chemal village, village Aktash, village Shebalino. We also recommend that you get a tick bite vaccination in advance, which is done in 2 stages.

From the 1st to the 4th day, mobile operators MTS, Beeline, Megafon partially catch on the road and during excursions. MTS mobile operator catches at the campsite (other operators catch it, there is Wi-fi).

From the 4th to the 6th day – On the road, during excursions and at the campsite, mobile operators MTS, Beeline, Megafon partially catch.

From the 6th to the 8th day, mobile operators - Mts, Beeline, Megafon – will catch on the morning of the 6th day. After lunch, mobile communication and Internet connection will end before the evening time of the 08th day of the program.

From the 8th to the 10th day– mobile operators MTS, Beeline, Megafon are caught. There is wi-fi at the campsite.

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

The permissible weight of a horse riding participant is up to 90 kg (the weight above the permissible one can be agreed on an individual basis).

1. Group breakfasts take place at the campsite.

If desired, you can choose a vegetarian type of food.

Standard breakfast items are porridge, granola, eggs (omelette, fried eggs), sliced (cheese, sausage, vegetables, fruits), boiled sausages, pancakes, cheesecakes, croutons, tea, coffee, water, milk, yogurt. 

The names change depending on the camp sites where the group is located on each particular day of the tour. 

2. Lunches take place between excursions. The group drives into a cafe. The average cost of a complex meal (600- 800 rubles). 

3. Dinners take place at the campsite. As a rule, this is a salad + second course, tea/coffee, sweet. 

If you follow a special diet – vegetarianism, lactose-free, gluten-free diet. Please note that the catering enterprises of the Altai Republic are in the initial stage of their development and are completely not adapted to any different types of food from the standard. We can order vegetarian or lactose-free meals for you, but you must be prepared for the fact that it will be very modest in composition. In most cases, you will be served the same as the rest of the participants, but only without meat or lactose. Gluten-free menus are even more difficult, because most employees of Altai food companies do not know what gluten-free dishes should look like. Therefore, we will not be able to provide an order for this type of food on the tour.

1) Practical throughout the trip you will have the opportunity to visit food and hardware stores, pharmacies. The guide will warn you in advance about the days when this opportunity disappears.

2) Almost all shops and many cafes have the option of paying with a bank card. But, nevertheless, cash is still needed in Altai, preferably in small bills.

3) Almost all along the route, you will have the opportunity to withdraw funds from the Sberbank ATM, it is available in all major towns.

1. The campsite depends on the date of travel. If accommodation at any particular campsite is essential for you, then it is possible to coordinate this with the organizers in advance. 

2. You will be stationed at 4 different bases in different regions of Altai. Possible options are stated in this tour: 

Base No. 1: "Territory of happiness" / "Salyut" / "Cedar" / "Yav". Shower and toilet in the room. 

Base No. 2: "Nomad" / "Rasul" / "Altai Kizhi" / "Green bun" / "Shavlo" / "Alatau" / "Altai Khan" / "Podgornaya" / "Sartakpai". Shower and toilet in the room. 

Base No. 3: "Katu-Yaryk" / "Chulyshman travel" / "Eden" / "Stone mushrooms". Shower and toilet on site. 

Base No. 4: "Artybash" / "Manor in the mountains" / "Manul-Kel" / "Altyn-Kel". Shower and toilet in the room. 

3. Accommodation – double (possible triple or quadruple on request). Single occupancy is possible for an additional fee.

5. All camp sites have baths, which can be ordered additionally.

6. There are sockets in the houses/rooms. But, as a rule, there are few of them (1 or 2). If you have a lot of electronic equipment, grab an extension cord. We also recommend that you take a powerbank with you.

7. Please note that most of the camp sites are powered by the electrical system of local villages. For the most part, these systems are old and gusts often occur. This means that there may be a power outage at any time. At this point, you will not have light, water and heating in the rooms, because there are no centralized sewerage and heating systems in the villages. Each accommodation facility builds its own heating system, digs its own well and all this works thanks to electricity, or does not work, at the moment of gusts. 

8. There is often no hair dryer at camp sites. If you need it, you'd better bring it with you. 

9. As a rule, accommodation buildings are made of wood, but there are also camp sites made of brick and granite. You will stay in rooms at some bases, and in separate cabins at some camp sites. Bed linen is provided everywhere, but we recommend that you take your own towel with you – they will be needed at bases in the valley of the Chulyshman River and for use in the bath, when bathing in rivers, etc. 

10. Hygiene kits are not provided everywhere, be sure to take all hygiene supplies with you.