Visit Siberia? What Was I Thinking!
Years ago, Mountain Travel Sobek organized a trek to Kyrgyzstan that also included a few days touring in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (where the trip started), and Samarkand before flying into Kyrgyzstan. The tour leader was Rob, dynamic, intelligent, personable and fluent in Russian. ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I took that trip with Rob and had great experiences. I also arranged for private extension to Bukhara and Turkmenistan (one day I'll write about this incredible trip). The Kyrgyzstan trek coincided with a hairy situation involving the kidnapping of some Japanese tourists and Rob was so extremely qualified, we knew that if there was a way to keep a group safe, Rob would be the man to do it.
So...when Rob e-mailed that he and Mountain Travel Sobek were putting together an exploratory trip, trekking in the Altai mountains of Siberia, with only invited participants (people he knew were good trekkers, congenial and able to go with the flow), I thought...why not! It took ex-Marine a little bit longer (all right...a lot longer and many arguments later) to agree. And then he only agreed because this destination was so remote, there'd be no possibility of political upheaval or terrorism. Who goes to Siberia?
Granted...Siberia sounded a little extreme even for us with its history of "Gulags" and "Political Prisoners." There must have been some reason the former U.S.S.R sent them to Siberia... What was I thinking!
The trip would start with a two-day visit to Moscow, followed by a 1,750-mile flight east to Barnaul, the main city of the Altai. From there, a drive to Mountain Lodge Vysotnik in Tiungur (a base camp) before starting off on a circular, horse-supported trek through the Altai Mountains. There were 14 "tetched in the head" of us who probably thought..."This sounds so adventurous. We're going to be the first group of Americans into this remote region of Siberia"...completely overlooking the fact that it WAS an exploratory trip, exploratory being a fancy word for "test" or "trial."
Be it as it may, summer is the best season for trekking in the Altai Mountains on the border where Siberia, Mongolia and China meet. There would be an abundance of wild rivers, mountain lakes and meadows with the taiga, Siberia's legendary forest, covering the land. It was also remote and vast, hundreds of miles away from any major city. It was starting to sound better and better, and even ex-Marine was getting excited although he detests sleeping in tents...a holdover from his Marine days.
Time to plan...
