TRAVEL: "Wild and mysterious, enticing and frightening - Ulagan!" Part 3 (FINAL)

WELCOME IN TRAVEL ON ALTAI! FINAL PART

• To get acquainted with the first part - "Ulagan!" Part 1
• To get acquainted with the second part - "Ulagan!" Part 2

ROUTE:

Barnaul → Biysk → Srostki → Maima → Manzherok → Ust-Sema → Chemal → Ust-Sema → Shebalino → Seminsky pass → Ongudai → Aktash → Ulagan → Katu-Yaryk

The last part of the story ended with the Katu-Yaryk pass, after which we decided to turn back:

As it was already dark, we decided to look into one very, very beautiful place, about which very few people know - the lake "Gemini". Now in that place there is a tourist base, though the houses are terrible but the base is only under construction. In 2003, of course, there was nothing like this, and the access to the lake territory was blocked by huge boulders, broken by water, now a bridge was built through them.

Ulagan district, Lake "Gemini"

Ulagan district, Lake "Gemini", 2003 year shot

The lake itself is very unusual, the purest and most transparent water! And what a silence around ... a place in which you can really relax. So we decided to stay for a few days.

We decided not to go far, because it was getting dark, so we sat for a while on the beach and met the sunset))

The next day was great weather! And we decided to stroll along the lake to the pier, which we looked at in the evening. There in the water we found very interesting snails with horns, and there were many more fry :) We made a couple of entries on GoPro under the water and returned to the house. Later clouds came running, and a strong thunderstorm began. The thunder rumbled simply incredible, the walls of houses shook from it!

Towards the evening of the third day we decided to take a walk to distant glades, we even thought about going around the whole lake. But, as it turned out, the land there is not everywhere near the lake. In places the surrounding surface consisted of many stones under which everything was in the water. A couple of times passing through the bushes we soaked all the legs with water. It became a little creepy, and we returned to a safer territory. We knocked down some pine nuts from the trees, photographed a couple of pictures and went to collect mushrooms. After the rain, they grew very much on the ground.

Having met a wonderful dawn and as having rested, we collected things and moved towards the house. Near the "Red Gate" we drove past "Dead Lake" or as it is called by the locals, "Cheybek-Köl". In my childhood, it fully justified its name. Because of the road built along its edge, each cubic meter of water was in fallen trees. It is a pity that it was not possible to find photographs, apparently they are still not printed and stored on an old photo film.

Ulagan district, dawn on the lake "Gemini"

Ulagan district, lakes in the background of glaciers

In the lake there was never a fish, presumably because of the high content of mercury, and if you believe the legends - because of the ferocious evil spirits. At one time, an entrepreneur even took him on lease, cleaned of dead trees and launched a fish. But, apparently, something did not work out and the fish did not want to get divorced. Although now you can meet a couple of fishermen here, but it's not clear if they catch anything. Now the lake, of course, is a completely different kind, it has become clean and beautiful, but still it sometimes gets a little creepy ... whether it's true, something is wrong with it, or memories of its former form :)

Ulagan district, Dead Lake "Cheybek-Köl"

Ulagan district, Dead Lake "Cheybek-Köl"

An unexpected stop occurred at the exit from Ulagan district. Near the road, a truck with fuel overturned and the traffic was blocked for security reasons. For some reason road accidents on this tract happen quite often. We did not wait long, for about 5-10 minutes, but during that time we had time to walk and make a couple of photos.

Ulagan district

Ulagan district

The next stop was at the "Chicke-Taman" Pass. There everything was packed with souvenir tables, and a lot of people. Andrew and I decided to climb to the observation deck, which offers a picturesque view of the surrounding mountains and the old road of the pass.

Ongudai district, "Chike-Taman" pass

Ongudai district, Car crashed on the pass

There was also a small stop on the shore of a river. There I collected large stones and secretly hid them in the car)) And while I was looking for stones, I saw a herd of goats coming to drink water, and arranged a photo-hunting on them, walking straight along the river's waters. But as soon as I came closer, they fled)

Ongudai district

Ongudai district, goats on the river

After that, we already went without stopping to "Shebalino". And after the village we stopped at one nice base with excellent houses. There we really enjoyed it! Near the bridge was a cafe, where very tasty prepared and the menu had a lot of positions! True, we decided to try the national dishes there, something like thick cakes made from goat's milk ... it seems. The taste was very strange, but it did not seem so disgusting to me as Andrew))

Shebalino district, a bridge to a roadside cafe

Shebalino district

The houses were very good, brand new, everything was clean and well-groomed. A great place to relax! Toward evening I went on to shoot in the fields and enjoy beautiful nature)

Shebalino district, view from the room on the base

Shebalino district

The next morning we were already on the road, at dawn, making our way through the fog. And safely returned to home :)

Thank you for attention and apologize for my English :)

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