Day 166 (16 June 2023) - Aktash to Shebalinsky, Russia
DAY 166 (16 JUNE 2023) – In the morning, we left for a 320 km ride to Shebalinsky. We continued our ride on the scenic Chuya Highway and stopped by a couple of interesting places.
Our first stops were the Red Gate Rock (Krasnyye Vorota Gorge) and the nearby Shirlak Vodopad (Shirlak Waterfall) in Aktash, Ulagansky, nearby the place where we stayed yesterday.
There were several stops like the Kalbak-Tash, the Chuya Olennyy Stone and the Ancient site of Adar-Kaya, where we got to see many petroglyphs (ancient rock carvings), especially the ancient deer stones that are mostly found in Siberia and Mongolia. Deer stones are ancient megaliths carved with symbols, particularly a flying deer.
We continued our journey after lunch and made a stop at the Chuya and Katun River confluence.
It is a famous tourist spot where the greenish waters of the Chuya river and the turquoise waters of the Katun River meet, but both do not mix!
Later, we decided to ride up the famous Chike-Taman Mountain Pass, which was basically an off-road route just along the Chuya highway. The pass is a steep serpentine road between cliffs, at an altitude of 1460 meters.
The view was breathtaking all the way up and back down, but so was the challenge due to the steepness, the sharp unpaved winding roads, and deep dangerous cliffs on both sides! I am not a fan of off-road routes but I’m glad I got through this challenge!
We finally arrived at our mini cabin guest house in Shebalinksy, surrounded by nature and a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
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COMING SOON.
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