Another long driving day back to Barnaul, overnight at the hotel in preparation for a flight back to Moscow, and for Mike, Nan, ex-Marine and myself, a change of airports to catch Lufthansa back to Frankfurt. In the Lufthansa Lounge at Sheremetyevo, the four of us went into a major food orgy, snarfing down as [...]
“Travel Tips & Advice on Russia”
The Siberian Altai Trip Was Over – Russia
July 21st, 2007 
Sheila Simkin 
Posted in Russia 
Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking 
1 Comment »
Even More Excitement In The Altai Mountains – Siberia, Russia
July 20th, 2007 Sheila Simkin One last uphill, one last adventure…or…debacle. At the top of a hill, Leonid decided to deviate off the trail down to the river and camping spot for tonight by bushwacking. Off he went, flying through brambles, stinging nettles and stabbing bushes with the “jets” close on his heels. ex-Marine and I were hauling *#*, huffing [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
Get Lost (Literally) in The Altai Mountains of Siberia, Russia
July 19th, 2007 Sheila Simkin By now, you probably agree with us that Leonid was a terrible guide. He consistently gave unclear directions as to time, distance, and whether there would be water along the way to fill water bottles. Quite a few days, we hiked all day without water in open conditions and under a broiling sun, and it [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
Trekking To Mount Belukha In The Ak-kem Valley – Siberia, Russia
July 18th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Up and over another pass with incredible views of Mount Belukha ( the highest mountain in Siberia, at 14,800′). The massif had four peaks with snow glistening, and over 700 square miles of glaciers. Mount Belukha is a favorite for serious climbers and a Korean mountaineering group was there at the same time. (Most ascents [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, Ak-kem Valley, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, Mount Belukha, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
Up and Over Karatiurek/Karatyurek Pass in Siberia, Russia
July 17th, 2007 Sheila Simkin An extremely long uphill on a good path, and ex-Marine started getting nauseous from exertion (he tends to hike too fast), and altitude. With the “jets” already at the top of the pass, he stopped to lie down along the trail after heaving up breakfast. A 15-minute rest, and Rob along with the two of [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, Karatiurek/Karatyurek Pass, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
The Kucherla River and Karatiurek/Karatyurek Pass in Siberia, Russia
July 16th, 2007 Sheila Simkin The next morning dawned bright and sunny. The horsemen had returned with all the tents BUT still no silverware, or enough dishes to go around. The entire trek was spent drinking tea out of soup bowls, sharing the few cups and plates, waiting for someone to finish so you could have their cup or saucer. [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, Karatiurek Pass, Kucherla Lake, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
Barnaul and Vysonik Base Camp, Tyungur Village – Siberia, Russia
July 15th, 2007 Sheila Simkin The flight to Barnaul was on some sort of bi-level Russian plane (absolutely no choice in airlines) with every seat taken. A Barnaul arrival at 6:30 am, and Len-Alp, the Russian tour organizer, had two mini-buses waiting for us with no food or water in it, and no time for breakfast since we had a [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, barnaul, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, mountains, russia, russian planes, siberia, sightseeing, transportation, travel, trek, trekking, tyungur, village, Vysonik Base Camp 3 Comments »
A Fast Two Days in Moscow, Russia
July 14th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Arrived in Moscow, made our way through immigration without any problem and thank heavens our bags were there. Svetlana met us outside customs and transferred us to the Hotel Rossia, one of the biggest all-time dumps we’d ever been in. The Rossia was one of the biggest hotels in the world, with over 2,700 rooms, [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, moscow, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
Siberia and Altai Mountain Planning, Russia
July 13th, 2007 Sheila Simkin Air ? The easiest method for us was flying from Chicago-Frankfurt on United, and then Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. The following airlines fly to Moscow: Alitalia, Air France, Austrian Airlines, British Airlines, Delta, LOT, Lufthansa, and Swiss International. Almost every airline connects through somewhere and usually arrives at Sheremetyevo1. There are also [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking 1 Comment »
Visit Siberia? What Was I Thinking!
July 12th, 2007 Sheila Simkin 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 [...]
Posted in Russia Tags: adventure, altai, Altai Mountains, Asia, culture, destination, event, events, hiking, information, log, mountains, russia, siberia, sightseeing, travel, trek, trekking No Comments »
