Altai. Part IIIJuly 19–23, 2007 SrostkiMap“Greetings to all you lovely people!” — the writer Shukshin grew up here.  Signs indicating V. M. Shukshin’s childhood home pepper the town.  If you look closer — there’s a portrait of the writer on every birch tree.  Gorno-AltayskMap
Warning! Accident hotspot ahead A town with some mysterious map-type signs showing the main roads.  They’ve started selling stomach- churning vampire poison in the guise of a beer called “Andreich”. I could barely bear it, standing there while I poured out one and a half litres of this pigswill. On the upside, I now have something to put on the shelf next to “Tema” milk.  Everything is so straightforward in this town that each institution is know by its common noun. The university is simply known as the university.  The printers — the printers.  There isn’t much to advertise here, that’s why all surfaces are filled with a military-Soviet-propaganda concoction. First of all, noteworthy dates, important for inculcating the right values: 
1941-1944 All the way through to tales of young pioneer-heroes, complete with scans of pictures from the standard storybook on the subject:  After Gorno-Altaysk the topography changes somewhat, the hills begin to morph into mountains. People come here to get some sort of R&R. There’s hiking.  There’s river rafting.  Housing won’t be a problem— you’ll always find a place to rest your head, even if you didn’t bring a tent.  Houses for rent The building blocks of basic civilisation are five times more advanced here than around Mount Elbrus. Here you’ve got a BBQ, an amazing shaman show, and a strip club.  This Sberbank ad looks like a pack of menthol cigarettes.  My main impression of the Altay region: you float down the river, a current of warm, thick, herb-infused air sweeping down at you from the mountains. A novel experience for your sense of smell.  Aside from that, there’s not much else of note here.  Drug addiction is madness! |
