Middle Summer, Hot Season!

22-30.07.2015 the travel company "Sayan Ring", together with an young guide Catherine Patrina , carried out in social networks Facebook and Instagram a photo project "SAYAN RING Instagram Style" from the ethnographic tour "Great Sayan Ring" . It means, that everyday, almost online, we with Kate have been publishing photos and short comments from actual events during the tour.

Looking for all our messages in social networks? Enter in the searching field a hashtag #SAYANRING.

Below is the full version of the report.

Middle Summer, Hot season, when ourside till +30C, our brand ethnographic tour "Great Sayan Ring" is starting! A big group, 18 participants, will travel around Krasnoyarsk Region, Tuva and Khakassia. We are waiting for our guests from all Russia, Germany and Austria.

Dear tourists, what are you doing before the upcoming tour ? The whole day you are packing your suitcase, trying not to forget anything, giving recommendations to your family members to water flowers in your absence and eat sausages in the fridge. The long drive to the airport during traffic jams. It's already check-in and boarding. Finally! You have been waiting a whole year for that desired vacation, everything was planned even before Christmas time! You taking a seat on a plane, for example, in Sheremetyevo airport, it's getting dark outside, Moscow night lights remain down, beautiful! While here and there, the dinner is served, after well eating you can sleep, onward a long night flight to a distant stranger Krasnoyarsk. Ignoring the noisy neighbors, you are falling asleep somehow... And then suddenly, bam, and the captain is announcing the landing! It turns out that the flight to Krasnoyarsk, only a 4.5 hours! What's more, the difference in time +4 hours! And now it's a daylight, taking off - night, taking on - morning, miracles! Well, doesn't matter that you your sleep was not enough, because onwards so many unknown intersting things are waiting for you! Banishing a haunting sleep, trembling from excitement and light morning chillness, you are looking to the window, how will Krasnoyarsk meet you? Will somebody meet you at the airport? Everything is in order with the booking? Don't worry, everything will be fine, you are very close to new impressions!

Have a good flight, friends! We will meet you at the arrival hall with the orange meeting board!

22.07.2015, 4 am, Krasnoyarsk. Everyone is sleeping at the moment, banishing sleep (maybe it could be better not to go to bed at all), wearing a warm jacket (morning may be enough cool +15, inspite the day promised to be hot +28), I was picked up by our driver to the airport to meet tourists arriving to our city to take part in the well-known ethnographic tour "Great Sayan Ring". The group is not small, participants arrive from 5 to 7.30 am. If waking up I curse everything, then later in 30 min I'm full of new energy, seeing cheerful faces of arrived guests, it's even easier. New meetings charging! That's our job

The first day of the tour "Great Sayan Ring" is totally per the itinerary, all participants have started the sightseeing. Many of them are tired after flights, some of them change the rest in the hotel into a short walking in the city, the smartest of them arrived yesterday in advance. But all of them are open to discover a new city, ask the guide interesting tricky questions. City tour, the chapel, Theater and Mira Squares, ropeway in the park "Bobrovy log", the ethnographic museum. At dinner the guests are getting acquainted and establishing international relationship . Tomorrow morning we are going to the south

23.07.2015. Well, the morning starts early, the city is just waking up! 6.30 am breakfast, 7 am departure by bus to the south of Krasnoyarsk Region along the road M54. Focus of the day is the river Yenissey: observation point "Tsar Fish", Krasnoyarsk hydro power station and the town Divnogorsk, that built the Dam, as for its power Krasnoyarsk station takes 14th place in the world, but Sayano-Shushenskaya one takes 13th in the world and the 1st in Russia!. And today we are going right to the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro Power Station. By the way it was raining, but in some 30 min the sun shines and it's getting warmer and warmer, also wet.

At 12.30 we crossed the border between Krasnoyarsk Region and Khakassia. In Abakan we had lunch, the guide recommended to buy some local beer and other beverages (no alcohol in further shops!), most of the group proudly refused it and wanted to drink the tea only. Going to Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, on the left Krasnoyarsk Region, on the right Khakassia, the border is the Yenissey river, such a geography! In 1 hour we are arriving to the reserved museum "Shushenskoe", but it will be the topic for tomorrow!

24.07.2015, 12:30. Our stay in Shushenskoe village is over. It' a really friendly, warm and cozy village. Shushenskoe is not only the place of Lenin's exil, today it's the great, interesting reserved ethnographic museum, prototyp of a typical Siberian village of 18-19 centuries. What's more it's possible to overnight here in authentic guest houses, with typical countrified design, all modern facilities, and even Wi-Fi works! And how tasty is the food! The excursion had great success, that's a pity, it's now over. The cossacs folklore concert we liked the most, now we are sitting in the bus and going further, but we continue to sing their songs.

2.30 pm. Magnificent lunch in a family in the village Tanzibey, tourists didn't know where to look, what to eat firstly, so big was the diversity of dishes. We were met by Galina and Vladimir, we appreciate their hospitality and warm conversation! On the local market we bought usefull herbs, the favourite was sagaan-daylya with lots beneficial properties, e.g. it gives the tea some extraordinary taste. I don't want to offend the Caucasus or Altai mountains, but there is no tastier tea than gathered in Ergaki!!!

~5 pm The Sayan Mountains, Ergaki! What may be better than mountains scenery! It takes my breath away, I want to stay here longer. We are going from Shushenskoe to Kyzyl, to the "world's edge", as it thought in old times, we are crossing passes of the West Sayans, on the left from the road we see the natural park "Ergaki" and the host of this area Sleeping Sayan. It's untouched kingdom of peace and quite...
P.S. The mobile connection is weak, since I'll write you not so often.

~6 pm. We have crossed the border between Krasnoyarsk Region and Tuva Republic, the landscape has immediately changed, the great Sleeping Sayan gave place to plush golden hills. Tuvan people let us taste fresh blueberry, yummy! Totally, as further we travel, as funnier. Everyone jokes, good mood! Finally we are coming to Kyzyl, will overnight at the yurt camp "Biy-Khem", dinner, forward it will a tea ceremony, but it's getting dark, I can't make pictures, sorry, see you tomorrow! Let everyone dream of something good!

25.07.2015, Saturday. That day we spent in Kyzyl, the capital city of Tuva Republic. The wheather was nice, Kyzyl met us sunny and unclouded! The city is becoming more and more attractive every year, on the main square we find the new monument "The Geographical Center of Asia", created to the 100th anniversary of Kyzyl in 2014, in perimeter everyone can find one's animal according Chinese calendar. We are driving to the National museum to see with our own eyes the magnificent Scythian Gold, that was found in the burial mound Arzhaan2 in 2000s. Unfortunately it's prohibited to make pictures in the museum. On the local market we bought fruits, on a mineral spring we took healing water. Hiking a hill to observe the neighbourhood, incredible Mars landscape! After dinner with national dishes (mostly mutton) we were listening the throat-singers concert. Probably the life sounded so thousands years ago... Everyone was deeply impressed!

28.07.2015. Tuesday. Our special correspondent is online again!
Do you miss our reports? I apologize, I was not available for 2 days. Imagine, no mobile connection! Super to break away from civilization and enjoy the idyll world of mountain taiga. We left misterious Tuva, met raining and lihtning by the way. At the moment we were on the Sayan Pass 2214 m above the sea level it was only +8C! But what amazing scenery!

At the camp "Snow Leopard" was quite cool, before our arrival it was hailing, but on the next day again sunny and warm, like we wanted! "Snow Leopard" is a marvelous place, mountain cedar taiga, the cleanest air, silence, peace, not a living soul kilometers around! Sometimes you feel ascetic. We were hiking to mountain lakes, the night we spent by the camp fire, singing and playing a guitar, arranged a concert of Slavic music instruments, everyone was like in trans.... Right now we are already in Khakassia, in the valley of Delight, maybe soon I will catch the mobile network again to publish more pictures (if local ghosts don't mind).

28.07.2015, Tuesday.
Our special correspondent in Khakassia! Only here you can feel a real spirit of Khakassia! Kyug valley (in translation from Khakassian language "Delight Valley") keeps a long history. Khakassian speech sounds here, Khakassian food is not exotic, all rituals are natural without striving for theatricality. Close to the yurt camp there is the archeological reservation area "Kasanovka", where you can find many holy places, stelas, statues, petroglyphs. The museum is the best example how one should love the small metherland.

In the evening the storm was gathering, even the light was turned off.

Everybody is excited from the Khakassian folklore!
The concert was led by Alexander Samozhikov, soloist and virtuoso of throat-singing, he's fluent in all Khakassian musical instruments. He wrote more than 70 songs and musical works that keep the main feature - the tradition of Khakassian song culture.

29.07.2015, Wednesday, 5 pm, Khakassia. Tour around Valley of Kings. The Great Salbyk Mound with a hight till 20 m and weight till 60 tons is a burial place of one of the most powerful Dinglin kings. It's like Siberian Stonehendge!

31.07.2015, Friday. Our tour "Great Sayan Ring" is now finished, as well as our small project "Sayan Ring Instagram Style". It's a pity to take farewell to our guests, we could show them so much interesting, the potential of Siberia allows it. The last message from our correspondent Catherine Patrina this morning: "Great, not all participants ended the trip today, some of them are going to the north, some of them - to the east. We are looking forward to all new guests!".

Kate, thank you so much for all your assistance during the tour, great pictures and comments in details!