Катунь (Katun) – Lake Teletskoye

10th July 2014       30’C         206km
Катунь (Katun) – Lake Teletskoe

After a good night’s sleep, I woke to the sound of the river cascading past the rocks. A quick Russian breakfast of sausages, eggs & potatoes, with tea and bilini, and I was back on the road.

Riding to Lake Teletskoe was a joy, a fast, winding country road.  I have not had a road like this since southern China, Yunnan, and I had to refresh my cornering skills after so long.
Winding through the forest, eventually the road ended at the small lakeside town of Artybach, where I stopped for lunch.  I found a guesthouse on the hill with a nice garden, outdoor drop toilets, no bathroom, but a Russian banya for washing and steaming.  A room in a log cabin was 300 rubles, an extra 50 rubles to use the banya.   Bargain.

At the cafe where I had lunch, I was able to arrange a speedboat to tour the lake. Together with two Russian couples, we set off down the lake, they provided beer and of course vodka.
We visited a number of waterfalls, and washed in the icy cold water. The lake is absolutely spectacular, pristine forest rimming the deep blue green water, the pine trees running right down to the waters edge.

On the way back the boat ran out of petrol, and we were stranded for a while until another boat was called abd bought over fuel. More vodka was consumed by the driver and the Russian couples. I abstained, after being in the sun all afternoon, I was parched, and adding more vodka to the mix would have been a disaster.

I returned to the guesthouse at almost 7pm, where the owner had started the fire in the banya and led me through the three small rooms.  I undressed, and steamed up in the fiery hot room, and scrubbed down before dousing myself in cold water.  I felt much better after the banya, just as I’d been told I would.  Exiting the wooden shack to the evening air that now seemed much cooler, despite it still being 30’C.

A very typical Russian day, all told.