In 2024, the developers of the game Heart of Altai went on an expedition. We share excerpts of the diary from the trip of Danila Yermakov, the main inspirer of the project.May 11-14 spent time in an unforgettable working trip through the Altai Mountains. I traveled more than 700 km along the Chuisky tract, i.e. I traveled almost through the whole Altai Republic. I managed to visit many iconic places and see with my own eyes the landscapes I work on in the game. So, about everything in order.
At the airport I was met by colleagues from the Ministry of Tourism, and we went by car on the way along the Chuisky tract to the festival “Chike-Taman Spring” in the village of Kupchegen (Ongudai district). The festival itself appeared about 20 years ago. It unites musicians, storytellers, folk masters and craftsmen, and since 2014 also sportsmen.
The first day was very hot. There were many visitors at the event, including those from neighboring regions. Not far from the festival site I visited Kur-Kechu Cordon, where I saw the bubbling Katun. Since the visit took place in spring, the waters of the river are still muddy due to the descending snows and very turbulent!
After the feast we went further past Katun terraces, through Inya village, past interesting sandy Ininsky pillars to Aktash settlement, for overnight stay, on the way making different stops along Chuisky road.
The second day was extremely saturated from the very morning. The way lay in the heart of Ulagan. We had to climb up to the famous Katu-Yaryk pass, then descend to the Kurkure waterfall, and then return and take a long way to Kosh-Agach.
The first stop was Red Gate. This is the very place, the biome of which I took as a basis for creating a game location. Now, standing on this very place caught unforgettable sensations. The weather was unusually good - the heat was replaced by thick clouds and sometimes a little rain, giving a special atmosphere for climbing to the heights.
After driving a little more, we saw the dead lake Cheybekköl in front of us. It is located in the upper reaches of the Chibitka River, at an altitude of 1800 meters.
The lake is a unique phenomenon of nature. It was created as a result of the underdrafting of the river by the outflow cone, which extended into the valley from the eastern slope. There used to be no fish in the lake, that's why it was called Dead.
Then we went on our way to Katu-Yaryk pass. At the moment roads were being repaired there, so the way was even more extreme. The higher was the ascent, the more clouds enveloped the way. In the end we literally drove in them.
The road to Katu-Yaryk runs through the Pazyryk barrows. Let me remind you that for the gameplay reconstructed both the mounds themselves and artifacts found in them.
After the Pazyryk barrows, we reached the famous pass. My delight, at that moment, simply cannot be conveyed in words! Katu-Yaryk is probably one of the most exciting places in Altai. It is a steep descent into the valley of the Chulyshman river.
The descent from the pass by car is no less unforgettable. Now the pass has been widened, and now it is possible to separate on turns. Earlier there were problems with it. Of course, the car should be of high passability for such descents. By the way, so far no accidents have been recorded on the pass.
Having descended from the pass into the valley, our way lay to the Kurkure waterfall. The waterfall is one of the natural sights of the Chulyshman valley. From Katu-Yaryk pass there is a walking trail on the right bank of the river, but to get to the waterfall we had to cross to the other bank of the Chulyshman river.
Megatons of water! There is no other way to say it. If you get closer to the waterfall, you can get wet from head to toe. The total height of the water fall is 30 meters. The greatest height of free fall of water is about 15 meters.
The second part of the day was spent on the road on the way to Kosh-Agach. And here, I must say, Altai, once again, reveals its contrasts: mountains and valleys are replaced by steppe landscapes in the end practically passing into desert landscapes.
Having reached Kosh-Agach, we stopped at the Visit-Center of Salyugemsky Reserve. Sailyugemsky National Park is a specially protected natural territory in Altai. It was created in 2010 in Kosh-Agachsky district of the Altai Republic with the purpose of preserving the largest grouping of snow leopard in Altai and the largest transboundary grouping of mountain sheep Argali.
On the third day the way lay back from Kosh-Agach along the Chuisky road to Gorno-Altaisk with a visit to some significant places.
On the way we managed to visit: a geyser lake, a tract of petroglyphs Kalbak-Tash, as well as Karakol valley.
In Gorno-Altaisk during the trip I visited the museum named after A.V. Anokhin. One of the first national scientific and cultural-educational institutions of the Altai Republic.
In the final part of his trip he made a presentation of the game project to the students of Gorno-Altaisk State University (GASU).
Altai is an immense, amazing land of contrasts of natural zones and weather conditions. A land of extraordinary beauty of majestic mountains and steppes. It is worth coming here at least once to understand all its power from within. I hope that my experience gained during my visit to Altai will definitely add to the gameplay of the project and convey this atmosphere to the players.