Gorno-Altaysk is the capital of the Altai Republic, a small city of fifty-odd thousand people on the Mayma river, and it sits right where the Siberian plain gives way to mountains. The city itself has a practical look, with Soviet apartment blocks, a long main avenue named for Communism and a modest museum of local history, but it is a place where travellers stock up. It was a trading post called Ulala until the 1930s, and the people of the region, the Altaians, still keep shamanic traditions and the throat-singing epics of their ancestors.
Everything interesting begins just beyond it. The Chuysky Trakt, a road that begins at Biysk and runs southeast toward Mongolia, is among the most famous in Russia, and it follows an old caravan route along the Katun river, a fast, milky-turquoise stream fed by glaciers. The Altai range rises to the south, culminating in Belukha, a double-peaked, snow-covered mountain of about 4,500 metres, the highest in Siberia, regarded as sacred by local peoples. Birch and larch forests cover the lower slopes, meadows are full of wildflowers in June, and the mountains turn gold in September.
The road south of the city is good riding country. Smooth tarmac follows the river in long bends, with views of cliffs, side valleys and bridges over clear streams. The Katun is crossed at several points, and the villages along it have wooden houses and honey for sale at the roadside. Ust-Sema, a short way upriver, is a resort village with the first holiday camps. Weekend traffic from Barnaul and Novosibirsk can be heavy in July and August, with slow lorries and tourist coaches, and mist can drop into the valleys quickly. Cattle and horses sometimes graze on the road.
Gorno-Altaysk has fuel stations and shops, and Mayma, a town of fifteen thousand a few kilometres away, adds more. The road beyond has stations in the larger villages, but the distances increase as you climb toward Mongolia, so top up whenever it is practical. Cafes serve Altai dishes, such as boiled meat with broth, dumplings and a strong tea with milk, and the local honey is excellent.
The best season is June to September, and mornings are cold even then. Expect to see herders, cyclists and a few tourists, and take the time to stop at a viewpoint and listen to the river.