Soloneshnoye is a village of about five thousand people in the foothills of the Altai, in Altai Krai, and it is the kind of place that most travellers see only from a car window on the way to something more famous. The land here is a transition: to the north and west stretches the Ob steppe, a wide plain of wheat fields and shelterbelts, and to the south and east the ground begins to rise into wooded hills, the first low ridges of the Altai Mountains. The soil is rich and dark, the villages are wooden and neat, and in July the fields shimmer with sunflowers and ripening grain.
This part of Siberia was settled by Russian peasants in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the region has a history of silver mining and smelting that goes back to the Demidov family, whose works in the Altai supplied the imperial mint. The Old Believers, who fled religious persecution, also settled the valleys, and their descendants still keep distinctive customs in some villages. Today the economy is mostly farming, with dairy, grain and beekeeping, and Altai honey, with its clear, aromatic taste, is sold at roadside stalls and in village shops.
The riding here is gentle and unhurried. The roads run through rolling farmland and birch groves, with long, easy bends, and the surface is generally decent, though patched, with frost heave and occasional potholes. Traffic is light, mainly farm vehicles and local cars, and the scenery changes slowly from fields to forest as you head toward the mountains. In summer, the weather is warm, with thunderstorms in the afternoon, and in autumn, the birches turn gold. Winters are long and cold, with deep snow, and the roads can be icy. The best months are June to September.
Practical matters are simple. Larger supplies are available in the bigger towns on the main road, and for accommodation, the choices are limited, with guest houses and the occasional small hotel. Fill up before heading into the hills, where stations become less frequent.
If you want a taste of the countryside before the mountains, stop at a roadside stall and buy a jar of honey. The shop assistant will probably tell you which valley the bees visited.