The vegetable world of Zabaikalie.
«Were these made in the Caucasus» –one of the students asked the photographer, while taking a close look, at the picture he brought from the Kodar mountain range in the north of Chita Oblast. «And what about the sand dunes? They can’t be in Zabaikalie ?»
The famous Russian writer, Anton Chekhov, who crossed Siberia on his way to Sakhalin, marveled at its beauty: «Zabaikalie is magnificent! It is a mixture of Switzerland, the Don and Finland»., he wrote
The territory is so vast, its landscapes are so diverse, that a fleeting glance can’t embrace it, however it’s hard to fall in love with this land at ones. Continental climate, very low population, remote and almost difficult of access natural monuments– these are the least part of different reasons which can explain why people of Zabaikalie have very poor scope of their Motherland.
While the total area of the territory is 431,5 thousand kilometers, its population is only one and a half million , that it concentrated mainly in the southern parts.
Zabaikalskii Krai counts 15 thousands lakes and more than 40 thousands brooks and rivers, 54 of the latter are from 100 to 500 kilometers, 14 rivers including Ingoda, Onon, Argun, Chikoy exceed 500 kilometers. They are the biggest rivers in Eurasia.
There are two reserves in Zabaikalskii Krai. They are Sokhondo reserve and in mountains and Daurian in steppe zone.
The climate on the territory of Zabaikalskii Krai is characterized by long frosty winters. Summers are warm in the south and cool in the north and in the mountain regions. One of the characteristic features of the region is the big number of sunny days. It well surpasses all the territories lying in the same latitude in the yearly amount of sunshine.
The history of mankind in Zabaikalie dates back to the Stone age. Remains or primitive were founded near Titovskaia sopka. About 200 – 300 thousand years ago people came and settle down along the river banks
Starting from 2 century BC Chita Region was settled by many tribes: first there appeared settlers from Central Asia, later came Hunes, Uigur and Mongolian tribes. The legendary Genghis Khan was born in these places, on the banks of the river Onon.
The Mongolian tribes, whish resides in Zabaikalie, later gave rise to a new Buryat ethnicity. Aginsk Buryat Autonomous Okrug is at present one of the main Buddhism canters. The national part Alkhanay was set up there, it is the only place in Russia where nature monument and Budddhist sacred places yield a harmonious whole.
There is one interesting legend about this place – hero Alkhanay didn’t have any sons, but he had two daughters – Ilia and Duldurga. Everything he had he gave to favourite children. Soon they became beautiful merriageable girls. In those places there were no man stronger and more beautiful than Onon. And both sisters fell in love with him. Ilia was a wonderful person, but Onon feast his eyes on Duldurga. But she wished happiness to her sister, and share her beauty with her older sister. Onon married Ilia and they went far in the mountains. Stayed alone Alkhanay couldn’t stand separation with his favourite daughters and his heart became a stone. Since that times Duldurga falls in Ilia, Duldurga take away its water in embrance of Onon. But Alkhanay is standing along with stone heart to present day.
In the middle of endless hilly steppes with herds of horses there lie two huge salty lakes Zun-Torey and Barun-Torey, where the water mirror meets the sky at the horizon line.
Mountain landscapes are particulary diverse – inaccessible tops of Kodar, rocky walls stretching for many kilometers, canyons, waterfalls, alpin meadows and fathomless mountain lakes, extinct volcanoes and hot mineral springs in the Kodar mineral range.
There is one more spectacular place in the Chara Valley – Chara sand dunes. This original desert is situated on the distance of 40 kilometers from Kodar’s glaciers. It prominent on the background of snowy rocky ranged covered with poor trees, numerous lakes and bogs.
If you overcome the Srednii Skakun river, you can walk to sands. There is no interim zone. You’ve just been walking in marshland, then you do the next step – and your leg is in the desert.
In front of you there is huge tract of silica sand. Evidently wind was working at this sand for a long time, carrying it from place to place. Movement through the desert is very difficult, because of two-three kilometers long chains of barkhans. The height of some dunes run up to 10 – 30 meters. The most thick ones are situated in the middle on the desert and look like stark waves. If you clime up the top of the barkhan, you will see the endless desert. All massif stretches from south-west to the former settlement Sinelga on ten and a half kilometers. It’s width is four kilometers. All occupied square is nearly fifty square kilometers.
When the wind is blowing it seems that The tops of dunes, are moving as alive. The wind have became stronger and sand train is arise on several tens meters. It seems that sands live their own desert live.
In Chara Desert you also can find its own oases, especially in its northern and north-east parts. They are not great lakes, surrounded by willows, birches, larches and pine trees. Somewhere in these oases cool and clear, as tears, springs are trickling, sometimes they are gush. Creating a wonderful beauty, the water in one of the springs is gushing on two – three meters. Snowy mountain tops, endless sea of century taiga with blue lakes surround this unusual desert. Even in the height of the summer in the middle of lush green of taiga and meadows, huge frazils are lying here. Contrasts seems to be unfeasible, as if somebody have made a museum under sky.
The main natural monuments are lakes Doroninskoe, Babie, montains Alkhanai, Shanton, rock Polosatic, the place where the Budulanskyi meteorite was found, caves Shilkinskaia, Haatai and others.
The highest mountain in Zabaikalie is Udokan. It’s crown is 2561 meters above sea level. In west it covered with stone placers, which is difficult to traverse. Udokan’s mountainsides have become overgrown with deep deciduous forest and it cut by river’s vales
If Udokan looks like Alps in time of its youth, when it wasn’t lived-in by tourists and alpinists, you can compare Udokan with fantastic tremendous world – wild crown, volcano’s craters, dark canyons, vast tableland, endless stone placers, mineral springs. It seems that you are on the Moon!
A lot of legends were made up by people about these two mountain ranges. There is a such age-old legend. Two fairy giants found treasure in the earth and began to argue whom should it belong to. Then they bended a bow and killed each other, huge mountains rose and buried giants and treasures.
Tourists have the same problems climbing Udokan as if they climb Kodar – pointes rocky peaks with conglomeration of unstable blocks, high steep slops on which water, snow avalanches and stones crash down, narrow gorges and deep canyons, basalt tables, which often crowed with rocky cornices. And downstairs there are only steeps!
Nearly 100 days in the year snowstorms rage here. In winter , when the temperature can be nearly 50 degrees, Udokan freezes through on enormous depth. Thickness of permafrost amount to one kilometer. On hot weather you can see a lot of brooks and waterfalls. Rocky slabs are supported only by ice and easily fall down. Even on flat earth not great melted layer slides and falls down from monolith of permafrost under a man’s foot.
In the middle part of mountain range frazils often arise. Their size can be several square kilometers. Huge frazil always arises in Nize-Ingamakitskay hollow. On the height more than kilometer frazils stay to new frosts.
The whole year round the danger of avalanches is stayed. Sharp changing of the temperature produces avalanching. Snow mass falls down from steep slops, carrying huge stones, flu from height, sweeping away everything on its way. In the course of year nearly 400 avalanchings have a place.
Such is severe and astonishing Udokan, keeping in its bowels countless treasures.
The nature of Zabaikalie, all its treasures and beauty belongs to its people. It is our motherland! Let’s love and respect it as worthy children and careful masters!
The famous Russian writer, Anton Chekhov, who crossed Siberia on his way to Sakhalin, marveled at its beauty: «Zabaikalie is magnificent! It is a mixture of Switzerland, the Don and Finland»., he wrote
The territory is so vast, its landscapes are so diverse, that a fleeting glance can’t embrace it, however it’s hard to fall in love with this land at ones. Continental climate, very low population, remote and almost difficult of access natural monuments– these are the least part of different reasons which can explain why people of Zabaikalie have very poor scope of their Motherland.
While the total area of the territory is 431,5 thousand kilometers, its population is only one and a half million , that it concentrated mainly in the southern parts.
Zabaikalskii Krai counts 15 thousands lakes and more than 40 thousands brooks and rivers, 54 of the latter are from 100 to 500 kilometers, 14 rivers including Ingoda, Onon, Argun, Chikoy exceed 500 kilometers. They are the biggest rivers in Eurasia.
There are two reserves in Zabaikalskii Krai. They are Sokhondo reserve and in mountains and Daurian in steppe zone.
The climate on the territory of Zabaikalskii Krai is characterized by long frosty winters. Summers are warm in the south and cool in the north and in the mountain regions. One of the characteristic features of the region is the big number of sunny days. It well surpasses all the territories lying in the same latitude in the yearly amount of sunshine.
The history of mankind in Zabaikalie dates back to the Stone age. Remains or primitive were founded near Titovskaia sopka. About 200 – 300 thousand years ago people came and settle down along the river banks
Starting from 2 century BC Chita Region was settled by many tribes: first there appeared settlers from Central Asia, later came Hunes, Uigur and Mongolian tribes. The legendary Genghis Khan was born in these places, on the banks of the river Onon.
The Mongolian tribes, whish resides in Zabaikalie, later gave rise to a new Buryat ethnicity. Aginsk Buryat Autonomous Okrug is at present one of the main Buddhism canters. The national part Alkhanay was set up there, it is the only place in Russia where nature monument and Budddhist sacred places yield a harmonious whole.
There is one interesting legend about this place – hero Alkhanay didn’t have any sons, but he had two daughters – Ilia and Duldurga. Everything he had he gave to favourite children. Soon they became beautiful merriageable girls. In those places there were no man stronger and more beautiful than Onon. And both sisters fell in love with him. Ilia was a wonderful person, but Onon feast his eyes on Duldurga. But she wished happiness to her sister, and share her beauty with her older sister. Onon married Ilia and they went far in the mountains. Stayed alone Alkhanay couldn’t stand separation with his favourite daughters and his heart became a stone. Since that times Duldurga falls in Ilia, Duldurga take away its water in embrance of Onon. But Alkhanay is standing along with stone heart to present day.
In the middle of endless hilly steppes with herds of horses there lie two huge salty lakes Zun-Torey and Barun-Torey, where the water mirror meets the sky at the horizon line.
Mountain landscapes are particulary diverse – inaccessible tops of Kodar, rocky walls stretching for many kilometers, canyons, waterfalls, alpin meadows and fathomless mountain lakes, extinct volcanoes and hot mineral springs in the Kodar mineral range.
There is one more spectacular place in the Chara Valley – Chara sand dunes. This original desert is situated on the distance of 40 kilometers from Kodar’s glaciers. It prominent on the background of snowy rocky ranged covered with poor trees, numerous lakes and bogs.
If you overcome the Srednii Skakun river, you can walk to sands. There is no interim zone. You’ve just been walking in marshland, then you do the next step – and your leg is in the desert.
In front of you there is huge tract of silica sand. Evidently wind was working at this sand for a long time, carrying it from place to place. Movement through the desert is very difficult, because of two-three kilometers long chains of barkhans. The height of some dunes run up to 10 – 30 meters. The most thick ones are situated in the middle on the desert and look like stark waves. If you clime up the top of the barkhan, you will see the endless desert. All massif stretches from south-west to the former settlement Sinelga on ten and a half kilometers. It’s width is four kilometers. All occupied square is nearly fifty square kilometers.
When the wind is blowing it seems that The tops of dunes, are moving as alive. The wind have became stronger and sand train is arise on several tens meters. It seems that sands live their own desert live.
In Chara Desert you also can find its own oases, especially in its northern and north-east parts. They are not great lakes, surrounded by willows, birches, larches and pine trees. Somewhere in these oases cool and clear, as tears, springs are trickling, sometimes they are gush. Creating a wonderful beauty, the water in one of the springs is gushing on two – three meters. Snowy mountain tops, endless sea of century taiga with blue lakes surround this unusual desert. Even in the height of the summer in the middle of lush green of taiga and meadows, huge frazils are lying here. Contrasts seems to be unfeasible, as if somebody have made a museum under sky.
The main natural monuments are lakes Doroninskoe, Babie, montains Alkhanai, Shanton, rock Polosatic, the place where the Budulanskyi meteorite was found, caves Shilkinskaia, Haatai and others.
The highest mountain in Zabaikalie is Udokan. It’s crown is 2561 meters above sea level. In west it covered with stone placers, which is difficult to traverse. Udokan’s mountainsides have become overgrown with deep deciduous forest and it cut by river’s vales
If Udokan looks like Alps in time of its youth, when it wasn’t lived-in by tourists and alpinists, you can compare Udokan with fantastic tremendous world – wild crown, volcano’s craters, dark canyons, vast tableland, endless stone placers, mineral springs. It seems that you are on the Moon!
A lot of legends were made up by people about these two mountain ranges. There is a such age-old legend. Two fairy giants found treasure in the earth and began to argue whom should it belong to. Then they bended a bow and killed each other, huge mountains rose and buried giants and treasures.
Tourists have the same problems climbing Udokan as if they climb Kodar – pointes rocky peaks with conglomeration of unstable blocks, high steep slops on which water, snow avalanches and stones crash down, narrow gorges and deep canyons, basalt tables, which often crowed with rocky cornices. And downstairs there are only steeps!
Nearly 100 days in the year snowstorms rage here. In winter , when the temperature can be nearly 50 degrees, Udokan freezes through on enormous depth. Thickness of permafrost amount to one kilometer. On hot weather you can see a lot of brooks and waterfalls. Rocky slabs are supported only by ice and easily fall down. Even on flat earth not great melted layer slides and falls down from monolith of permafrost under a man’s foot.
In the middle part of mountain range frazils often arise. Their size can be several square kilometers. Huge frazil always arises in Nize-Ingamakitskay hollow. On the height more than kilometer frazils stay to new frosts.
The whole year round the danger of avalanches is stayed. Sharp changing of the temperature produces avalanching. Snow mass falls down from steep slops, carrying huge stones, flu from height, sweeping away everything on its way. In the course of year nearly 400 avalanchings have a place.
Such is severe and astonishing Udokan, keeping in its bowels countless treasures.
The nature of Zabaikalie, all its treasures and beauty belongs to its people. It is our motherland! Let’s love and respect it as worthy children and careful masters!
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