Photo: kaktus.media
Almost half of the way has been covered by French travellers, who set out in April on foot from Issyk-Kul to Baikal. They crossed the mountains in Kyrgyzstan and the prairies of Kazakhstan and are now walking through the Russian Altai, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper reports. They came across folklore and local customs on the way.
Note that the group of travellers included members of the same family: Marc Rossi, his sons Jamie and Tom, and their cousin Hugo Suptil. According to them, they decided to go on a long journey along an unusual route, because they were carried away by the history and nature of Russia and the Central Asian republics, and also wanted to feel like caravan keepers on the Great Silk Road. The planned path is about four thousand kilometers. The ultimate goal of the enthusiasts is Irkutsk, from where they will return to Paris via Moscow.
Hugo Suptil said that he wanted to see two lakes that were among the cleanest in the world. Travelers were not left indifferent by local legends, nature and residents. Getting used to physical exertion was hard, but they got into the right rhythm and are now willing to communicate with the inhabitants of the places that pass. They say the people they met were hospitable and friendly, and many of them were sorry about the fire in Notre-Dame cathedral.
Jamie Rossi was unlucky: he injured his leg on the mountain slope. He was taken to hospital, got medical help and returned to France.
Those who remained, admit that they fell in love with this land. “It’s impossible to convey in words the beauty that surrounds us,” says Tom Rossi. The travellers watch films by Vasily Shukshin during the pauses in their journey. “They are in Russian, but everything was clear to us,” says Tom.
From Russia, the French will get to Mongolia, and then return to the Russian open spaces. They plan to reach Irkutsk in the second half of August.
Russkiy Mir
