24 May From Kurai to Kosh Agach and a Day of Decisions

The day greeted us with snow again. Fortunately, clouds moved on just before we left Kurai, so we could enjoy the views of the Chuyskaya Steppe, which was very different from Kurai Steppe despite the drive between the two was about 30 minutes. Chuyskaya Steppe is about 1800 km above the sea level and is very dry. Yearly, it sees only 150mm of precipitation and almost no snow. The weather here is harsh and the land is very dry. Very cold winters, hot summers and strong winds. Kosh-Agach is a major village in the Kosh-Agach District and populated primarily by rather newly arrived Muslim Kazakhs, unlike Kurai, which is populated by native pagant Telenghit people (belong to the so-called Altai people).

Once we arrived in, and drove through, Kosh-Agach, Anna started to feel uncomfortable about the place. Although, it's been long time she was not convinced she was still in Russia, she said Kosh-Agach felt particularly foreign. She can't explain what exactly made her feel uncomfortable, but thinks that this might be because 1) the land is barren, although very beautiful and the climate is very hostile and 2) most important, nearing Kosh-Agach, we saw a big billboard warning of a plague...

Plague story: early May, there was a Mongolian couple in the nearby area who ate raw meat of a ground hog and died of plague. It appears that some rodents in that area are infected with this deadly disease. It is probably a norm for North-West Mongolia and South Kosh-Agach district, but Anna said she was not convinced of this "norm". Local hospital offers plague vaccination to everyone. However, we decided it was not for us: live vaccine leading to nausea, vomiting, headaches, stomachaches and high body temperature for 3-5 days after. That could mean that we would be sick during our entire trip to Mongolia. Leaflets available in the hotel warned that plague is carried by fleas and rodents, such as mice. Anna is already concerned about diseases carried by ticks and does daily tick inspections, but she does not feel she could control fleas or mice in some doubtful hotels/gers in Mongolia. She said that even this defies the idea of an adventure, it's better to take precautions.

So, we decided to skip Mongolia for now and go to Mongolia from Ulan-Ude later. We will also add Kazakhstan for a couple of days in early June instead. This is a late change to our plans, but better be safe than sorry.