May 14 - Animal Farm Day

Today we traveled from Chemal to Kamlak. Early in the morning, Anna saw a leaflet advertising a red deer farm, so by chance we ended up horse riding among red deer (the first unplanned activity in our itinerary!). They are farmed in masses all around Altai for their antlers, which apparently contain some magic powers as they are converted into a deer antler extract.

Once we arrived in Berendeevka Village Hotel in Kamlak, we moved into our private bungalow (Russian-style) and then headed to a zubr (European bison) reserve nearby where we saw these majestic animals that are extinct in the wild. Those who are left are in reserves and come from about 47 individuals which were kept in zoos globally by mid 20th century, hence inbreeding had its toll on these mighty bulls. We found a new friend - Vassily the cat, who thought he was a dog and followed us in our steps.

Starting from next day, we will be deviating from Anna's original itinerary. All thanks to the weather not behaving according to our plans - it clearly has not read Anna's script. So now instead of going to Multa lakes in the mountains, we are going directly to Inegen (see tomorrow). The lakes will have to wait until weather turns warmer.