Belokuriha. Folk festival.

It is almost the time to say goodbye to such a wonderful place like Belokuriha. But before coming back, I am going to attend a russian traditional flok festival called Shrovetide or Maslenitca. I have known this holiday since I was a child and I have many heartwarming memories about this event. And now I have no excuse to miss this celebration.

So, in the afternoon we headed to 'Siberian farmstead', where the famous festival is held these days. It is only 20 kilometres from Belokuriha, and there is a special bus to this location.

The holiday was a real success. Everywhere we met people dressed up the traditional costumes who danced and sang. There were many competitions and people participated in it actively. Samovars with hot tea, photos with wild birds, stilts and other kinds of fun. With all this atmosphere of the real Russian holiday everyone was cheerful and relaxed.

One of the most gripping amusement is watching people trying to climb up the top of the high wooden post. The reward of such a courageous action could be a valuable gift. Despite the fact, that it is extremely difficult, I became an eyewitness of one successful attempt.

 

There was also presented a Russian traditional fun as driving on the stove, which was extremely popular among kids.

We had opportunity to taste some delicious food as pancakes, jerked meat, salted pork and other traditional dishes. There was also a great variety of drinks. However, the favourite drinks were mulled wine and mead. But there were also such unusual for me drinks as rowan berry vodka or cherry vodka. Everything is tasty and natural.

Another tradition at this place is the races with many nominations, including traditional Russian carriage troika (a three-horse combination) .

Probably this horse is among the winners of that day.

  

The culmination of the festival was the burning of the big straw doll, which meant the end of winter and arrival of spring. Actually, most people came today specifically because they wanted to see this process.

And at the end of my narration I have placed some photos of such beautiful creatures as horses with very amusing names.

Belokuriha. Frost and horses.

Today I have booked a horse riding. It is rather chilly outside, but I decided to do that before I return to Novosibirsk. The whole trip takes only one hour and it is about five kilometres in both directions. Nevertheless, I have got such positive emotions that I was inspired for the whole day.

We reached so-called "Bright glade" place, which was an open place with an amazing view of the fantastic mountains. The thing is that in three directions you can see the sky and the most part of a day the sun is visible. Simply, you can call this place "Sunny place".

A part of the journey was a simple walking, but we also tried galloping. It was breathtaking and sometimes it was risky. But, fortunately, we had an experienced guide beside us. My horse is named Burka and it looked well-groomed. Actually, as our guide said, there were three persons, who took care of the horses in the stable.They wash the horses, clean them and comb out.

Tonight we have a great karaoke-party at our sanatorium. My new acquaintance and I perform the songs of such popular russian bands as "Tanci minus", "Bi-2", and of course in the list is our favourite song "Horse" by Lube. The final composition of our music party became a song "Ryumka vodki na stole" by Grigory Leps.

Belokuriha. Path to the gorge.

Today is a bright, sunny, but cold day. The frosts have come to Belokuriha. Still, I overcame myself and went for a morning walking. Luckily, it is windless. This is why the cold is not felt much while you are on-the-move. And I was moving.

Here, on the hill, I met again an old man with his red dog. This is such a positive and kind person. He every day comes into the forest, feeds birds, gathers some strobiles and uses it to decorate the trees or snowmen. What is more, he treads out the paths for the tourists.

The low temperatures, of course, did not prevent me from ice skating.

There was a free excursion from the sanatorium today. It was a walking tour along a picturesque ravine with a professional quide, who told us some interesting facts about that place and Belokuriha. This route was about two kilometres long 

The main point of our destination was a place, where a sawmill was located some time ago. People gave to this place the name "Mill". One interesting fact I have known from our guide is that the name Belokuriha more likely originates from the name of the first setller Belokurov, who established a manor here.

Generally, there are about 15 thousands people live in Belokuriha. Another five thousands are the guests who receive some medical treatment in 14 sanatoriums. Belokuriha and its curative features are connected first of all with radon water and highly ionized air. Scietists say, that the concentration of aerial ions here is twice as much as in alpine Switzerland.

In the evening there was an interesting meeting with a group of ethnic musicians in sanatorium. We had an opportunity to hear the music and voices of unique culture.

Tonight I also got aquainted with the night life in Belokuriha. Before I arrived to Belokuriha, I was told about two main points of interest, which I visited with great pleasure. So, the best disco club is located in Rossiya sanatorium, and the best karaoke bar is Solo, which is in Altay-West sanatorium.

As a result, I returned home at four o'clock in the morning.