Katon-Karagay is an administrative district and a nature reserve. It is a unique place in Kazakhstan. In its sights, landscape features, diversity of flora and fauna in the two thousand fourteenth year he was awarded the inclusion in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site. This area is among the top ten places popular among residents of Kahstan and foreign tourists. Let's see why he is so wonderful.
Location of the national park, climate, relief
Katon-Karagay is located in East Kazakhstan. Almost all of its territory is located within the southern Altai mountain system. These are grand steep mountains with snow-capped peaks that often rise three thousand meters above sea level. In the northeast, the reserve borders with the Altai Republic (Russia), in the south - with China. There are many fast, mountain rivers, remarkable for their wild beauty and the bluish color of the water - Bukhtarma, Belaya Berel. The highest and rocky ranges of Katon-Karagay are Katunsky and Southern Altai.
Plants and animals
The flora and fauna of this reserve is extremely rich. Katon-Karagay has thirty species of relic plants, which in other places have almost disappeared. Mighty green thickets surround the mountains with a dense ring. There are practically no fires and no traces of human economic activity. Cedars, spruce, fir, larch, as well as birch and aspen not only delight the eye with their endless distances, but also give shelter to brown bears, elks, sables. Here you can meet the snow leopard, marten, argali, golden eagle. Several species of animals and birds are rare.
Landscape, natural monuments
For tourists, this is a cult place - Katon-Karagay. The nature here is not only rich and diverse, but also surprisingly picturesque. These are high and majestic mountains, bushy green forests, mighty fast rivers and lakes with clean, like a tear, water. Among the nature reserves of the reserve, the first place is occupied by the two-headed border peak Belukha, which is located on the cordon of Russia and Kazakhstan. This is the highest mountain in Altai, and throughout Siberia - it rises above the sea by more than four thousand meters. Its peak is reflected in the water of a small but surprisingly beautiful lake Karakol. It looks like a deep bowl surrounded by coniferous forest leading directly to alpine meadows. Two kilometers from the lake, you can see about ten cascading waterfalls and rapids. They also attract tourists with their beauty.
Katon-Karagay boasts other beautiful cascading waterfalls. Arasan and Rakhmanovsky are located near the thermal resort. Local sources contain radon. Rakhmanov’s keys treat diseases of the joints and spine. The largest waterfall in Altai is located on the Kokkol River, which is a tributary of Belaya Berel . From a steep eight-meter ledge, a stream 10 meters wide is cast into the abyss, and its side streams run along the stones with snakes. When water falls in Kokkol, such fine dust is formed that it ionizes the air throughout the valley.
Cultural and historical sites
Katon-Karagay (Kazakhstan) has long attracted people. Shepherds, hunters and traders came here. No wonder it was here that the Northern (or so-called Golden) branch of the Great Silk Road passed to Mongolia and China. This ancient path, which once caravans of pack animals loaded with precious fabrics once walked, is very picturesque. Until now, you can walk along it or drive from the village of Archaty to the Ukok Pass. Even in the national park, burial mounds of Scythian times (the fourth century BC) have been preserved. The largest of them is the Berel grave complex, where not only household items and jewelry were preserved, but also the mummified remains of noble people and their horses (thanks to permafrost). Found a funeral room, a lot of gold items, fabrics. And according to preserved organics, you can restore the appearance of those who lived in ancient times.
Even in the reserve there are monuments of recent eras - the so-called Austrian road with panoramic views of the mountains and the Kyzylkum desert, built by Czech prisoners during the First World War. It passes through many natural monuments. And the former Kokkol tungsten mine was laid at an altitude of three thousand meters. Tourists are also brought here.
Treatment
As we have already said, the Katon-Karagay National Park provides unique opportunities not only for travel. The sanatorium "Rakhmanovskie Klyuchi", located on the thermal waters of the same name, treats customers with healing cocktails, herbs, as well as infusion on deer antlers. Radon baths and showers, as well as drinking with this compound, help with arthrosis and gastritis. And here is a popular healing mud wrap from the spring of Moyylda. The sanatorium is located in a mountain square at an altitude of eight thousand meters by mail, in the border zone between the four states. Therefore, in order to rest there and undergo the procedures necessary for the correction of health, you need to get a special pass.