GOTO Altay travel agency participated in ITB-Travel 2013, Berlin

From 6 to 10 March 2013, 10,086 exhibitors from 188 countries presented their products and services in display halls at the largest travel exhibition ITB-Travel 2013. Overall, some 110,000 trade visitors came to Berlin, of whom 43 per cent were from abroad. This year there was a slight increase in buyers from the USA and the Middle East. Exhibitors reported holding quality talks and sealing more business deals.

It is the second time GOTO Altay travel agency participates in the event and promotes Altai region to European audience. It is a nice chance to show the customers new routes and directions for adventure tourism and meet partners for future collaboration.

If you take a leaflet of an interntaional agency somewhere in Germany, that sell adventure tours worldwide, you will find Kamchatka, Baikal lake or Moscow in the list of the tours, but not quite often Altai region can be met. It is because not many tourists know about this sacred place. Now it is high time you know about it.

Heritage of Altay

"Gold-guarding griffons" or Scythian civilization.

It is here, on the territory of Altay, where the existence of Scythian culture, stretching from the steppes of Asia to the northern Black Sea coast three to five thousand years ago, was discovered and proven. The culture was called “the Pazyryk” at first, named after the location where it was discovered—the Pazyryk tract in the Ulagan district of the Altay Republic. Thanks to a rare set of circumstances, mounds had preserved clothing, fabrics, carpets, wooden utensils, and embalmed bodies of the inhabitants of that distant era.

  

 Nicholas Roerich's heritage and the Old Belief.

In 1926 in the Uymon valley of Altay, a Central Asian expedition took place, led by a prominent cultural figure of the twentieth century: Nicholas Roerich. A great artist and philosopher, Roerich gave Altay and Siberia a very special significance; he considered Belukha Mount to be the center of its energy.  In Uymon valley, according to Roerich, there was to be a city of the future constructed, and in that city a new era of civilization would begin.
Today in Upper Uymon, the oldest village in Altay, founded by the Old Believers, stand the Nicholas Roerich Museum and the Museum of the Old Believers.

Shamanism in Altay.

Altay Shamanism is one of the most ancient religious practices of the Altay-Sayan peoples. Talking to Kam [the Shaman of Altay] is a unique experience for any traveler. The central ritual of Altay Shamanism is the rite, and the central instrument is the Shaman's drum. The combination of rhythmic drum beats, mantras and a ritual dance allow the Shaman to enter into an altered state of consciousness and begin the Shamanic journey.

The healing power of Altay.

Altay is the ideal location for rehabilitation and healing. The setting of Altay is a source of therapeutic elements, which positively effect the health and well-being of anyone who visits. The alpine climate, healing thermal springs & mud from the steppe lakes, healing herbs, fresh air, clean water from mountain streams & rivers—all of these give guests in the Altay renewed strength and energy.  It is in this very place that, using mountain deer antlers, methods and products have been developed to extend man's life.

The divine beauty of Altay.

The nature in Altay is striking in its grandeur and purity: the white peaks sparkling in the sun, wild rivers, waterfalls, cedar taiga and alpine meadows, the many turquoise lakes high in the mountains. A large mountainous country much like Switzerland, except completely untouched by civilization - this is the Altay Mountains.