Bitter lake, Novichikhinsky district of the Altai Territory: recreation centers and sanatoriums

Altai is such an amazing place that many times you come here, it will certainly find something to surprise your guests. For example, I had myself such a beautiful meadow, on which the mens hay for the scotch mowed, and the time passed - there is no meadow, but there is a pond full of fish. Again time passes - and instead of it the Bitter Lake. Novichikhinsky district of the Altai Territory, where these amazing transformations took place, is interesting in itself, but even more surprising in it are people who retell the stories and legends of these places.

Novichikha

In 1862 there were practically no people in these parts, and they could be called savage, but after the agrarian reform of 1861, when serfdom was abolished, the landless peasants had to go somewhere. So the people began to search whole families and waggons for a better life in foreign lands.

And since the places on the Altai are beautiful, the land is fertile, the air is delightful, the forests are rich in game, berries and mushrooms, then the carts have been pulled into these regions.

It is not known for certain who and when first settled in Novichikha, but in 1885 there were already strong peasant households and a church here.

It is possible to trace from what places the "turnover" of serfs was possible, according to the nationalities of the descendants of the first settlers. Evidently, the memory of times when people still remembered corvee, and then found freedom and helped each other to put up huts, was passed down from generation to generation, because here the Germans and Ukrainians, Russians and Kazakhs, Byelorussians and Chuvashs, Altaians and Tatars perfectly coexist.

The bitter lake (Novichikhinsky district of the Altai Territory) became a place near which former serfs settled, and earlier a small village today is the administrative center, in which there are 4 410 people.

Novichikhinsky district

Wise peasants have chosen these places for settlement. The climate here is simply unique. Pleasant heat in summer, moderately wet autumn and a relatively frosty winter, which is usually of little snow, although real snowstorms happen - all this creates optimal conditions for both living and farming. Located in the central part, Lake Gorkoe (photo below) is girded with pine forest that passes through most of the district and delays cold winds, contributing to the accumulation of snow in the fields.

There are 5 lakes in Novichikhinsky district , many small rivers and small ponds. The largest and salty of them is Lake Gorkoe. Reviews of those who rested here, the most enthusiastic, especially about the effect of its therapeutic mud.

In the forests of the district there are foxes, wolves and moose, hares and squirrels, lynxes and columns. The hilly terrain of the district has to arrange here for foot, horse and bike tours, which are so popular among lovers of an active lifestyle today.

Guests of the region can stay at one of the camp sites near the lake or put a tent on its shore.

Salt Lake

The bitter lake (Novichikhinsky district of the Altai Territory) has an amazing history of origin. If over other sources nature worked for millions of years, creating and destroying glaciers, forming karst funnels and raising groundwater, then the cause of the appearance of this pond was rain.

As one of the inhabitants of the village reported earlier, it was quite a small lake. His grandmother moved to Novichikha to live in 1876, when she had only four log huts. Through the pine forest, which we can enjoy today, the Barnaulka River flows, in the floodplain of which there were rich meadow grasslands. One summer in the beginning of the 20th century, they mowed the grass and were already packed in stacks, when heavy rains began.

Haymen saved the hay, but within 2 weeks of precipitation Barnaulka left the banks forever, forming a very large fresh lake. As it got the fish, it is not exactly known, scientists believe that along with the flow of water from the Irtysh. Only since then in place of meadows the lake, and the trees sticking out of the water, enterprising peasants cut down, swam to them on boats. Large stumps protruded from the water for a long time, but they also did not become during the Second World War, when each log was on the account.

Once there was so much fish, that a fishing artel was organized, and the catch was transported to Moscow by train.

Legends of the lake

Why is such a rich freshwater reservoir given the name "Bitter Lake"? The Novichikhinsky district of the Altai Territory is rich in salt water bodies. Of course, scientists who know about everything in the world have their own answer, why the lakes, far from the sea, suddenly began to change the composition of the water.

But any clever answers fade away next to the legends that people write. And about Lake Gorkoe. All the legends about him boil down to human greed and envy.

According to one version, the peasants from the neighboring village were envious of the rich catches of Novichikhin fishermen and also decided to fish in these waters. The locals found out about this and drove away the uninvited guests, and those in retaliation dug a large pit on the shore of the lake and left a dead sheep in it, saying that when the bones of this animal completely become ashes, then the lake will again be rich in fish, and until then be It is salty.

There was a ram or not - it is unknown, but once the locals saw that the whole coast was strewn with fish, and more it was not in the lake, no matter how many times they tried to run it there.

The version of the scientists is that all the rivers flowing along the Kulunda lowland flow exclusively into the lakes, so the salts that they would have to deliver to the oceans settle here. Accumulating for centuries, in the end, they turned water into brine. In the Altai there are more than 3000 lakes, some of which are either saline or bitter.

Flora and fauna of the lake

It is not without reason that family rest is so developed here. Lake Gorkoe (Altai Territory) is surrounded by pine forest, creating a beneficial healing air, for which they like to bring children to gain strength after the school year.

Do not miss these places and people with problems in the cardiovascular system. Despite the proximity of the reservoir, the air here is dry, and the abundance of useful forest berries makes the area even more attractive. In the forest around the lake, if you do not meet, then you will definitely hear boars, hares, moose and deer. The birds' chatter here is especially rich, and they are not even hampered by the singing of songs to the guitar, to which they are already accustomed.

In the bitter water of the lake, the fish do not live, but in abundance there are crustaceans and microorganisms that tolerate the presence of salt well. Due to the large number of crustaceans, the life cycle of which is short enough, their deposits layer by layer formed a unique therapeutic mud, for which they go here and for 1000 km. The resort "Lake Gorkoe" just specializes in using its medicinal properties.

Sikachi

This resort is called the recreation area "Sikachi" those who were here. At the word "resort" usually there are multi-storey buildings with numerous rooms and smiling medical staff. There is nothing here, and the word is applicable, rather, to the curative effect that everyone who bathes in the waters of this reservoir and who has applied to the joints of his mud receive.

Recently opened, recreation center (Lake Gorkoe) Sikachi offers its guests comfortable houses in a pine forest, a real Russian bathhouse, from which it is so good to dive right into the curative waters of the reservoir. There is a playground for tents, tables with benches, places for fires and special programs for mud treatment of diseases of various kinds.

For people active for a walk on the water, scooters, catamarans and pleasure boats are ready.

Melnikovo village

"Forest Harbor" (Lake Gorkoe, Altai Territory) - recreation centers and tented areas, located near the village Melnikovo Novichikhinsky district. This is another secluded place where you can not only relax, but also enjoy therapeutic procedures.

Those who are themselves a doctor, will approach this place, since here isolated lodges allow you to have your own time at your own will.

The only inconvenience that can arise is a long flood, because of which the season of opening bases is sometimes shifted for a week or two due to flooded roads. Buying a ticket here, you need to know in advance about the water level in the lake, and otherwise it is a cozy place with gazebos, barbecues and a bathhouse on the lake shore.

"Expanse"

If the Gorkoe lake had a sanatorium, it would be exactly named "Razdolye". And indeed, there are such picturesque places that the curative effect of staying in them will remain until the next holiday. Guests can make hiking or horseback riding in the surrounding area, try their luck in a quiet mushroom "hunt", stock up on vitamins, typing forest berries, and no sanatorium with bathing in the bath can give the same effect.

Well, who still wants to take medical procedures, the salt-bitter natural water of the lake will have a better effect than any artificially prepared bath.

The greatest demand on all recreation bases at the lake is enjoyed by Russian bathhouses, from which you can immediately dive into medicinal waters. The effect, as those who have tried it say, two in one - purification and refreshment.

Lake Bitter today

The entire infrastructure developed by this reservoir is still at a "rudimentary" level. Entrepreneurs who undertook this difficult and very responsible work, we must pay tribute. They try, but such enterprises require huge investments, the return of which is a promising future.

Here really cozy and beautiful small houses, but entrances to camp sites are constantly flooded with water in flood, that does not improve their quality. While there is no one playground, and the choice of cafes would be a good addition to the area.

Since these places only began to develop as tourist zones, they still have everything ahead.