Tourism in Kazakhstan Altai.

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving” 

Terry Pratchett. “A Hat Full of Sky”.

Big adventures in Kazakhstan Altai.

History of the Kok-Kol mine is dated the 30th years of the last century. It is the unique mining monument founded in 1938 on the pass Kok-Kol at the height of 3000 meters above sea level. Here enter: the mine Kok-Kol (the Top Camp), Nizhny the Camp, the road between settlements, the bridge through Belaya Berel River.
The mine in the valley of the river of Big Kok-Kol (the left inflow Belay Berel), the pass Kok-Kol, in the Katon-Karagay Region of East Kazakhstan region is located. The field Kok-Kol was found by the geologist A. Nikonov in 1936 when carrying out a regional geological route.
In riverheads Kok-Kol in a spine part he found quartz fragments with tungsten impregnations. Following 1937 the searching party which easily found a series of the parallel, pulled together, low-power (75 - 85) quartz veins with industrial contents of tungsten and molybdenum located at the height about 3000 meters above sea level was directed here.
Since 1938 extraction of ore manually and construction of the inhabited and working settlement began. On the mine on the pass (The top Camp or the mine Kokkol) barracks, office, club, a warehouse of explosives, a smithy, concentrating factory were constructed.
In 8 km to the West at falls Kok-Kol in a zone of the wood was constructed the inhabited settlement: houses, stables, school, bakery, office, bath. On ore veins there passed adits. Here manually there was an ore sorting.
When the concentrating factory was constructed, began to receive higher concentrate of ore which on horses was delivered to the village of Berel. The mine worked till 1954. The top Camp of the mine Kok-Kohl perfectly remained.
Thanks to frigid arid climate all constructions and the equipment: portable engine, the diesel, concentrating factory are in satisfactory condition and represent the fine museum under the open sky. Perfectly remained concentrating factory which many details are made of strong grades of a tree is unique.
There are carts ore carriers (meter box), the remains of the car "Ford". From Nizhny of the Camp stayed at home only today two behind which tourists watch and repair. The place of Nizhny of the Camp is traditional point of the Base Camp of all tourists traveling in Altai.
From here radial routes to the bottom of Belukha (the Berelsky glacier), on the Top Camp, on the Kok-Kol falls are made. Here world of rocks, glaciers and snow, mosses and lichens, mountain lakes and crystal streams.
At these heights under 3000 meters above sea level, there is no vegetation. In 4 km to the West from Nizhny Novgorod of the Camp there is a bridge through Belaya Berel River constructed in 1938. This difficult engineering construction, serves more than 60 years.
It is constructed of a larch and hammered together by shod nails. It is necessary to pay attention, as to a historical monument on the road near the Top Camp. In places it passes on thin deposits and represents in these cases grandiose an example of manual skills where the road a pavement is built from multiton boulders.

Authority:
http://www.br.katonkaragai.kz/ru/