Traveling around Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk is famous for the national park "Stolby", which is located just 20 minutes by car from the center of the city. If you have more than a few days, you can go to Khakasiya or to Tuva republics, which are located to the south from Krasnoyarsk and offer a lot of various activities, including rafting, trekking, and mountain climbing.
Also, Tuva is one of the few regions in Russia that has retained its ethnical spirit: it is the center of Shamanism, unique ethnic cultural center and the "motherland" of throat-singing.

Stolby National Park.
Stolby national park was founded to study the natural processes in the region. The park has very varied nature and a lot of species of plants and animals. It is a truly clean and pleasant place.
The main attraction of the park are its cliffs that have strange curved forms, as if they were worked on by water. Because of the peculiar landscape Stolby became the local center of cliff-climbing. The original way of cliff-climbing invented by local sportsmen (called "Stolbisty") was acclaimed worldwide.
Every weeked there are a lot of people in the park and it is a great place to take a break from the city.
To get there: It takes about 1 hour to go there and back from the railway station (if there's no traffic jam, costs about 250R ($8) both ways). Don't take a taxi at the railway station or the airport - it's too expensive. It's better to order a taxi, it will come in 15 minutes. See taxi companies' contacts in Krasnoyarsk Transport section. The cars can't go further the beginning of the park, but for 50R ($1.7) you can enter as far as Taletino check-point, which is about 2 km (20 mins walk) away. To get to the most interesting place in the park (which is where the cliffs are), you will need to walk about 1.5 hours from Taletino check-point. If you are lucky an occasional car will give you a lift, but it's rare. Once you get to the main check-point Narym, you can walk around and enjoy the views on the cliffs. There are refreshment shops along the way, where you can buy a map of the park also. Accommodation can be arranged at Narym kordon, but only if you have your own tent. There are plans to make a mini bed & breakfast there at 2004. Otherwise, it's forbidden to camp and to make in the whole national park. If you want to arrange accommodation (in a tent on permitted territory or Stolby), you can contact the local forester Anatoly or his wife Galina at (3912) 32-34-35 (Anatoly) or (904) 894-8534 (Galina). They speak Russian only. They have a small house near Narym and can permit you to put a tent there ($3). They also provide excursions for $7.


Tuva Republic.
Tuva republic (also called Tyva) is located about 600 km south from Krasnoyarsk. It is considered that Tuva is located in the center of Asia and that the geographical center of Tuva region lies exactly where the capital of Tuva is, Kyzyl.
The region is completely unspoiled by industry (the main branches of economy and agriculture) and there are very few roads, which makes Tuva region not easily accessible, but very unique, authentic, and preserved.
Most of the landscape is defined by mountains and taiga forests, which makes Tuva very attractive for active tourists. Such activities as rafting, mountain hiking, hunting can be practised here.
Also, Tuva is the center of local ethnic culture. The main religions are shamanism and buddhism and, unlike many other Asian republics in Russia, Tuva people managed to retain their national identity and culture.
In the capital of Tuva you can find traditional medicine centers, shaman schools, and buddhist centers.
Only 60 years ago Tuva was still an independent state, however, it was joined to Russia in 1944. Nowadays Tuva has about 300,000 inhabitants, more than 70% are ethnic Tuvinians.
Every year (usually July) there's a festival of worldmusic and religion held at Tuva republic. See more information in "web resources" below.
How to get there: The easiest way is to get to Tuva from Krasnoyarsk is to take a train or a plane (from Moscow) to Abakan (the capital of Khakasiya), and then take a local bus to Kyzyl (the capital of Tuva) from there. The train journey from Krasnoyarsk to Kyzyl takes about 10 hours, distance is almost 600 km. There's a daily train #124 departing Krasnoyarsk at 15.52 Moscow time and arriving at 2.23 Moscow time to Abakan. From Abakan there are a few daily buses to Kyzyl, the journey lasts about 4-5 hours.
Web resources:
There are not many internet resources about Tuva, but here's a list of a few interesting ones:
Annual festival "Live Worldmusic and Interfaith Festival" - traditional music and ethnic cultures festival in Tuva, takes place every year on 3 to 10 July. See website for more info (in English!)
Tuva Web Portal - The best web portal about Tuva in English made by students. A lot of general info about Tuva: http://www.tuva.biz
Major Tuva newspaper "Center of Asia": http://www.centerasia.dem.ru/ (in Russian)


Khakasia Republic.
Khakasia republic is located to south-west from Krasnoyarsk. This region is interesting for rafting and trekking activities. The capital of Khakasia is Abakan and you can get there by daily train #124 departing Krasnoyarsk at 15.52 Moscow time and arriving at 2.23 Moscow time to Abakan (travel time 10 hours). The train back is #124 with the same departure and arrival times.