ULAN-UDE, October 13. /TASS/. Builders and ecologists in Buryatia created the Far East's longest tourist eco-trail – the Path of Health, which is 21 km long. The opening took place at the Ethnographic Museum of Trans-Baikal Peoples, at the eco-trail construction festival, a TASS correspondent reported.
The Trans-Baikal Region's Governor Alexey Tsydenov walked along the trail, stressing it is located within the city of Ulan-Ude, and local residents and tourists can get there easily to practice walking, active tourism, sports, hiking of various levels.
The project was implemented by the regional government at the expense of a presidential subsidy from the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic with participation of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic. The cost is about 85 million rubles ($1 million), Buryatia's Ministry of Tourism told TASS.
The trail is conditionally divided into five unique routes: "Tea Route" - beginning from the Snezhinka ski base, "Places of Power" - along the ridge to viewpoints, "Inclusive" - with a deck for people with limited mobility, "To Youth Fountain" - from the Oriental Medicine Center, "To Mount Orlinaya" - from the ski complex of the same name.
Work on the trail has become a unique experience for local specialists involved in trail construction, said Andrey Suknev, president of the Big Baikal Trail - Buryatia Association. "We have used modern technologies, including those that we were unable to use earlier," he said. Specialists were involved in preparatory work, in clearing the base, cutting the canvas, they compacted the soil, made metal supports, metal and wooden bridges, ladders, and iron fences. Waste dumps and recreation areas are organized along the trail.
At the festival, visitors could see what tools and technologies the builders and ecologists had used, and were invited to join master classes. Another eco-trail in Buryatia, the Genghis Khan's Headquarters, which will be about 6 km long, is being created in Buryatia's Ivolginsky District. Along the trail, will be installed sculptures by artist Dasha Namdakov, well known all over the world.
Trails in the Far Eastern Federal District
The program to organize eco-trails in the Far East has been ordered by the Russian president with the support from the president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Yury Trutnev, as Maria Badmatsyrenova of the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic told TASS at the opening ceremony of the first eco-trail in Buryatia. "We care about safety of tourists and about the environment's protection. Additionally, the program stimulates small businesses and companies that create their facilities near the routes," she said.
The Far East is famous for its unique natural resources, the presidential envoy said. "In Buryatia - Lake Baikal, a diverse landscape from steppes and forests to mountain ranges. We hope as many people as possible will be able to see this beauty with their own eyes. To do so, we are holding the Far East - Land of Adventure competition and we are creating comfortable tourist routes with modern infrastructures. A visitor will try one route and will want to learn more about the beautiful Far Eastern land and to visit other territories," he said.
The Trails of the Far East program includes 18 projects in Kamchatka, Chukotka, Trans-Baikal, Buryatia, Primorsky, Khabarovsk, Amur, and Magadan Regions. The new routes to tourist sites like volcanoes, petroglyphs, mountain ranges and scenic bays, capes, beaches, historical monuments will be more than 118 km long.