Gogny Altai’s landscape is colorful, with snow-covered mountain peaks, fantastical rocky cliffs, enchanting cedar forests, wonderful lakes, fast-flowing rivers and brightly-colored wildflowers. This entire splendor is crowned by the highest peak in Siberia and Altai- the double-headed Mt.Belukha (4,506m), from which the Big and Little Berel glaciers descend. In the south are the Tarbagatai and Saura ranges, and the Zaisan , billow spreads out between the mountains. The Irtysh River and its tributaries – the Bukhatarma, Kurchum, Ulba, and Uba – are unusually rapid. The region’s largest Zaisan Lake, is fed from the Bukhtarma reservoir. The lovely Lake Markakol stands comparison with Lake Baikal in Russia, the deepest lake in the world. Lake Markakol is in the foothills of the Altai Mountains, which extend deep into Mongolia. Eastern Razakhstan has delicious honey and large population of bears and Siberian deer. In the very heart of Altai, between two picturesque lakes at the bottom of a stone valley, is the Rakhmanov’s Springs health resort (1,760m); the springs are well known for their healing properties. The region is internationally known for its gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper and other metals. The ancients believed that Mt.Belukha was the land of gods – Shambala. For some time thousands of followers of Nikolai Roerich have been making an annual trip to the sacred mountain. Alakol is one of the most beautiful lakes in Kazakhstan (580km north of Almaty), situated at the north-eastern end of the Jungar Alatau.