Tunkinsky National Park
Tunkinsky is a national park in Buryatia. The park was founded in 1991 and covers an area of 11,837 km2. It was created in order to protect the natural complexes of the Lake Baikal basin, the Hamar-Daban ridges and the East Sayan, as well as the Tunkin Valley.
Other rather important areas of activity of this park are the development of national culture and, together, the creation of good conditions for a good rest. Tunkin National Park is a place where picturesque landscapes, a dry solar climate, healing mineral springs, as well as transparent mountain rivers have an excellent vacation.
The land of Tunkin Park is a mountainous area with fairly highly crossed reliefs. Plain sections can be seen in inter-mountain basins, as well as in wide areas of river valleys. The highest point of the mountains is approximately 3490 meters, and the minimum – 668 meters above sea level. Throughout the territory, starting from west to east, the main river called Irkut flows along the Tunkin Park. This river originates from Lake Ilychir, which is located at an altitude of 1963 meters and flows into Angara. The climate of the area in which the park is located belongs to the moderately continental. The summer time here is moderately warm, and the winter is long and at the same time quite cold. In January, the average air temperature drops to 25 degrees. The warmest month is July - temperature 17 degrees.
In Tunkin Park, you can find vegetation that perfectly expresses all the main ecosystems of the boreal sector of southern Siberia. These are swamps and meadows in valleys, forest steppes and steppes in the foothills of tundra and alpine meadows, which are located in highlands. Rare plants grow in this park, including a shiny dizilnik, a dagan ripple and others. Among the animal world of this park you can find animals that are characteristic of the inhabitants of taiga, rocky mountain peaks and steppes. In the forests of East Sayan and Hamar-Daban, you can find northern deer and Siberian mountain goats belonging to rare types of animals listed in the Red Book of Buryatia. Berkut, an eagle owl, a large demoman, a black stork and a couple more species of birds found in the park are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
On the territory of the Tunkin Park there are a huge number of magnificent natural monuments, including among them: « Marble bottom », which is a small section of the Kynngargi river channel; a source called « Hongor-Uula », near which several boarding houses are open; « The Hobok Lake » is a picturesque mountain lake of round shape near the foot of the Tunkin Goltsa. Throughout the park, various types of excursions are organized - foot, bus and horseback riding, and mountain climbing is organized under the name Munko-Saridak, which is located at an altitude of 3490 meters.
If you find yourself in this park, then you certainly need to visit a Buddhist datsan called « Tushita », an exclusive ethnographic museum of the history of this village, as well as the Buryat village of Hoitogol. Almost all travelers were delighted with the appearance of such extinct volcanoes as the Nail, located near the foot of the Tunkin Goltsy, Chersky volcano, as well as the construction of Khar Boldok. Tunkin Park is located on the border with Mongolia, so when they are in the park, tourists will have the opportunity to visit a lake called Hubsugul.
