Published on: 2026-08-30
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
“Ilya, hi! How about we try to go to the ‘Altai Holidays’ this year?” — from this message by the head of the social department of NSU Zhanna Ermola the story of a trip to Altai for a wheelchair user, a second-year student, began Humanitarian Institute Ilya Zakharov and 38 more NSU students.
From July 5 to 10, they traveled along the Chuysky Tract to the Oroktoy Bridge, climbed the Seminsky Pass, strolled through the Karakolsky Nature Park “Uch-Enmek,” visited the Anokhin National Museum of the Altai Republic in Gorno-Altaysk, and spent several days in the Chemalsky district on the Katun River. “Altai Holidays” continue a tradition that has existed at NSU for over ten years: the university’s social department, with the support of the rectorate, regularly organizes trips across the country for students. The first were the “Crimean Holidays” in 2009, followed by the “Altai Holidays” in 2017, and then the “Baikal Holidays.” This is how the university primarily supports students with disabilities, orphans and children left without parental care, and children of participants in the special military operation.
These five days are recounted by one of the participants of the trip — a student of the “Journalism” program at the Humanities Institute of NSU Ilya Zakharov.
“Maybe we should try to go?”
About Altai Ilya, according to him, knew little before the trip and had not been there before.
— I am a simple person; I agreed immediately because I had never been anywhere near the Altai region. — he recalls.
Perhaps the only organizational difficulty in this story concerned accompaniment: Ilya moves in a wheelchair, and he needed an assistant during the trip. The solution was found quickly — at the physics faculty. Ilya spent all five days in the company of a second-year student. Kirill Baluev and, in his own words, “just as incredible guys” from different faculties.
Thirty-nine people and one route for all
The group included representatives from all faculties and institutes of NSU. The route was eventful: Chuysky Tract, Seminsky Pass, Karakol Nature Park “Uch-Enmek”, Anokhin National Museum of the Altai Republic — along with the history and legends of Altai, stories about the life of the indigenous Altai people, which the participants learned about along the way.
The Majesty of Katun
The stop in the Chemalsky district was the most memorable for Ilya.
— Then I saw the Katun River in all its glory — he says. — And it was then that I realized we have a ton of places in Russia that I must visit before exploring abroad. Before, I thought such beauty existed only in Norway — in its fjords.
What was memorable
Ilya does not take on highlighting a single brightest moment of the trip — he says that the whole trip became for him “one continuous moment.” And yet he especially recalls his first ever SUP rafting and a ferry ride to the other shore of Lake Aya.
— Moments when someone genuinely wants to give you positivity, to help you, are remembered for a lifetime, — he says. — On the very first day, I was given a physics faculty T-shirt, and I felt like one of them.
“I want to repeat”
When asked if he would go again, Ilya answers without hesitation:
— Of course, I would like to repeat that. So much has yet to come — so many places, so many Tarantino-style dialogues, and curious eyes.
According to him, it is precisely such trips that bring together students from different faculties:
— You will realize that you are all so different, yet at the same time so alike.
For some, “Altai Holidays” is an opportunity to see new places; for others, it’s a chance to find new acquaintances and lifelong friends. But perhaps the most important thing about such trips is the opportunity for students from different faculties and institutes of NSU to embark on a journey together and share experiences that will remain in their memory for a long time.
Please be advised; This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It is an accurate account of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.