And so, our Altai-Katun rafting adventure was coming to its inevitable end, and so is my Altai-Katun series of posts detailing it. All that’s left to do is share the most interesting photos that I don’t think I’ve shown here before. If I have – apologies for the repeats. So, in this final installment to the series, a brief review of our summer Altai rafting trip – guided by a perusal through said leftover pics.

Altai-2025: a five-day hike through the Altai mountains, then an incredible 500-kilometer rafting journey down the Katun (plus a short side-foray along the Chuya) ->

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Continuing the tales of our Altai summer adventure – next up, we’re edging down the Katun with the final stretch fast approaching…

Today’s rapids – the Teldekpen Rapids, aka “the Stumps” (here) – which, in high water, are probably the most difficult, unpredictable, and genuinely dangerous of the whole river. But let’s start from the beginning…

That morning, we saw that the water was still high (as I mentioned earlier, it had rained non-stop the previous day – raising the river by 130cm). On the flat sections, the current was racing along at around 13km/h (if I remember rightly), so there was absolutely no need to paddle ->

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After a full day of downtime given the incessant rain, the following morning, finally, we were able to get back on the Katun. Which we were reeeaaally keen to do since, turns out, without a steady stream of outside stimuli to jolt the nervous system, modern big-city office types like us get rather down.

Another effect of the rain: the Katun’s water level had risen a staggering 1.3 meters in just 24 hours – a massive change, and not a good one for tackling rapids…

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Hi folks!

Another day – another spot of rafting in Altai!…

After a thrilling day of whitewater rapids on the Chuya, we were back on the Katun river. By this point we’d already done the Cheeks, the Akkem Rush, and the Chuya’s Turbine and Horizon rapids. Next up – yet more exciting aquatic adventures: great! But, alas, the sky began to cloud over with nasty gray gloom: not great at all…

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What, don’t recognize me?…

Sure – the clean shave and suit and tie are a combo rarely seen on my person, but yes – it’s me ).

The tie is actually really old, though it’s only been worn a few times. For yes – I don’t often find myself at really official events, and the rest of the time I prefer comfortable clothes.

Those pics were taken at the weekend – on the Saturday (October 25, 2025) – in Hanoi, Vietnam (as indicated just to the side of me). And it was there, on a warm, foggy, tropical morning, that a historic event took place: the signing of the UN Convention Against Cybercrime. Congratulations everyone! Hip hip hooray!

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GITEX is one of the most important IT exhibitions in the world. In terms of size, it’s probably still second behind Barcelona’s MWC, but not by much (while on its website, GITEX confidently claims it’s the biggest). And considering that beyond its original event in Dubai they’ve also launched satellite exhibitions in Berlin, Singapore, and Marrakesh, with plans also for Vietnam, Kenya, Kazakhstan, and who knows where else… well, all such action seems to be turning GITEXes into the world’s main IT-exhibition places-to-be. But let’s talk just about GITEX Dubai today…

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Another day, another spot of Altai whitewater rafting – but not on the captivating Katun!…

No, this year we took a detour – yes, as the title indicates, for a stretch of rad-rapids down the Chuya river.

After the Akkem Rush and the following relaxing day, we took a break from the Katun. Why? But of course – for the rapids! For there are some good ones on the lower reaches of the Chuya – like the “Turbine” and the “Horizon”. Check these beauts out: the Turbine ->

And the Horizon ->

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As I already mentioned, after conquering the wildest ride the Katun has to offer – the Akkem Rush (or “the Pipe”) – we stopped at Argut Camp, aka the Rafters’ Museum, at the junction between the (turquoise) Katun and the (milky) Argut:

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We finally made it to the main water “attraction” of the Katun: the Akkem Rush, aka the Akkem Breakthrough, aka the Pipe. Long ago, the Katun carved out a gorge about 12 kilometers long right here, squeezing the river down to just 30 meters wide. The result: all that water rushes forward with tremendous force…

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After shooting through the Katun’s Cheeks, we had another two weeks (!) of assorted rafting ahead – “assorted” as in: some lazy stretches, some bursts of action, and the occasional bout of nerve-wracking whitewater rapidding. But the five days after the Cheeks were all one thing: lazy. We even call this stretch the “lazy Katun“. Around 200 kilometers of gentle current, ripples and pools, and only a handful of small rapids. All in all – smooth sailing: the perfect setting for quiet reflection and meditation. Andf if the weather’s nice the mind totally resets.

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