"An incredible coexistence of two theoretically incompatible types of landscapes"
The nearest desert to us is on the border of the Irkutsk and Chita regions near the village of Chara, the Vitim reserve and the BAM route.
The largest sand dunes of the Chara sands have a height of 35-45 m in relation to their bases, the wingspan is 300-600 m. And they also move, like the dunes in some Karakum.
When you can see this in the taiga zone, against the backdrop of the Kodar mountain range with the Kodar mountain - the highest in the Irkutsk region - is something!
"Chara Sands - the desert is very small. Its area is about 50 km2. Small, cozy, but not toy. Everything here is real. In bad weather, being in the tract is quite sad, especially if the low cloud cover hides mountains that serve as landmarks. Then you can get lost among the dunes. In fact, such cases have happened, but no one has lost his way until death and has not suffered from dehydration in Chara Sands, because, first of all, the dimensions of the barchan field are only 5x10 km, and, at second, the sandy desert is surrounded on all sides by taiga, swamps and streams. This incredible coexistence of two theoretically incompatible types of landscapes is the most surprising fact. "
Alexander Lesnyansky - blogger and traveler
"The Chara Sands remain an unusual place. Everything here is like a real desert. But there is something that you will not see anywhere else, except Transbaikal. Next to the warm yellow sand adjoins blue cold ice. Instead of camels, the caravan of deer wanders along the barkhans with an Evenk. Among the sandy ridges you suddenly find an oasis where the palms gave way to the northern larches. There are mountains around the sand covered with snow even in the summer, and the dunes cuts off into a swamp, or into a lake. "
Russian Geographical Society
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