Khakasian Khlimate

The climate in Khakasia, from what I could gather off the internet is no different than home.  Continental, which is hot and dry in summer and cold and dry in winter.  Well, OK, dry was not a word applicable to this summer at home in dear old Saskatchewan but you get he picture.

Precip is a bit different in pattern as they get more in July through October than we do and much less in winter, though I only have one data source.  Once I get there I will have data from several villages where it is kept religiously but does not appear on official internet weather sites.

Mean Monthly Temperatures Khakasia and Saskatchewan

Mean monthly precipitation Khakasia and Saskatchewan

It would appear that the winters are even milder than Saskatchewan in some locations in Khakasia and summers slightly warmer.  These are 30 year averages.  Now when you get to Chita on the east side of Lake Baikal, there it gets COLD.  Summer temps same as Sask but winter temps are 10C colder on average.  Chita was where the Tsar banished the surviving Decembrists of 1825.  Lenin was also supposed to go there but was able to use his influence to get reassigned to Sushenskoye in Khakasia.

Beautiful Khakasia 2

Here are some landscape pictures of Khakasia which Tanya and I took back in early June of 2006.  It has everything - mountains, foothills, rugged hills and rocky outcroppings and flat land between the hills.  No great sweeps of flat land like the prairies, though. 

Horse bands likely belonging to native Khakasians

Herefords of Canadian breeding grazing early pasture

Cropping is 50:50 summerfallow to conserve moisture

with all the salinity problems to go with it

Flat plains always end at a ridge of hills, they don't go on forever

Small fields among trees and grass

Good grazing and rugged hills

Light soil, lots of sandy areas

Village outside Turim

Turim was a "company town" beside a huge copper mine.  When the mine gave out, so did the city.  It is pretty much deserted now.  You could buy a 5 floor block of flats for a dollar, I expect.

Beautiful Khakasia

Our friend Sergei Glukhov from Abakan in Khakasia sent us some pictures that are worth sharing.  When I first went to Abakan with Tanya back in June 2006, we contracted with Sergei to drive us around, translate for me at meetings and organize some sightseeing.  Sergei is a wonderful young entrepreneur, Boston educated and a very capable translator.  He is also an outdoors-man, with a thorough knowledge of his homeland and an interest in a wide variety of areas.  If you want a holiday out of the norm in a unique and beautiful part of the world, ask me for Sergei's contact information.  Khakasia has rugged mountains, endless steppes, and thousands of years of history. Abakan is a 5 hour flight from Moscow. You'll need a visa.

Church in Abakan City

Yennessee river and Cyan Mountains

Yennessee river

Khakasian Steppes

Tree growing on one of thousands of Kurgans

Good fishing

Sergei is a wonderful cook

Freshwater prawns

Desert

Evening campfire

A real charmer