Where did the rails come from at the bottom of Lake Burlinskoye (6 photos)

Burlinskoye Lake in Altai is salty and at least of the middle of the 18th century, table salt is mined here industrially. The village of Bursol has been standing on the shore of the lake since ancient times, and the lake itself fell into a number of those that are often called "Pink".





Rails leading to Lake Burlinskoye

As for history, they say that Burlin salt served to the royal table since the time of Catherine II. Salt Lake it was known before that - maybe this is a historical tale, but It is believed that Peter the Great called this place the "Royal Salt Cellar".

But the name "Pink" appeared because it is painted in shades close to this color in summer, and the reason is the appearance of small crustaceans living here - Artemia salina. They highlight certain pigment under the action of sunlight, and it turns out that than the more sunny and warm, the brighter the pigment released.



The train rides on the pink-red Burlinskoe Lake

Therefore, the lake may during this period have a color from pale pink to crimson or almost red. It is in this summer period there are a lot of tourists here. Which, by the way, do not come just to admire an unusual reservoir, but also for treatment - the benefits of salt lakes for health is known to everyone.

Usually the density of water in salt lakes is compared with the Dead sea - on this occasion it is often written that the concentration of salt in Burlinskoe Lake is higher, although this is not entirely true. Maybe in the summer when more water evaporates and the salt concentration in the lake increases.





Tourists walk along Burlinskoye Lake

However, the salinity of water is usually still estimated by the impossibility drowning in it - and so, it is very difficult to drown in Lake Burlinskoye. And deal not only in the density of water, but also in the depth of the reservoir itself – a maximum of 2.5 meters at the deepest point, which needs more search.

And so, they say, almost the entire lake here can be walked from coast to coast. True, this is not fast - the size of the lake is approximately 6 by 8 kilometers. But in theory, you can also drive along the lake - by train on rails. It sounds strange, but along the bottom of Lake Burlinskoye the rails are actually laid.



Although the rails are in the water, walking on them is also prohibited.

They lead to the center of the lake (by the way, the locals usually are simply called Bursol, like the village), where the salt concentration is much higher than near the coast - and from the center, salt is transported in several wagons to shore. This gives the impression that the train is traveling directly on the water. - and this "engine" is one of the main "calling cards" Burlinsky lake.

However, this is not all the features of this train. Its often compared to a combine, because in a certain sense it collects salt from the bottom, puts it in wagons and rides along the rails directly to salt processing plant. This is such a know-how of the Altai masters.



Train with freshly collected salt from the bottom of the lake

There is also a private craft, which looks like this: local residents come in cars with trailers, just load salt with shovels and leave. Then the salt is simply sold at a certain price - they say, for many here it is almost the only source of income.

However, there are those who prefer not to take 100 kilograms, but pack it yourself - right there, on the shore, tourists can buy as a keepsake already dried and packaged salt from Lake Burlinskoe.



So "private entrepreneurs" collect salt on Lake Burlinskoye