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Kamchatka
Review of the travel resources
The Kamchatka Pinensula in the North-east of Russia is a spectacular geographical area
of 370,000 square km., a region rich in various resources; it's a unique land with volcanoes,
hot springs and abundance of fish and animals. In the course of your travels in kamchatka you
will see the many aspects of nature in harmony; the beautiful, blossoming valleys natured by
deep blue rivers and adorned with cascadeing waterfalls; mountain ridges and volcanic cones;
snow-clad slopes and ice-capped peaks.
There are many lakes in the mountains, enclosed within the craters of ancient volcanoes. If
you have the lucky star of the traveller you may witness a volcanic eruption of the birth of
a new crater. Our land is renowned for the richness of its thermal waters. At present there
are over 200 locations with thermal springs or geysers differing from one another in temperature,
mineral composition and medical characteristics.
Forests cover about a third of the pinensula, mainly stone-birch and alder as wellas larch and
other coniferous trees. In the north of Kamchatka lies the tundra. On your journey you may well
come across reindeer, the great Kamchatkan bear, snow-sheep, wolverine, lynx, sable, sea mammals
and a great variety of birds.
As a novelty for the traveller one has the opportunity to see salmon spawning. There are no
barriers or dams preventing them from attaining their goal! Six species of salmon, from the
King Salmon to the small golet, spawn in the rivers of Kamchatka and the fishing season lasts
from the beginning of May until the end of October.
Being away from the historical trails this land has preserved its indigenous people - the Koryak,
the Chukchi, the Itelmen and the Even. Many of them retained their traditional way of life and
as a result have superb applied arts, dances and songs.
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY
the capital of the pinensula
In the summer of 1648 seven Cossack boats sailed along the coast of Eastern Siberia where
they were separated by a fierce storm. Two vessels were carried to the coast of an unchartered
land, which was eventually brought into the Russian empire in 1697 and named Kamchatka.
In 1740 the famous navigator Vitus Bering founded the town of Petropavlovsk naming it after his
two ships St.Peter and St.paul and used the port as a base from which to sail forth on his two
voyages of discovery. After establishing the existence of the channel between Asia and America
(The Bering Strait) and landing, albeit briefly, on the Alaskan island of Kayak, he and most of
his men became ill with scurvy and the Danish captain died on what is now known as the Bering
Island to the east of Kamchatka.
Last century, the arduous overland journey from Moscow to Petropavlovsk lasted three years
(now it is a 9 hour non-stop flight from the Russian capital). This remoteness accounts for
the frontier spirit of the people here - a mix of people from all over Russia - fishermen and
sailors, teachers, doctors and scientists, artists and musicians, adaptable, independant and
welcoming. The outdoor life is everything in Kamchatka walking and climbing, skiing and sailing.
Just outside the city, townsfolks go berry and mashroom picking, and bears wander nearby.
PARATUNKA
Along the Paratunka valley are medicinal hot springs where one can bathe and relax in comfort.
Accommodation is available and those bases are served by bus from Petropavlovsk. Most of the
facilities in the valley such as cosy lodges at natural hot pools and private small hotels were
the properties of the Communist top bosses from Moscow, and were famous as the
«places-not-for-common-use».
MILKOVO and ESSO
A centre for the surrounding area, Milkovo has an interesting museum, a log building in the
shape of a Cossack church. There is good fishing near the town and visitors can meet the local
Kamchadal people, and enjoy walks in the birch and larch forests.
Esso is the centre of the Bystrinskiy district, populated in the main by the Even people. A good
climate, thermal springs, forests of larch («esso» is the Even word for larch), and reindeer
herds are its main attractions. The local houses are heated by the thermal waters of the area.
Within reach of these two centres is Kamchatka’s highest and most active volcanoe - Klyuchevskaya
(4750 m) as well as the amazing dead forest and black volcanic deserts around Tolbachik, a
result of the enormous eruptions of 1975/76.
KAMCHATKA’S VOLCANOES
Walk up through canyons of eroded lava layers and across glaciers beneath which subterranean
rumblings can be heard; discover a strange world of geysers and boiling mud pools that hiss
and gurgle, of fumeroles that noisily send columns of steam shooting into the air from sulphur
encrusted spouts.
The volcanoes Avacha (2738 m), Vilyuchinsky (2180 m) and Koryak (3456 m) are close neighbours
of Petropavlovsk, an essential part of its landscape. The clouds of steam above Avacha are
witness to the «unceasing work in the boiler-room of the planet».
To the north, beyond the watershed of the Kamchatka and Avacha rivers, lie the great volcanoes
of Karym and Maly Semyachik and further still, the awesome Klyuchevskaya group. Young and
volatile (only 7000 years old), Klyuchevskaya (4750 m) frequently shows its vigour with vivid
eruptions, as if trying to revitalise its extinct neibour Kamen (4617 m) with a flamboyant
courtship display.
The most massive of recent eruptions, however, was that of Tolbachik which in 1975 showed how
volcanoes evolve - during one and a half years of intense activity, it constructed four new
volcanic cones. South of Petropavlovsk and with relatively easy access, are Mutnovsky and
Gorely. Both are periodically very active and can be visited safely with guides.
The northern face of Mutnovsky is split by a geological fault giving rise to a spectacular
waterfall where the river Mutnaya hurtles over a cliff and into the gorge below.
KAMCHATKA’S RIVERS
Karl von Ditmar, one of Kamchatka’s early explorers wrote in the 1850’s:
«animal life at the mouth of Kamchatka’s rivers is enormously rich - the main reason for this
variety being the increadible number of salmon, annually entering the rivers from the sea and
proceeding to the most distant creeks, often located in the high mountains where the fish amass
along the banks. With the coming of the fish this land renews: seals enter the rivers and lakes,
and bears, wolves, sled-dogs and foxes constantly stay near the streams. A multitude of geese,
ducks and swans fill the air and the surface of the waters.»
Here in a land of rivers, waterfalls and lakes is one of the greatest stores of pure water in
the world. Salmon, a species sensitive to pollution, thrive and proliferate in this perfect
environment. Next are the mineral waters, used for bathing as well as for «medicinal cures».
The pearl of the pinensula is the Valley of Geysers discovered in 1941. Dozens of geysers and
reinbows glitter as 275 litres of water holding 75,000 kilokalories of heat are sent spiralling
into the air every second. See the picture of the valley
Visitors should also try to see Kurilskoye Lake and its neighbouring geysers in the south of the
country. The River Ozernaya flows out of the lake which is prodigious breeding ground for red
salmon.
Read more about Kamchatka on the following sights:
Kamchatka's Mountains and Volcanoes
The Story of Discovery of Kamchatka and some useful information for climbers
The Kamchatka Page by Andrew Logan
Kamchatka Fishing Adventure
Modern Life of Koryaks - the ancient trib of Kamchatka.
Kamchatka from Britannica Encyclopedia On-Line
Kamchatka oblast' from Northern Forum
Kamchatka by Centre for Russian Studies
Welcome to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky- Alaska Airlines
Kamchatka-Impressions of Russian Far East
Image of the Kliuchevskoi Volcano, Kamchatka
Photo Gallery from Kamchatka
Palana - the Center of Koryak Autonomous Region
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