The Vacation Holy Trinity: Russia’s Crimea, Kamchatka and Baikal Regions
European entrepreneurs have invested about 100 million euros into tourist infrastructure construction in Crimea. We’ll show the peninsula’s amazing nature from a bird's eye view today in a series of reports about how to spend the New Year's holidays, as well as scenic views of Baikal and diving in a bathyscaphe, and Kamchatka, where you can ski down a volcano slope and restore your strength at the thermal springs.
Olga Armyakoda reporting.
Outdoor holidays: The Republic of Crimea. Here it is, love at first sight. The views that make you go crazy, and all of Crimea is in the palm of your hand.
Outdoor holidays start at a height. Picturesque mountains, cave temples, and ancient towns. You can see it all, riding an ATV. An adventure for those who don't look for easy paths. Vibe, speed, adrenaline, and an opportunity to test yourself. There's nothing difficult about driving this beast. Throttle and brake pedals, but keeping balance is the main thing.
It's the first time I've driven it, but I'll try. ATVs aren't afraid of dirt. It comes from under the wheels around and above, and I get carried away on steep turns. Emotions can't be described with words after such a ride.
- What's your impression, guys?
A tourist: It was really cool! So many emotions, adrenaline! Sometimes I would lose the feeling of fear and become free.
- Speed, nerves, aren't you scared?
- No, I'm not! We love extreme sports!
Steep slopes and climbs, it's the road through Alimova Balka. According to a legend, it was here that the Crimean Robin Hood named Alim often spent the night with his team and hid the treasures in nearby caves. It's just one of the thousands of possible routes of an extreme trip around the Crimean Peninsula.
Olga Armyakova, Konstantin Morozov, and Nikita Kalchenko, Vesti, Crimea.
Ilya Buklov reporting:
You can see Baikal from above, or at least partly, from here, from the viewing platform at Chersky Stone. From here, you get a picturesque view on the Circum-Baikal Railway, the Baikal Port, and, of course, the Angara, the only river that flows out of Baikal. You can go up and down to the top on a chairlift.
- How's your walk?
A tourist: It's so quiet, there's no one.
This is one of the two world's sealariums. Curious but quite timid in the wild, the Baikal seal is the biggest inhabitant and a symbol of the lake.
You can take a closer look at the lake's inhabitants at the Limnological Institute Museum. Unique aquariums have the lake's wildlife and the Baikal's water inside. Rare species of fish and crustacean, and Pisces-11 bathyscaphe is near the museum. Virtual dives were organized inside the bathyscaphe not so long ago, and today, anyone can see the bottom of the unique lake here.
The bathyscaphe can carry three people, but it's quite small inside. It's done like this to make it possible to reach any equipment without movement.
After the New Year's celebration, Baikal will turn into a huge ice field. The unique Baikal ice is very straight and plain, and even sometimes transparent. Many-kilometer-long skating routes are being laid here, people do underwater diving, and fishermen will try to catch the famous Baikal omul, which can be fished only in the winter and using a fishing rod.
Everyone will find an activity they like on the ice of the biggest freshwater reservoir on the planet.
Ilya Buklov, Eduard Chuzhy, and Victor Strotsky, Vesti, Irkutsk Region.
Anna Zhukovskaya reporting.
Kamchatka's main attractions can be seen from the airport. Volcanoes are called homey here. The most accessible and often visited Avachinsky volcano can be easily seen from here.
You can reach these homey volcanoes not only by helicopter, which is expensive, but also on foot. Groups make trips in winter as well, but to get to the volcano's top, one must be really fit. Heliskiing is especially popular in the winter. Tourists are brought to remote places on a helicopter, and from there, skiers and snowboarders go down the snowy volcano slope.
Dog sled tours are organized in different parts of Kamchatka. Sled dogs run with the speed of up to 40 km/h. And snowy volcano slopes can be seen in the distance.
Andrei Semashkin, sled dogs breeding ground owner: "You can go sled riding, go outside the breeding ground, move towards the volcanoes and even come close to them."
This is the sea lions' rookery. They come here to spent the winter and stay for eight months. A new observation deck was set up here recently. It's very easy to feed sea lions from it.
There are hot springs near the volcanoes, too. The ground itself heats the water up. There are more than 150 large hot springs in Kamchatka.
A tourist: "I love Kamchatka. I don't need to go abroad, to go to Thailand. Kamchatka is amazing and wonderful".
They don't add cold water to the healing water. It cools down naturally. In order to be healed, they recommend to cool down each 10-15 minutes and switch between the hot and the cold tub. There's a lake for the extreme experience lovers. They say that the effect is amazing if you swim in it.
- Will you show us?
Anna Zhukovskaya, Anton Dutov, Dmitry Salnikov, Vesti, Kamchatka Krai