The beauty of Kamchatka. What to see for an unprepared tourist. Sights of Kamchatka

Kamchatka. Approaching the Tolbachik volcano. Shooting from a helicopter / Photo: Anton Agarkov

Nevertheless, the flow of people, for whom “Kamchatka” is not just a word from Tsoi’s song, has never been interrupted. Because people usually divide their life into eras - before they saw Kamchatka and after. Direct flight from Moscow - 9 hours (exactly as in the other direction - up to New York). And these nine hours can change the idea of what our country possesses. As a friend of mine who travels to all the mountains in the world where you can ski, from Chile to Switzerland, says: "I have never seen such a large-scale beauty."

2. Kamchatka. Volcano Shiveluch

She, beauty, will open for you immediately when the plane lands from the Avachinsky Bay: the ocean, three volcanoes - Kozelsky, Avachinsky, Koryaksky. If it will be good weather, then from your chair you will see several more volcanoes, the names of which you still don’t remember.

3. Kamchatka. Crater of Plosky Tolbachik volcano

4. Kamchatka. Approaching the Tolbachik volcano. Snow covered with ash. Shooting from a helicopter / Photo: Anton Agarkov

Key word "weather". Because the whole of Kamchatka is surrounded by seas and oceans; if you need some stable weather, go somewhere to Atalasovo, far from Petropavlovsk, inland. This is probably the only place in Kamchatka where snow can go smoothly, like a string. The rest of the territory changes its appearance - from sun to fog and rain - much faster than a chameleon on a hunt.

5. Kamchatka. View of Avachinsky and Vilyuchinsky volcanoes

But regardless of the weather in Kamchatka, there is always something to do. And from what to receive unbearable pleasure.

6. Kamchatka / Photo: Anastasia Khlopova

An ordinary walk around the city in a person burdened with knowledge of history will cause an amazing feeling - how small the world is in essence and how our ancestors knew how to navigate and travel in it. In the center of Petropavlovsk there is a monument to the English navigator Clark - the one who led Cook's expedition after his death, and this small territory still belongs to Britain. And the guns of the Maksutov battery will remind you that both the French and the British got here. There are also traces of the great Russian navigator Bering (a Dane from small town Horsens, who graduated from the Cadet Corps in Amsterdam). He is buried on Bering Island in the Bering Sea. What threw people to all corners of the world in the complete absence of aircraft and satellite communications? What attracted people to places like Kamchatka?

7. Kamchatka / Photo: Khlopova Anastasia

8. Kamchatka. Volcano Koryaksky and Camel Mountain

Now it is one of the most suitable places for skiers, snowboarders, hunters, fishermen, climbers, especially from those countries that are tortured by comfort. The latest trend is surfing. With something, but with the wave in Kamchatka, everything is in order. If you want it lower, here is Avacha Bay. Want real open ocean please - Khalaktyrsky beach. Not far from it is the Khalaktyr airport, which has always been used as a heliport. And this is a real gateway to the treasures of nature, helicopters of geologists, volcanologists and all those who urgently need to look into the crater go from here. And there are only active volcanoes in Kamchatka - for forty pieces. Klyuchevskoy erupts, Nameless erupts, even Avacha, the closest volcano to the city, erupts. And any volcanic eruption is a super show.

9. The eruption of the Klyuchevskaya volcano / Photo: Ivan Dementievsky

10. Kamchatka / Photo: Anastasia Khlopova

The city may seem strangely arranged to someone. In fact, this is one long street - from the final stop "Shipyard" (once "named after Lenin") to bus station"10th kilometer". There are, of course, branches from this highway, but they do not make the weather. The traveler needs to know where the center is, where the Avacha hotel is, where to eat and where the buses to Paratunka leave from. This is a minimal tour package for those who don't like to bother skiing. Although Moroznaya Mountain (the longest track on it is three and a half kilometers), one of the best for alpine skiing, is located there, on the other side of Avacha Bay. And it is considered the height of hedonism after skiing on Moroznaya to go to the hydrogen sulfide or Rodon springs of Paratunka.

11. Kamchatka / Photo: Anastasia Khlopova

That is, for those who are based in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, all modern types of "outdoors activities" are under their noses.

12. Kamchatka Territory. South Kamchatka nature reserve. Kuril lake... Bear family / Photo: Sergey Krasnoshchekov

But in general, real Kamchatka is not Petropavlovsk. It is rather difficult to imagine how far the peninsula actually stretches, resting its foundation against Chukotka. From Cape Lopatka to the north - 1200 kilometers. And the Kamchatka region itself also lies on the mainland, and there it is also endless. The whole of Kamchatka has not been recognized for many years. Not only because in such places in Russia there is a rather whimsical infrastructure and a complete lack of roads, but also because Kamchatka is amazingly different.

13. Kamchatka Territory. Kronotsky reserve. Valley of Geysers / Photo: Vyacheslav Batashov

14. Kamchatka. Pacific coast / Photo: Anton Agarkov

After all, there is also the city of Ust-Kamchatsk, from where you can travel to the Commander Islands. There is the city of Palana, which stands in a huge tundra and where you will understand how the peoples of the North live in reality. There is the village of Esso, which is called Kamchatka's Switzerland.

15. Kamchatka. Pacific coast / Photo: Anton Agarkov

16. Avachinskaya Bay / Photo: Sergey Krasnoshchekov

There is a lot here - it is no coincidence that vigorous German hunters who have bought licenses for a bear get off the plane; even the Scots come here to fish for salmon, of which they themselves are full. Well, for the Americans from Anchorage to fly to Yelizovo airport (the official airport of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky) in just over four hours. What they enjoy and enjoy, especially in the summer.

17. Kamchatka. The eruption of the Karymsky volcano (2004) / Photo: Alexander Belousov

However, Kamchatka people (whom many do not quite accurately call Kamchadals, since "Kamchadals" are ethnic group) also use these flights to get to the capital of Alaska, where about the same number of people live as in Petropavlovsk - that is, the town is rather big. Today it is the shortest route from Russia to America. And even local musicians go to Anchorage to record their albums - to well-equipped studios.

18. Kamchatka Territory. An acid lake in the crater of Maly Semyachik volcano / Photo: Sputnik Mania

Fans of gastronomy will only then understand the difference between Norwegian salmon, which can be bought anywhere in the country, and real fish. The best salmon is, of course, chinook salmon (in the USA it is called “Chinook” - this is also a model of a helicopter), red salmon (aka “red”), chum salmon (aka “white”). Nobody here considers pink salmon for salmon.

20. Kamchatka Territory. South Kamchatka nature reserve. Kuril Lake. Sockeye salmon spawning / Photo: Igor Shpilenok

21. Kamchatka. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Avachinskaya Bay / Photo: Natalia Sudets

But there is still a Kamchatka crab, which, with skill and dexterity, can be independently caught in May in the region of the Icha River, on the Okhotsk coast of Kamchatka. And in the world there is little that can compare with the taste of freshly caught Kamchatsky crab meat (by the way, remember: unlike the European tradition of eating crabs, Kamchatka's head is not eaten).

22. Kamchatka. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky / Photo: Pavel Pelevin

23. Kamchatka. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky / Photo: Anton Agarkov

The old-timers regret about one thing - that captured German liners under new names such as "Soviet Union" and "Rus", which regularly sailed to Vladivostok, were written off for scrap metal. Indeed, many families have undertaken the journey of a lifetime - from Moscow by train to Vladivostok and from there on the "Soviet Union" to Petropavlovsk. After such a trip, any person began to understand how huge our country is and that it has almost everything.

The weather turned bad again, but this time, as if even in time, at least, it did not prevent us from filming the already popular Snow Caves.

Photos and text by Denis Budkov

1. Each year, depending on the time, they look different. This time, when descending into a large cave, it was clear that not so long ago there had been a delamination and collapse of its lower layer. And this is a different perspective.

3. And just a month ago, the entrance to it was covered with snow, and with difficulty, through a narrow rift in the snow wall, we were able to get inside the cave. This is a place of unprecedented fabulous beauty !!!

5. Since the weather was still in the same rainy mood, as if blessing us to search for new caves, we decided to explore other snowfields, and luck smiled at us.

7. The freshly opened cave turned out to be about 300 meters long, although its height was less than the previous large one. But the new always impresses in a special way.

8. A day later the rains stopped, but the clouds still enveloped the crater of the Mutnovsky volcano. There is nothing to do, we decided to go ... Another adventure in the treasury of impressions from the whole trip.

In the crater, visibility was almost zero, and it was raining lightly. We were constantly pursued by a hydrogen sulfide cloud.

9. And what just does not appear in such conditions: some kind of monster made of mud, then a giant turtle. With such weather conditions imagination can play a cruel joke. Here everything depends on personal individual abilities.

10. Or what is worse - you find yourself in a fog in some glacial crack with water - and a blast ... The nature of Kamchatka is as beautiful as it can be dangerous! Everything is real - genuine extreme.
"Bul-bul":

11. After wandering about a couple of hours among the fumaroles and having received another dose of hydrogen sulfide, we returned to the camp.

12. But on the way to it we looked into the Opasny canyon, where the largest waterfall in Kamchatka is located.
dangerous canyon

13. Yes, and the smaller waterfalls were not avoided.

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15. According to the custom of the changeable Kamchatka weather, the sun came out on the very last day of the trip! Marmots climbed into its light from their burrows, the population of which has significantly decreased in this area due to the hunt for them.

16. Still, it's great when nature in all its manifestations welcomes you! It's great that the sun is shining, that sometimes it rains like a wall, it's great that on Kamchatka land - my family and home!

17. Mutnovsky volcano.

18. Vilyuchinsky volcano.

19. It was one of the best travel across Kamchatka, which has come to its logical conclusion. It did not leave any of the participants disappointed, but on the contrary, filled them with impressions and strong emotions that photographs can only partially convey. They say it's better to see once than hear a hundred times. And this is true, with a small correction - with your own eyes !!! Kamchatka is worth seeing with your own eyes at least once in your life, but to get to know it for real, you need to be with it ...

If you think that Kamchatka and tourism are incompatible things, you would be completely wrong. This amazing edge, which has preserved its unique pristine nature, amazes with its special natural color, delightful landscapes and an unusual protected atmosphere. The main attractions of Kamchatka are its volcanoes, of which there are more than three hundred, and geysers. The peninsula was formed under their active activity, and today volcanoes Kamchatka Territory are UNESCO heritage.

Sights of Kamchatka - description and photos.

Volcano Avachinskaya Sopka.

Volcano Avachinskaya Sopka known all over the world. This active volcano has the shape of a perfectly even cone, above the top of which boiling white steam is always visible.

Volcano Karymsky.

Another volcano - Karymsky is considered the most active among all the currently active ones. Numerous people strive to visit it every year. tourist groups, it is also interesting for seismologists.

Volcano Klyuchevskaya Sopka.

Kamchatka Mountain () is famous far beyond the borders of this region and all of Russia. The volcano is the most high point the entire territory of the Trans-Urals: the height of Klyuchevskoy Sopka is 4 thousand 750 meters.

Commander Islands.

Kamchatka is rich in protected areas, attractions called the Commander Islands are proof of this. They are part of the Commander Reserve, abounding in numerous protected species of plants, birds and animals, in particular - fur-eared seals.

Kuril Lake.

One of the largest salmon spawning lakes - - beautiful place in Kamchatka, located in a hollow and surrounded by hills of severe volcanoes. Kamchatka bears often roam along its shores in search of a catch. Tourists enjoy watching this fascinating spectacle from a special tower.

Blue Lakes.

At an altitude of 600 meters, not far from the town of Yelizovo, there are the Blue Lakes. A truly unique beauty spot: absolutely clear water and the ice-covered bottom of the lake reflects sunlight, painting everything around with purple and blue hues.

Natural Park Nalychevo.

It is impossible to ignore and nature Park Nalychevo. His thermal springs with hot mineral water they are visited by tourists almost all year round.

Dead forest.

An unusual attraction for the Kamchatka Peninsula is the Dead Forest. The picture, I must say, is rather strange and a little terrifying: scorched and buried under solidified lava and a multi-meter layer of ash, forests, beds of dry rivers and empty lake quarries resemble the plots of disaster films.

Acid lakes.

Kamchatka is great and multifaceted, interesting places which are extraordinary creations of nature. One of these places is the Acid Lakes. Formed in the craters of "dead" volcanoes, they hide in their depths a lot of interesting things for scientists and ordinary travelers.

Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka.

An incredibly breathtaking beauty place in Kamchatka -. The only field of active geysers and thermal springs in Eurasia.

Vilyuchinsky waterfall.

The sights of Kamchatka include popular place for excursion programs - Vilyuchinsky waterfall. Originating in a glacier, it drops its waters from a height of more than 40 meters, forming a small lake in the lowland.

Tract Aquarium.

A picturesque corner of Kamchatka nature, which gives the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of landscapes and watch animals - the Aquarium Tract.

Kamchatka, the attractions of which give tourists many surprises, is a very interesting, beautiful and unusual land. In a word, tourism and Kamchatka is an ideal combination for those who appreciate the virgin and untouched by civilization area. Below you can familiarize yourself with other interesting places in Kamchatka.

Hooray! Now it's time for beauty! It is impossible not to admit that Kamchatka has incredibly cool, gorgeous nature! All travelers and tourists come to this region primarily to see with their own eyes all this beauty: volcanoes and geysers, hills and the ocean, rivers and lakes, thermal springs and bears. Many come with tents and fly away, leave, go on multi-day hikes, someone climbs volcanoes, someone takes surfboards and goes to the ocean. But what about those tourists who come here completely unprepared, do they have the opportunity to see at least some kind of natural beauty? This is what I will tell you about today.

I'll start with a little explanation: most of the natural attractions of Kamchatka are located at a rather serious distance from civilization, and civilization here often ends after a few kilometers from settlements... The tourist infrastructure is still poorly developed and in order to see the most famous and interesting places you have to pay either a lot of money; or just a lot of money, but at the same time spend a lot of time; or to get there on your own, but for this you have to have serious preparation and a very, very long time. Not the most better options, truth? :)

I came here completely unprepared, in the sense that I did not even take with me a banal trekking shoe, in which you can climb to the top of several volcanoes without having any special skills. But I didn't dare to do this in sneakers, besides, several guides actively discouraged me from this idea.

Today I will give you some ideas of where you can go for a reasonable price and what to see if you, like me, come to Kamchatka, but you are completely unprepared. I will say right away that you should not despair, there is beauty for you too!

1. The most obvious and simple option is to look at nature in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and its surroundings. For example, you can go to the city beach, which is located on the shores of Avacha Bay

2. And you can climb to several observation decks, of which there are enough in the city

3. The price of the issue - 25 rubles on a city bus.

4. The next option is a little more difficult - to go to the ocean... The cheapest, but not very fast option is to get to the nearest village (Zaozyorny or Dolinovka) by city bus all for the same 25 rubles, and then 7 km. take a walk to the beach, most the path will have to go through the fields

There are several more ways to get to Khalaktyrsky beach:
- Order a taxi, it will cost from Petrovavlovsk rubles in 700-800 one way;
- Try your luck and take advantage to hitchhike, this option will be absolutely free.

We got there on our own (first by bus, and then on foot), but back on the road from the beach we caught a ride, first to the nearest stop, and from there another ride to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky itself. By the way, they use hitchhiking in Kamchatka quite actively, the local people do not refuse to pick up tourists, and tourists are interested in chatting with locals. Thanks a lot a pleasant and cheerful woman who gave us a lift first, and a silent man with his family who gave us a lift later!

5. Closer to the beach, beauty begins. On my offline map in MAPS.ME, this rock was marked as observation deck and was called "broken rock", you can easily climb on it along the path from the opposite side

6. This view opens from the top. On right Pacific Ocean!

7. A few more minutes and we on Khalaktyrsky beach

8. And before us is the Pacific Ocean! Pacific Ocean, damn it!

9. Before I first came to the ocean coast (it was Indian on), I thought that it was no different from the sea ... No guys, these are completely different things. Difficult to explain, but incredible power emanates from the ocean

10. He looks different and sounds very different

11. The beach here is just huge, it stretches for several tens (!) Kilometers, and there are practically no people, very cool!

12. This is not Photoshop or optical illusion, the sand is really dark because it is volcanic

13. The beach is so steep that even shrimps come out of the sea to take a walk!

In fact, the fate of the shrimp is sad, it was thrown ashore, where it dried up in the sun, and I arranged a photo session for its corpse, I hope the shrimp is not offended.

14. Khalaktyrsky beach is really very steep, here you want to sit for a long time and look at the waves, listen to their noise and bask in the sun, but you don't want to leave at all, but you have to

15. Another option that you can see near the capital of Kamchatka is Cape Mayachny

16. The views from here are gorgeous

17. On the outskirts of the cape stands Peter and Paul lighthouse

18. You can also see rocks from the cape. Three brothers

It is very beautiful, however, there is one thing but ... It is very difficult to get here!

You can get to the village of Zavoyko by city bus, and then about 12 km. to go one way, but firstly, it is very long and tiring, and secondly, the locals scare that on these 12 km. sometimes there are bears, it seems like it is very rare, but somehow I did not want to tempt fate on myself. From the village of Zavoiko, you can still try to catch a ride, but we drove in the morning on a weekday and rely on a large number of there were no fellow travelers.

In the end, we chose the option with a taxi. At first they tried to catch him on the street, but the very first taxi driver told us that he would not physically go there in his car, since there was no road on our route. Then we called a taxi through the application, a guy drove up in a Renault Logan, the guy had no idea whether there was a road there or not, he could drive it or not, but after a few minutes of thought he said: “Okay, let's try! let's go back! " What can I tell you? There really is no road! There is only a 12-kilometer dirt path with deep potholes and ruts, littered with stones, along which military Kamaz trucks and jeeps with a special high suspension drive. I still don’t understand how we drove there in a regular Renault Logan, we didn’t get stuck or punctured the wheel, it’s just incredible! As a result, we drove in one direction for 1.5 hours (the return, however, turned out half an hour faster).

19. This whole trip cost us 1700 rubles

20. The next option for a not very prepared tourist can be an excursion to mountain range Vachkazhets... The tour takes a whole day, in all travel agencies it costs 6-7 thousand per person, but by some miracle we managed to find it for 2500 rubles per person! The excursion-hike begins with a 2-hour trip on such a Kamaz from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

I do not really like organized excursions, I prefer to visit new places on my own, but there was simply no choice. Although this cannot be called a classic excursion, no one will tell you instructive stories here; rather, this is an ordinary guided hike.

21. The rest of the day will have to walk a lot, first through the forests

22. Then along the lakes and mountains

23. Someone came with a tent, class!

24. And we rise a little higher. Next, I'll just show you photos from beautiful views, there is not much to describe, we just walked and enjoyed the surrounding nature

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27. On the way came across living creatures. This rodent is called a gopher, it is also an American gopher. Here they are already so fed by tourists that they run to the call and feed from their hands, not particularly afraid of people

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30. Buildings of ancient Kamchadals :)

31. The mountains are not very high, but the views are still awesome!

In the photo above, a very interesting man is walking in the right corner, with whom I happened to meet. Italian Gino Ambrosio, lives in Naples near Mount Vesuvius, works as a postman. He lives like this: he works for six months and saves money, and in the next six months he goes on a trip. Climbs volcanoes in different parts light, makes cool photos, shoots videos, holds exhibitions. In addition to volcanoes, he also tries to study the life and life of people who live near these same volcanoes, to compare how such people differ in different countries... In general, a very interesting guy.

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35. In addition to mountains and lakes, this excursion will take you to several waterfalls.

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38. Photos, as always, do not convey all the real beauty of these places.

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43. In general, I recommend a hike to Vachkazhets, it is very beautiful here, and the walk itself gives much more pleasure than it takes away energy. No special training is needed here, we walked in ordinary sneakers, there were no problems, there were elderly people with us in the group, and full ones, no one had any difficulties

44. And the last option for today for an unprepared tourist in Kamchatka is Boat trip along Avacha Bay... They take you for a ride on such a boat, the walk takes 5-6 hours, it's worth it 5500 rubles per person. Not cheap, but prices in Kamchatka are generally high

I was pleasantly surprised by the boat. Before the trip I expected it to be old and falling apart, but in fact it turned out to be pretty decent and more or less new.

45. This excursion is intended for those who do not want to strain too much at all, here you just swim and admire the surrounding views

46. True, if you have motion sickness and you are seasick on the water, then it is better to refuse this walk. In our group of 8 people, one girl was clearly not very good, she spent almost the entire excursion in the cabin sitting at the table, resting her head on it and trying not to move once again

47. Swam to the rocks Three brothers, which I have shown above from a different angle

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50. During a 5-hour walk we were fed 3 times (!)! At first it was tea / coffee with fruits, sweets, sausages and caviar; then after a while they fed the fish soup cooked in front of us; and towards the end of the excursion we were treated to crabs! Mmmm, the crabs were great!

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52. Around it is very beautiful!

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54. Birds nest right on the rocks

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57. Even during the walk, it was suggested to go fishing, but fishing personally took us 5-10 minutes at most. Literally a couple of times we threw our fishing rods, after which the captain of the ship said: "Something's not cool today," and we moved on. I'm fishermen too

58. Along the way, you come across a lot of different animals: near the boat, fur seals emerge from the water every now and then, and there are a huge number of different birds around.

59. I even had a chance to see a puffin (or maybe it was a hatchet ...), a bird of the puffin family. Very cool, with a beautiful beak, it's a pity to take a picture.

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62. That seems to be nothing special, you just float, and even paid a lot of money for it, but beautiful, damn it!

63. As you can see, even an unprepared tourist has something to do in Kamchatka, there are options to see interesting places and there are quite a lot of these options

Although, of course, I screwed up a lot and regretted later that I had not taken at least normal shoes with me, I really wanted to climb to the top of some volcano. If you ever plan to visit Kamchatka, then still do not make my mistake and, if possible, prepare for the trip better than me.