Beauty of Kamchatka. What to see for an unprepared tourist
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, first of all, 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 natural beauty? That is what I will talk about today.
I'll start with a little explanation: most of the natural attractions of Kamchatka are at a fairly serious distance from civilization, and civilization here often ends 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 give either a lot, a lot of money; or just a lot of money, but at the same time spend a lot of time; or get on your own, but for this you 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 didn’t even take with me banal trekking shoes, in which you can climb to the top of several volcanoes without having any special skills. But in sneakers, I did not dare to do this, besides, several guides actively dissuaded me from this idea.
Today I will give you some ideas where you can go for a reasonable price and what to see if, like me, you come to Kamchatka, but you are completely unprepared. I will say right away, you should not despair, there is beauty for you too!
1. The most obvious and easiest 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 shore of Avacha Bay 
2. Or you can climb several observation platforms, of which there are enough in the city 
3. Issue price - 25 rubles by city bus. 
4. The next option is a little more complicated - go to the ocean. The cheapest, but not very fast option- get to the nearest village (Zaozerny or Dolinovka) by city bus all for the same 25 rubles and then 7 km. take a walk to the beach, most of the way you will have to walk through the fields 
There are several more ways to get to Khalaktyrsky beach:
- Order a taxi, it will cost from Petrovavlovsk rubles to 700-800 one way;
- Try your luck and take advantage to hitchhike, such an option would be absolutely free.
We got there on our own (first by bus, and then on foot), but on the way back from the beach we caught a ride, first to the nearest stop, and from there another ride to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky itself. Hitchhiking in Kamchatka, by the way, is used quite actively, the local people do not refuse to pick up tourists, and tourists are interested in chatting with the locals. Many thanks to the pleasant and cheerful woman who gave us a ride at first, and the silent man with his family who gave us a ride later!
5. Closer to the beach, beauty will begin. On my offline map in MAPS.ME, this rock was marked as Observation deck and was called "pierced rock", you can easily climb it along the path from the back 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 found myself on the coast of the ocean (it was Indian on), I thought that it was no different from the sea ... No guys, these are completely different things. It's hard to explain, but incredible power comes from the ocean 
10 He Looks Different And Sounds Different 
11. The beach here is simply huge, stretching for several tens (!) Kilometers, and there are practically no people, very cool! 
12. This is not Photoshop and not an optical illusion, the sand is really dark because it is volcanic 
13. The beach is so steep that even the shrimp 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 shoot for its corpse, I hope the shrimp is not offended.
14. Khalaktyrsky beach is really very cool, 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. Gorgeous views from here 
17. On the outskirts of the cape stands peter and paul lighthouse
18. And from the cape you can see the rocks 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. go in one direction, but firstly, it is very long and tiring, and secondly, the locals are afraid that these 12 km. sometimes there are bears, it seems like very rarely, but somehow I didn’t want to tempt fate on myself. From the village of Zavoyko, you can still try to catch a ride, but we went on a weekday morning and did not have to count on a large number of fellow travelers.
We ended up choosing the taxi option. At first we tried to catch him on the street, but the very first taxi driver told us that he would not physically go there in his passenger 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, whether he could pass or not, but after a few minutes of thought he said: “Okay, let's try! If I don’t pass, then I won’t pass, let's go back!" What do you say? There really is no road! There is only a 12-kilometer dirt trail 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, didn’t get stuck and didn’t puncture a wheel, it’s just incredible! As a result, in one direction we drove 1.5 hours (back, however, it turned out half an hour faster).
19. This whole trip cost us 1700 rubles
20. The next option for a not very prepared tourist may 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 from a person! The tour starts with a 2-hour trip on such a Kamaz truck 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 here will tell you instructive stories, rather, this is an ordinary hike with accompaniment.
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, cool! 
24. And we rise a little higher. Next, I'll just show pictures from beautiful views, there is nothing special to describe, we just walked and enjoyed the surrounding nature 
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27. Livestock came across along the way. This rodent is called evrazhka, he is also an American ground squirrel. 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 drop dead! 
In the photo above, in the right corner, there is a very interesting man whom I happened to meet. Italian Gino Ambrosio (Gino Ambrosio), lives in Naples near the volcano 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. He climbs volcanoes in different parts of the world, takes 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 very volcanoes, to compare how such people differ in different countries. In general, a very interesting uncle.
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35. In addition to mountains and lakes, on this tour you will also be taken to several waterfalls 
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38. Photos, as always, do not convey the real beauty of these places. 
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43. In general, I recommend a trip to Vachkazhets, it is very beautiful here, and the walk itself gives much more pleasure than it takes strength. No special training is needed here, we walked in ordinary sneakers, there were no problems, there were both elderly and obese people in the group with us, no one had any difficulties 
44. And the last option for today for an unprepared tourist in Kamchatka - Boat trip along Avacha Bay. They ride you on such a boat, the walk takes 5-6 hours, it's worth the pleasure 5500 rubles from a person. Not cheap, but prices in Kamchatka are generally high 
I was pleasantly surprised by the boat. Before the trip, I expected that it would be old and falling apart, but in fact it turned out to be quite 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 seasickness and you are motion sick on the water, then it is better to refuse this walk. In our group of 8 people, one girl was clearly not very well, 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. Three brothers swam up to the rocks, which I have already 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 tour they were treated to crabs! Mmmm, the crabs were great! 
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52. It's very beautiful around! 
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54. Birds nest right on the rocks 
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57. Even during the walk it was proposed to go fishing, but fishing personally took us 5-10 minutes at the most. Literally a couple of times they threw fishing rods, after which the captain of the ship said: "Something is not biting today," and we moved on. Also me fishermen 
58. Along the way, you come across a lot of different living creatures: 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 an ax ...), a bird from the genus of puffins. Very cool, with a beautiful beak, it's a pity I couldn't take a picture 
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62. It seems to be nothing special, you just swim, and even paid a lot of money for it, but it’s 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 later regretted that I didn’t take at least normal shoes with me, I really wanted to climb to the top of some volcano. If you are planning to visit Kamchatka someday, then do not make my mistake and, if possible, prepare for the trip better than me.
On this note, I finish sharing my impressions about this region. Farewell, Kamchatka! Or maybe goodbye, who knows! Thank you for attention!
Other stories from that trip:
The weather turned bad again, but this time, as if even on time, at least, it did not prevent us from shooting the already popular Snow Caves.
Photos and text by Denis Budkov
1. Every 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 an exfoliation and collapse of its lower layer. And this is another perspective. 
3. And just a month ago, the entrance to it was littered with snow, and with difficulty, through a narrow gap in the snow wall, we were able to get inside the cave. This is a place of unparalleled fabulous beauty!!! 
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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. 
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7. The newly opened cave turned out to be about 300 meters long, although its height was less than the previous large one. But the new is always impressive in a special way. 
8. A day later, the rains stopped, but the clouds still enveloped the crater of the Mutnovsky volcano. 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 you can’t imagine in such conditions: either some kind of monster made of mud, or a giant turtle. With such weather conditions imagination can play a cruel joke. It all depends on individual abilities. 
10. Or worse - you will fall into some glacial crack with water in the fog - and bool-boom ... The nature of Kamchatka is both beautiful and dangerous! Everything is real - genuine extreme.
"Bul-Bul": 
11. After wandering for about a couple of hours among the fumaroles and getting 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.
Canyon Dangerous 
13. Yes, and smaller waterfalls did not get around. 
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15. According to the custom of changeable Kamchatka weather, the sun came out on the very last day of the trip! Marmots emerged from their holes into its light, the population of which has significantly decreased in the area due to hunting for them. 
16. Still, it's great when nature in all its manifestations welcomes you! How great it is that the sun is shining, that sometimes it rains like a wall, how great it is that on the land of Kamchatka is my family and home!
17. Mutnovsky volcano. 
18. Vilyuchinsky volcano. 
19. It was one of the best trips in Kamchatka, which has come to its logical conclusion. It did not leave any participant disappointed, but on the contrary, it filled with impressions and strong emotions, which photographs are only partially able to convey. They say it's better to see once than hear a hundred times. And this is true, with a small correction - firsthand !!! 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 will be completely wrong. This amazing edge, which has retained its unique originality, strikes with a special natural color, amazing landscapes and an unusual reserved 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 vigorous activity, and today the volcanoes of the Kamchatka Territory are a UNESCO heritage.
Sights of Kamchatka - description and photos.
Volcano Avachinskaya Sopka.
Volcano Avachinskaya Sopka is known all over the world. This active volcano It has the shape of a perfectly even cone, above the top of which a boiling-white vapor is always visible.
Volcano Karymsky.
Another volcano - Karymsky is considered the most active among all currently active. Numerous tourist groups strive to visit it every year, 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 Klyuchevskaya Sopka is 4 thousand 750 meters.
Commander Islands.
Kamchatka is rich in protected areas, sights called the Commander Islands are proof of this. They are included in the Commander Reserve, abounding in numerous protected species of plants, birds and animals, in particular, fur-eared seals.
Kurile lake.
One of the largest salmon spawning lakes – – beautiful place in Kamchatka, located in a basin and surrounded by hills of severe volcanoes. Kamchatka bears often roam along its banks in search of a catch. From a special tower, tourists enjoy watching this fascinating spectacle.
Blue Lakes.
At an altitude of 600 meters, not far from the town of Yelizovo, there are Blue Lakes. A truly unique place in its beauty: absolutely clear water and an ice-covered bottom of the lake reflect sunlight, coloring everything around with purple and blue hues.
Natural park Nalychevo.
cannot be overlooked and natural Park Nalychevo. Its thermal springs with hot mineral water visited by tourists almost all year round.
Dead forest.
An unusual attraction for the Kamchatka Peninsula is the Dead Forest. The picture, it must be said, is rather strange and a little terrifying: scorched and buried under solidified lava and a multi-meter layer of ash, forests, dry riverbeds and empty lake quarries resemble the plots of disaster films.
acid lakes.
Kamchatka is great and multifaceted, interesting places of which are unusual creations of nature. One of these places is acid lakes. Formed in the craters of "dead" volcanoes, they hide in their depths a lot of interesting things for both 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 on the territory of Eurasia.
Vilyuchinsky waterfall.
The sights of Kamchatka include a popular place for excursion programs - the 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 beauties of landscapes and watch animals - the Aquarium Tract.
Kamchatka, whose sights 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 find other interesting places Kamchatka.