Ceilings & Floors
- Virtual Traveller 86
- May 18, 2020
- 3 min read
Day Three: Country No.19
RUSSIA Arrival Time: 10:45pm Amazingly I found a direct flight from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky airport in Russia, taking just 4hours.
Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a sub-Arctic, 1250km-long finger of land in the Russian Far East. It is “one of the top places on Earth for pristine habitats and abundant wildlife, despite being covered in snow and ice most of the year.” (Lonely Planet). It also has the largest active volcano in the northern hemisphere.
Within this region is the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, 200km northeast of Petropavlovsk. It is one of seven protected areas that together are listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Famous for volcanoes, glaciers, mountain rivers, lakes, forests, tundra and coast! Oh and don’t forget the estimated 15,000 brown bears, 10,000 snow sheep, 15,000 reindeer, wolves...and the massive Steller’s sea eagles (half the world‘s population of them). It is also the area of habitation of the Far Eastern curlew — a bird so rare it is considered a threatened species.
The largest freshwater lake in Kamchatka is also located here. Lake Kronotskoye covers an area of 246 sq km and was formed as a result of the activity of Kronotsky and Krasheninnikov volcanoes. Kronotsky Volcano is the highest in the Nature Reserve, at 3,528m. Along with the Valley of Geysers and the huge Uzon Caldera, there is so much to captivate you. I took several tours, mainly helicopter rides.
These pictures: taken over volcanic eruptions within the park (Plosky Tolbachik, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, and of Kronotsky).
In the below, all but 3 of the photos are from Uzon volcanic caldera. The bottom left is of a small island in Lake Kronotskoye. The pictures of the bears are by the shores of the lake and river.
St. Petersburg
It is a long journey from Kamchatka to St.Petersburg but definitely worth it! I had intended to visit so many parts of the city. However I got so deeply absorbed in the Hermitage that it took all my efforts not to abandon my 26 country tour and just stay there!
The world’s second largest museum (The Louvre has the biggest collection), the Hermitage collection includes over 3 million works of art and world culture artefacts. The Hermitage collections are housed in six buildings situated on the Palace Embankment. Aswell as The State Hermitage (Winter Palace), there is the Menshikov Palace, the General Staff Building, the New and Old Hermitage and the Small Hermitage. It is said that in order to view the entire collection you would need 6-7 years!
Well whilst it is presently impossible to visit the Hermitage collection in person, you do have the privilege of viewing it from your own home. Plus, unlike the guided tours the bonus of doing it virtually is that you can stay as long as you like in a room and get up-close to paintings and artefacts. I spent almost two hours looking around and I fell in love with it. I also discovered I have a fascination with floors and ceilings!
Yep, I fell head over heels in love with the Hermitage and I am aiming to do another tour very soon!
Leaving Russia: Day 4, 1:51am
Sources
https://youtu.be/dhOMtP72o2Y Eruption of Volcano Klyuchevskaya Sopka, Kamchatka https://youtu.be/MK4qJC8rp6U 360°, Eruption of Plosky Tolbachik Volcano, Kamchatka
https://www.airpano.com/360video/Video-Kamchatka-Volcano-Plosky-Tolbachik/ https://youtu.be/o3a1fkLsNS4 360° Kamchatka Volcano Eruption | National Geographic https://youtu.be/cW2uPw1tC7I 360 video. Uzon volcanic caldera. Russian edition. 8K
https://youtu.be/HpTWRX_WH0s The Land of Bears, Kamchatka, Russia.
https://youtu.be/vHTN9jaztRA Kronotskoye Lake. The biggest lake of Kamchatka, Russia.
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