Now I am already in Vladivostok, 37 deg. C, horrible traffic and smog but beautiful girls and an interesting harbor and nice beaches nearby - and the nicest MC club you can imagine: THANK YOU IRON TIGERS of Vladivostok for your help!!!
During one week I have now tried to get a positive answer about how to register as a foreigner a motorcycle in Russia and drive it home to Switzerland during 4,5 month. I finally had to accept that its only possible by paying "fines" I cannot afford. So I bought a train ticket to Ulan Ude in central southern Siberia from where I will travel to lake Baikal for two weeks.
How I like the Transsib and the Baikal, the pearl of Siberia, I let you know in around 2 weeks.
KAMCHATKA - I am missing your clear air, fresh water and untouched nature!!! One for shure, I will come back to this beautiful place on earth.
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Monday, 24 May 2010
VIII
After six month of ice and snow, finally spring has found its way to Esso. Within 1 month almost all snow has gone, temperatures have risen from -20 to +15°C and days are long and sunny. My last month on Kamchatka has begun and my feet are itching. I have chosen not to finish the trip with the end of my voluntary service but to continue my travels and to go home the slowly way. A motorbike will carry me home from Vladivostok to Switzerland during the next 4 month. How the adventure continues, you can read and see on this blog.
But first still some news from Esso: The sunny spring in combination with the thermal water has lead to an explosion of vegetables in the green houses of the village. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, radish and herbs provide us with vitamins. On the other hand the melting snow changed the clean, well conditioned roads into muddy courses and the places in the north are again cut off the world for half a year, only available by helicopter and tank. Water is omnipresent and often means long detours, if your way crosses a river. Anyway, walking in rubber boots is great fun.
But first still some news from Esso: The sunny spring in combination with the thermal water has lead to an explosion of vegetables in the green houses of the village. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, radish and herbs provide us with vitamins. On the other hand the melting snow changed the clean, well conditioned roads into muddy courses and the places in the north are again cut off the world for half a year, only available by helicopter and tank. Water is omnipresent and often means long detours, if your way crosses a river. Anyway, walking in rubber boots is great fun.
Friday, 19 March 2010
V
Spring sun sends its first rays to Esso!
Although it´s now colder than ever, the bright light is not only sign of a new season, for me it’s also the beginning of a new chapter in my life. There are only three month left as volunteer on Kamchatka – and than the big unknown is waiting for me! I will start to discover it in June from Vladivostok – by motorbike. My journey will first lead me home to Switzerland, through Russia, Mongolia and the southern parts of Eastern Europe. It’s planned to be back home next autumn. So far my plans I dare to tell you – further secrets I won’t tell you ;-)
And here still the latest news from Esso:
Last weekend was the start of the Beringia, a two weeks lasting sledge dog race from Esso to Ossora, 950 km in the north of Kamchatka. 15 teams were at the start and Esso was for some days full of people. For the first time of my life I had also the chance to go for a short ride with sledge dogs. 13 dogs pulled us with an incredible speed over the fields near Esso. Additional information you find on http://www.sleddogrevue.de/Article260.phtml in German or on the official home page http://www.beringia.ru/index.php?home&lang=en.
The weekend before was the day of the reindeer herders. That day reindeer herders participate in traditional competitions, such as reindeer sledge race, throwing the chow (lasso) and hatchet, wrestling in the snow and jumping over a line of sledges. There you could also watch local dance ensembles perform traditional Evene and Korjak dances and locals were selling hand made souvenirs and handicrafts, such as fur hats, boots and mittens, bead embroidery, wood carvings and handicrafts out of birch bark.
The days are now already long enough to do nice skiing trips to the near and further surrounding of Esso and the snow has gotten more assured so getting ahead is no more so hard. See the pics!
Next time I will tell you about my stay at the reindeer herders’ camp.
Although it´s now colder than ever, the bright light is not only sign of a new season, for me it’s also the beginning of a new chapter in my life. There are only three month left as volunteer on Kamchatka – and than the big unknown is waiting for me! I will start to discover it in June from Vladivostok – by motorbike. My journey will first lead me home to Switzerland, through Russia, Mongolia and the southern parts of Eastern Europe. It’s planned to be back home next autumn. So far my plans I dare to tell you – further secrets I won’t tell you ;-)
And here still the latest news from Esso:
Last weekend was the start of the Beringia, a two weeks lasting sledge dog race from Esso to Ossora, 950 km in the north of Kamchatka. 15 teams were at the start and Esso was for some days full of people. For the first time of my life I had also the chance to go for a short ride with sledge dogs. 13 dogs pulled us with an incredible speed over the fields near Esso. Additional information you find on http://www.sleddogrevue.de/Article260.phtml in German or on the official home page http://www.beringia.ru/index.php?home&lang=en.
The weekend before was the day of the reindeer herders. That day reindeer herders participate in traditional competitions, such as reindeer sledge race, throwing the chow (lasso) and hatchet, wrestling in the snow and jumping over a line of sledges. There you could also watch local dance ensembles perform traditional Evene and Korjak dances and locals were selling hand made souvenirs and handicrafts, such as fur hats, boots and mittens, bead embroidery, wood carvings and handicrafts out of birch bark.
The days are now already long enough to do nice skiing trips to the near and further surrounding of Esso and the snow has gotten more assured so getting ahead is no more so hard. See the pics!
Next time I will tell you about my stay at the reindeer herders’ camp.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
II.
Don´t worry, I´m still alive! This place is too beautiful and exiting to spend too much time with my computer – so I´m sorry for the big gaps in my blog!
The last month I spent mainly with tourists and the construction of a new house for the inspector at the Kardon. But of course I also used my spare time for some walks in the nearby surrounding.
There are mainly groups of European Tourists and Russian Families visiting here but very less individual adventurists. Groups are quite easy to handle, because they come with a guide, but the people who come alone are usually not able to do anything on their own. Either because they don´t speak Russian or they come with wrong expectations. It´s not possible to do some easy trekking within some days like in the Alps. Either you need a lot of time and good equipment from home( I don´t think you can adapt to Russian/indigene survival style within 2 weeks of your holidays if you haven’t experienced before…) to go further into the wild, a lot of money to hire a helicopter or you like horseback riding, hunting or fishing and join a guided tour.
Fortunately there are from time to time also for me possibilities to go with some guys from here out into this great scenery. I could already learn so much from them.
August and early September are probably part of the best season to visit Kamtchatka. As soon as temperature drops below zero in the nights, the tundra turns into red, yellow and orange; a great natural spectacle. Days are sunny and warm, mosquitoes have disappeared.
But as much as I´m enjoying all this natural beauty, I´m still suffering kind of a cultural shock. I cannot get used the way women are treated here. Russians are real gentlemen, but when I try to get into a collegial relationship to guy, they hardly can understand this behavior the right way. I hope it´s just a question of time and exchange of our different ways of interpretation. Both parts are getting used and adapt to each other. So far my theory, but let´s see – at the end I´ll come back as a very devote woman ;-)
Another thing I don´t get used to is the way information is handled between different parties. It´s just something you can change the way it fits best your means. And when you once know how afraid Russians are to lose their proud, than you better make yourself a picture of the situation. But therefore you first have to understand what Russian proud is – I still have to learn a lot!
As soon as I found out about it I´ll tell you here!
All the other little but of course also very important and mostly funny experiences I had till now would probably already now fill books, but as you know pictures tell more than words and so just enjoy them.
Till the next blog, hug you all my dear friends!
The last month I spent mainly with tourists and the construction of a new house for the inspector at the Kardon. But of course I also used my spare time for some walks in the nearby surrounding.
There are mainly groups of European Tourists and Russian Families visiting here but very less individual adventurists. Groups are quite easy to handle, because they come with a guide, but the people who come alone are usually not able to do anything on their own. Either because they don´t speak Russian or they come with wrong expectations. It´s not possible to do some easy trekking within some days like in the Alps. Either you need a lot of time and good equipment from home( I don´t think you can adapt to Russian/indigene survival style within 2 weeks of your holidays if you haven’t experienced before…) to go further into the wild, a lot of money to hire a helicopter or you like horseback riding, hunting or fishing and join a guided tour.
Fortunately there are from time to time also for me possibilities to go with some guys from here out into this great scenery. I could already learn so much from them.
August and early September are probably part of the best season to visit Kamtchatka. As soon as temperature drops below zero in the nights, the tundra turns into red, yellow and orange; a great natural spectacle. Days are sunny and warm, mosquitoes have disappeared.
But as much as I´m enjoying all this natural beauty, I´m still suffering kind of a cultural shock. I cannot get used the way women are treated here. Russians are real gentlemen, but when I try to get into a collegial relationship to guy, they hardly can understand this behavior the right way. I hope it´s just a question of time and exchange of our different ways of interpretation. Both parts are getting used and adapt to each other. So far my theory, but let´s see – at the end I´ll come back as a very devote woman ;-)
Another thing I don´t get used to is the way information is handled between different parties. It´s just something you can change the way it fits best your means. And when you once know how afraid Russians are to lose their proud, than you better make yourself a picture of the situation. But therefore you first have to understand what Russian proud is – I still have to learn a lot!
As soon as I found out about it I´ll tell you here!
All the other little but of course also very important and mostly funny experiences I had till now would probably already now fill books, but as you know pictures tell more than words and so just enjoy them.
Till the next blog, hug you all my dear friends!
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Yes, I finally got to the land of my dreams: Kamtchatka!
Now I´m already two weeks here and time is running so fast, that I even could´nt update my blog. Well, but what happend till now and how did I get here?
After I got my invitation from the polytecniques in Petropavlovsk, everything went very fast. I went to the consulate in Bern, got my visa within half an hour, went home, booked my flight from Frankfurt and one week later I landed already in Petropavlovsk, after stop-overs in St. Petersburg, Krasnojarsk and Chabarovsk.
In Petropavlovsk Frederik, another Volunteer from Switzerland picked me up at the airport and showed me Petropavlovsk, the capital of Kamtchatka. It´s quite a new small city and not very attractive, but surounded by beautiful volcanoes and a natural harbor.
The next day we spent on the bus to Esso. A 9 hours trip over 500 km, where we passed just 3 villages! All on a very dusty gravel road. Except in the capital there are no asphaltated roads on Kamtchatka.
In the evening we finally reached Esso and I got to know the other volunteers, Hanna from Austria and Mascha from Karelia in Russia, which join with me one appartement.
Hanna then took me for a sightseeing tour through Esso, where the mosquitoes almost killed me... Now, two weeks later, I fortunately don´t react so sensitive anymore, but I still have to wear a mosquitoe head, gloves and long thick trousers and jacket. That´s quite annoying when it´s nearly 30 degrees in the sun.
I must say Esso is a really nice place with colorful small wooden houses, each with a typical vegetabel garden, many of them with a green house heated by unisolated thermal water pipelines which run through the village.
Two rivers are running trough Esso, the Bystraja and the Uksitschan. The first gave the name for the district: Bystrinsky. The village is surounded by taiga in the valley and with tundra on the basaltic plateaus in the west and old vulcanoes in the east. The plateaus are between 900-1000 m high, while the highest nearby old vulcanoe, the Olengende, reaches 1950 m. Esso is on around 600 m above sealevel.
After I got a little bit to know my new working place in the Bystrinsky Nature Park office and my new collegues there, which are very nice and friendly, I already could join an excurion with some Spanish geologs to a nearby small lake and a place with Zeolites, a vulcanic kind of stone.
At my first weekend I took my paraglider and climed a nearby hill, but unfortunately the windforecasts were not exact, so that I had to carry it down again. But there are many nice places to take-off and possible landing places are also there. I just have to move away some stones and wood, which I like to do, especially during my official working time, cause it belongs now even to my official job to explore new paragliding possibilites here ;-) Last week I even got the help from two inspectors, who helped me with a chainsaw. (I was not allowed to use it...)
What else belongs to my duties here?
Well, last week we (the volunteers) spent at the Kardon, which is an inspector cabin around 20 km from Esso in the middle of beautiful wilderness. We helped there to build a new cabin and to get some ideas for a new ecotrail, which we start building in two weeks. It was a great time with banja every evening but myriades of mosquitoes during the day.
In the nights it can already freeze, while the days are very warm and dry. There is light from arround 4 a.m. till 2 a.m. and it seams that live goes on through the middle of the night: Some shops are open 24 hours, people move arround, visit or call friend.
But I have no problems to fall asleep, I´m always so done in the evenings, cause everything is new here for me. It´s especially hard if you don´t speak much Russian like me: It´s true, not many people here speak English. But I´m trying hard to learn it!
And what are the plans?
Next week I´ll probably go again to Petropavlovsk to pick up Larisa, another new volunteer from Germany with Russian roots and than start with the realization of the ecotrail and a new visitors center at the Kardon. If it works I´ll have the possibility to join some French guys in the end of August on a trip to the Itchinsky vulcano, where I should help to translate. And of course there are still many paragliding possibilities to discover and another project is a 5 day horse trip just to get to know the sourrounding.
But let´s see what time brings and if the mosquitoes and bears havent eaten me, I´ll post some more news as soon as possible.
I´m sorry that I can´t show you many photos, but with this slow internet connection it´s not possible to transfer big data amounts...
Now I´m already two weeks here and time is running so fast, that I even could´nt update my blog. Well, but what happend till now and how did I get here?
After I got my invitation from the polytecniques in Petropavlovsk, everything went very fast. I went to the consulate in Bern, got my visa within half an hour, went home, booked my flight from Frankfurt and one week later I landed already in Petropavlovsk, after stop-overs in St. Petersburg, Krasnojarsk and Chabarovsk.
In Petropavlovsk Frederik, another Volunteer from Switzerland picked me up at the airport and showed me Petropavlovsk, the capital of Kamtchatka. It´s quite a new small city and not very attractive, but surounded by beautiful volcanoes and a natural harbor.
The next day we spent on the bus to Esso. A 9 hours trip over 500 km, where we passed just 3 villages! All on a very dusty gravel road. Except in the capital there are no asphaltated roads on Kamtchatka.
In the evening we finally reached Esso and I got to know the other volunteers, Hanna from Austria and Mascha from Karelia in Russia, which join with me one appartement.
Hanna then took me for a sightseeing tour through Esso, where the mosquitoes almost killed me... Now, two weeks later, I fortunately don´t react so sensitive anymore, but I still have to wear a mosquitoe head, gloves and long thick trousers and jacket. That´s quite annoying when it´s nearly 30 degrees in the sun.
I must say Esso is a really nice place with colorful small wooden houses, each with a typical vegetabel garden, many of them with a green house heated by unisolated thermal water pipelines which run through the village.
Two rivers are running trough Esso, the Bystraja and the Uksitschan. The first gave the name for the district: Bystrinsky. The village is surounded by taiga in the valley and with tundra on the basaltic plateaus in the west and old vulcanoes in the east. The plateaus are between 900-1000 m high, while the highest nearby old vulcanoe, the Olengende, reaches 1950 m. Esso is on around 600 m above sealevel.
After I got a little bit to know my new working place in the Bystrinsky Nature Park office and my new collegues there, which are very nice and friendly, I already could join an excurion with some Spanish geologs to a nearby small lake and a place with Zeolites, a vulcanic kind of stone.
At my first weekend I took my paraglider and climed a nearby hill, but unfortunately the windforecasts were not exact, so that I had to carry it down again. But there are many nice places to take-off and possible landing places are also there. I just have to move away some stones and wood, which I like to do, especially during my official working time, cause it belongs now even to my official job to explore new paragliding possibilites here ;-) Last week I even got the help from two inspectors, who helped me with a chainsaw. (I was not allowed to use it...)
What else belongs to my duties here?
Well, last week we (the volunteers) spent at the Kardon, which is an inspector cabin around 20 km from Esso in the middle of beautiful wilderness. We helped there to build a new cabin and to get some ideas for a new ecotrail, which we start building in two weeks. It was a great time with banja every evening but myriades of mosquitoes during the day.
In the nights it can already freeze, while the days are very warm and dry. There is light from arround 4 a.m. till 2 a.m. and it seams that live goes on through the middle of the night: Some shops are open 24 hours, people move arround, visit or call friend.
But I have no problems to fall asleep, I´m always so done in the evenings, cause everything is new here for me. It´s especially hard if you don´t speak much Russian like me: It´s true, not many people here speak English. But I´m trying hard to learn it!
And what are the plans?
Next week I´ll probably go again to Petropavlovsk to pick up Larisa, another new volunteer from Germany with Russian roots and than start with the realization of the ecotrail and a new visitors center at the Kardon. If it works I´ll have the possibility to join some French guys in the end of August on a trip to the Itchinsky vulcano, where I should help to translate. And of course there are still many paragliding possibilities to discover and another project is a 5 day horse trip just to get to know the sourrounding.
But let´s see what time brings and if the mosquitoes and bears havent eaten me, I´ll post some more news as soon as possible.
I´m sorry that I can´t show you many photos, but with this slow internet connection it´s not possible to transfer big data amounts...
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