The Far East

seems to represent a kind of “edge of the world” for Europeans. Indeed, the distance from Moscow to Vladivostok is almost 9, 000 kilometers, and the time difference between the Far East and Central Europe is 10 hours. Yet the Russian Far East together with its neighbors in South-East Asia is a rapidly developing region of business and tourism. Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, main cities of the Far East, provide direct flights to North and South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and the United States. Tourist ships travel regularly to Japan and South Korea. The Trans-Siberian Railroad branches out across the whole area and has routes to the Chinese border and the Pacific coast.

Winter here is dry, frosty, and amazingly sunny, which is very good for one’s health. Thanks to the dryness of the air, one can cope rather easily even in extreme temperatures. Still, the best time for travel is the second half of July, August, and September. Russia’s Far East is situated on the same latitude as Sochi on the Black Sea coast, and the sun shines as warmly about 180 to 200 days out of the year.

For foreigners, the most amazing feature of the Russian Far East is its unique natural landscape. Northern and southern climate zones overlap here, and the Earth’s largest continent, Eurasia, borders the largest ocean, the Pacific. The taiga, sandy ocean beaches, ship cruises, fantastic underwater landscapes, caves, waterfalls and springs of healing mineral water await any visitor to the area. Even the local mountains are unusual: low ranges with round, domelike tops and soft slopes, called sopkas, run parallel to each other from the southwest to the northeast. There aren’t any crags, crests, abysses, or bluff canyons here.

KHABAROVSK REGION

The natural landscape of the Khabarovsk Territory is amazingly beautiful. Many precious medicinal plants, such as ginseng, eleutherococcus, Chinese schizandra, and others, can be found here. Eighty-five species of fish live in the Amur River: only the Mississippi and the Amazon are more diverse in terms of fish species. The opportunities for fishing here are truly outstanding.

There is a unique place on the bank of the Amur near the village of Sikachi-Alyan where some of the world’s oldest petroglyphs remain. Their approximate age is 12, 000 years. As local legend has it, the petroglyphs were done by women at a time when stones were soft as wax and three suns shone in the sky. For over a century, scientists from different countries have been trying to decipher the secret of the Sikachi-Alyan petroglyphs.

Over 20 indigenous peoples of Tungusic and Mongolian descent reside in the Khabarovsk Territory. There are seven peoples native to this land — they are the Evens, Nanais, Neghidals, Nivkhs, Orochs, Oudeghehs, and Oulchis. The most numerous of these are the Nanais. All of these peoples, with the exception of the Nivkhs, have the word nani in their languages, meaning “a man of the land.” The traditional occupations of these “men of the land” are hunting and fishing, though their arts, crafts, and original folk music are also quite popular. The decorative traditional clothing is one of the most popular arts of the peoples of the Amur area. It combines cut-out and appliqué crafts as well as use of leather, metal, and stones. Robes made with “fish-skin” and other designs made for the spring and autumn seasons, are especially enchanting.

In the north of the area, one can find the Sikhoteh-Alin Nature Reserve: it is the largest of the six local reserves here. Brown and black bears, elk, moose, serow, wild boar, and Siberian stags dwell here, as well as some unique endemic species of animals, such as forest cats, raccoon-like dogs, Manchurian hare, and Amur (Siberian) tigers. Tourists are offered fairly lengthy (one week or more) tours to this area, where they have the chance to take photos of rare animal species, to see prehistoric archeological sites and a 35 meter high waterfall on the Amgu River. Walking along the riverbank, one can find such semi-precious stones as sards, opals, onyxes and sardonyxes.

Up to 320 bird and over 1, 500 plant species, including ginseng and acuminate yew, can be observed in the Lazovsky Nature Reserve. The world’s only insular yew forest, with trees over 1, 000 years old, grows in the natural botanical gardens on Petrov Island.

VLADIVOSTOK AND PRIMORYE

The area’s capital, Vladivostok, a city on par with European standards, is the closest big city to the Asian and Pacific countries. Vladivostok’s historical centre is quite unusual, and no building repeats another’s architectural design: one will find classical, Gothic, modern, and oriental styles next to each other.
Vladivostok is shaped like an amphitheater on the coastal sopkas. From their peaks a fine view of the Golden Horn Bay and the whole city can be enjoyed. You may ride a motorboat around the bay and the islands of the Gulf of Peter the Great. The twenty islands found there are almost unpopulated, and if you wish to feel like Robinson Crusoe, you can land on any one of these islands for a picnic when the weather allows.
Diving in the gulf is a wonderful experience. One can see a unique underwater world of both tropical and sub-Arctic zones. Others may prefer a walk in one of the city’s forests or parks, or to visit its health centre and Russian saunas, as well as the Russian Chamber exhibition with its special Russian Folk Traditions program that includes a tasting of delicious local teas with liquors and extracts made from the Far East healing herbs.
Geological and cave exploring tours are popular in the Vladivostok Region as well. Only 40 out of 160 known caverns (including underground manholes, niches, grottos, and caves) have been explored to this day. Tours to the Mokrushin Cave, a huge five-hall underground complex in the depths of Zarod Mountain, are especially interesting. Connoisseurs of natural semiprecious stones may travel down some geological routes in the area of Dalnegorsk city.
A very beautiful place to visit around Vladivostok is the southernmost part of the Khassan District: here one may visit Russia’s only natural marine reserve, the Cedar Valley Nature Reserve, and the Khassan Nature Park with its expanse of the famous Ussuri taiga — a unique mix of lianas, coniferous and large-leaf deciduous trees.
Photography buffs of all ages come from Vladivostok to a wildlife park located about an hour and a half from the city, where lynxes, bears, deer, reindeer, and numerous bird species dwell. 350 out of the 690 bird species found in Russia can be observed in the Vladivostok Region, and bird watching tours are becoming ever more popular.
Owing to the climate, landscape features, and beauty of the flora, various forms of active tours, such as adventure, diving, rafting, walking, and skiing tours in the nearby hills, are being offered more and more frequently in the area. Tourists may travel either to the Yelamov Cascade, which has 27 waterfalls, or to the lotus-adorned Kronstadt Lake. The best time to travel to these places is in July or August, which is the time of year when lotus flowers start to bloom.

KAMCHATKA

Kamchatka is a large peninsula in the Far East. It is one of a few places on the planet where nature and wildlife have been preserved in their original glory. Roads are rather scarce, so most people get here by air or by sea. Six of the peninsula’s most protected reserves are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and in their own category — “Kamchatka’s Volcanoes.” Overall, nature preserves make up almost 1/3 of Kamchatka’s territory.

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the region’s only large city and its capital, is located in the Avachinsky Bay, a place of rare size and beauty, and is surrounded by a chain of volcanoes. The bay makes its way 20 km inland, and is one of the most beautiful and easily navigable bays on the planet. They say this bay is large enough to fit all of the existing ships of all the naval powers of the world! The entry to the bay features the famous rocks called “The Three Brothers.” According to a legend of Kamchatka’s aboriginal people, the rocks used to be human: three beautiful young men. In order to protect their people from powerful tsunami waves, the three brothers decided to keep watch at the bay’s entry.

Kamchatka is a place of beauty and magnificence. Its most astonishing features are the volcanoes, also called “fiery torches.” The peninsula has over 2, 500 extinct volcanoes, about 300 dormant volcanoes, and 29 active ones. One of the active volcanoes, the Klyuchevskaya, is Kamchatka’s highest point (4, 750 m) and Eurasia’s largest volcano. The local volcanoes — the Koryaksky, the Avachinsky, and the Kozelsky — are very close to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (within 25 km). The last eruption of the Avachinsky took place in 1991: the volcano is active even now, but is not a threat to human life. The locals raise their gardens and go mushroom picking at the volcano’s base. Tourists climb the volcano’s slopes all year round: it takes 6-8 hours to reach the summit. Mountain skiers have an opportunity to ski the volcanic slopes till mid-July. Ski-lifts and other equipment are available.

Kamchatka features many hot and cold mineral water springs with therapeutic properties. Paratunka is the peninsula’s best known recreational resort area. The area’s spas, hotels, and other facilities are built next to the thermal springs. Thousands of people come here to boost their energies and enjoy the steaming open-air swimming pools.

Ethnographic tourism is also well developed in Kamchatka. You are invited to come and experience the lives of Kamchatka’s aboriginal population, to visit the villages of the Itelmen and the Evens. Fly and spinning fishing is allowed on almost all the region’s rivers. Among the favorite trophies are rainbow trout and a variety of species of salmon. Helicopter trips, horseback riding, rafting, dog-sledding and reindeer sledding here are fascinating and exotic.
Kamchatka’s world-famous attraction is the Valley of the Geysers. Its location – on the territory of the Kronotsky nature preserve, near the peninsula’s eastern shore — is not easily accessible. The Valley of the Geysers was accidentally discovered in April of 1941 by Tatiana Ustinova, a geologist, accompanied by her aboriginal guide, Anisifor Krupenin, at the confluence of the Shumnaya (“Noisy”) River and a tributary stream, later named Geyserny. The valley of this stream has hundreds of geysers, thermal springs, mud flats, boiling hot springs, steam streams, and small lakes. The largest of these were given names: the Pervenets (“the first-born, ” the first to be discovered), the Velikan (“Giant’), the Sakharny (“Sugary”), Konus (“Cone”), Fontan (“Fountain”), Zhemchuzhny (“Pearly”), Troinoy (“Triple”), and Malakhitovy Grot (“Malachite Grotto”). The geysers are each active in its own way: some shoot up scalding water columns (up to 30 meters high) non-stop, others take from minutes to several hours between eruptions. You find yourself in a fairy-tale setting of billowing steam clouds, unusual smells, as well as brilliantly colored rocks of the grottos formed by geyserite, a mineral that crystallizes from the boiling water, and all of this is surrounded by the brilliant green of grasses and trees.

On June 3rd, 2007 a massive natural event took place in the Valley of the Geysers that redefined the landscape of this remarkable place. A huge landslide has blocked the flow of the Geysernaya River and formed a lake. A large area of the valley, including helicopter landing sites and tourist walkways, was buried under a thick layer of rock and mud or flooded. For safety reasons, all tourist visits to the valley were temporarily suspended. However, since the event, the world’s interest in this unique natural site has only increased. (There are only five places like this on Earth: in Kamchatka, Island, New Zealand, USA, and Chili.)