Russia - Kamchatka, Days 1-3 - Arrival, Black Sand Beach, Avinchinskaya Bay

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For my next Trekkup adventure, I joined with two of my friends for one's 40th birthday request. It was to be a trip to see the far east, bears, water, trees, and VOLCANOES! This meant a lot of hiking, and I was mostly nervous about the first volcano - we were supposed to do a bit more hiking in Saudi to prepare me, but it was what it was. First things first, 22 hours to travel and a couple of other excursions before we even got to the volcanoes.

Travel Day

We met at the Dubai airport before our flight, and checkin was fairly smooth though the flight was surprisingly full. Apparently, Novosiberisk, Russia is a hopping place! Actually, I think because it is like the center of the country, it's like the flight hub. So, we got a direct flight there, about 6 hours, then had a 5 hour layover. Most of us got through security fairly easily. However, three, including my friend, did not. Everyone else eventually left to find the bar across the street and get a snack, while I waited a bit longer. Finally, it seemed like nothing was going to happen, so I left a note on their luggage and made my way across after checking into my connecting flight. Soon after, they arrived and we cheered! Apparently, particularly for those who get visa on arrival or do not require a visa at all, they were interrogated, which mostly consisted of the officers just wanting to practice their English. So, no harm done except a couple of hours away from the group.

After having a beer and each getting a celebratory shot, we made our way to another 6 hour flight. As Ben said, Russians like stairs. The airports were weird - you go up, you go down, but always going the same way (10 points if you know that movie quote!). But really, there were a lot of stairs which I cannot imagine makes it easy for the elderly or disabled. The flight was again full, but I sat with two of my friends (one who had been on the Namibia trip with me before) and we tried to get some sleep on the overnight flight. We arrived at Kamchatka, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport and yes, took a short little shuttle to an outdoor baggage claim area, which was covered with a giant tent and had one conveyor belt. Oh this was already fun!

Khalaktyrsky Beach

After meeting our guides outside the fence, we proceeded to hop on a large bus. There were two groups of people: the hard trip and the easy trip. Yikes. I was on the hard trip. But first they took us to this outwardly unassuming restaurant which had a fancy interior. It served up some delicious local Russian foods, including bread with seal fat, fish soup, etc. I opted for the salmon-like Chinook with fern (tasted like an even saltier collard greens and thicker, not bad but very rich). I tried the seal fat that another girl ordered... it was.... difficult. Definitely had a fishy / seal flavor to it. Not my favorite, but glad I tried it.

After our lunch, we went on our bus to the hotel. The 'hard group' got off first and it was a charming looking, western lodge type hotel .... in the middle of the industrial area. Very strange! Thankfully, my friend's girlfriend was there to translate for us this whole trip, otherwise, we would have had a lot of trouble communicating many times over. I shared a room with the female guide, which was nice, big and cozy, with a hot shower. All I needed!

After a brief rest, we got on a new smaller bus to head towards the Black Sand Beach. It was cool and windy but a nice place! There were a lot of locals and / or Russian tourists, some of them brave / crazy enough to jump into the freezing ocean! Including two of the "easy group" guides. The sand was fine and clean, and it was a nice wide beach. A great first stop

Avinchinskaya Bay

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel and were picked up to spend the day on a boat to Avinchinskaya Bay, one of the deepest, if not the deepest, bays in the world. Unfortunately, it was overcast and cold, with rain on the way, so no whales. We did see lots of birds and a couple of seals. We were not able to see the bay as a whole, but it was still incredibly impressive to see the beautiful cliffs, green hills, and geology, of course. The bay itself was deep, and is a place where the Russians do their submarine exercises, so our route and range was limited. A few people tried their hand at fishing, not really my area of interest. But the cook on the boat did make a delicious fish stew, which is not usually my thing, however, I loved it! It was light, yet filling at the same time, with just a subtle fish flavor. Yum!

After this trip, we got off the boat to a torrential downpour which continued all the way to the bus and back to the hotel. The weather was not looking promising for this trip. And we had to pack for that night's journey to our next destination: Avinchinsky Volcano!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Russia
I'm eager to hear more of this adventure.