Incredible Kamchatka

We flew from Novosibirsk to Kamchatka for an 18-day trekking tour. We ended up in a funny travel group with 9 Germans (including 4 drinking Franconians on a men's vacation) and one Swiss.

On our first day, we visited the capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and made some last purchases. The most important stop led to the beer kiosk, where beer is freshly filled into huge PET bottles.

The next day, we were picked up by a Russian Kamaz off-road truck. With a lot of rumbling, we started off over rough terrain. It didn't matter if there was a road or just a direction - the Kamaz took us everywhere. In the evening, we stayed at a fish factory where we could spoon the freshest caviar ever, almost straight from the assembly line.

The next day we continued on foot to Pauschetka. Only 65 people live here and almost all of them work at the geothermal power plant, which is operated with numerous hot springs. The family we stayed with operates greenhouses with hot water and can grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons all year round, despite -20°C in winter. Of course, there was also a thermal pool.

Soon we continued on foot to Lake Kuril. In peak times, 12 million salmon come to spawn in the lake in summer, which attracts a lot of Kamchatka brown bears. These are the second-largest brown bears (up to 600 kg) and they only exist in Kamchatka. We camped for 3 nights in a camp with an electric fence and took extensive trips to bays and a hike, always guarded by an armed ranger. We could observe bears up close catching salmon. It is fascinating how skillfully they catch the slippery fish despite their size. The abundance of salmon means that they sometimes only eat the best pieces (caviar & back) and leave the rest to the seagulls. It is unbelievable how close we could get to the bears.

After the lake, we returned to the capital for a catamaran trip to the Avacha Bay and out into the Pacific. Unfortunately, Andrea didn't see much of it, as she spent half of the rest of the trip leaning over the railing and the other half in bed below deck, feeling nauseous. I didn't feel great at sea either - but my stomach still liked it better than in the Kamaz. All in all, we would not become known for having the most robust stomachs. But we recovered quickly. Unfortunately, we didn't see any whales, but we were able to observe several Steller's sea eagles.

In the evening, we set up our camp at the foot of Mount Gorely. The next day we climbed into the crater of the active Mutnovsky volcano. The highlights were the glacier lake, the numerous fumaroles, and the different colors in the rock from various eruptions. The next day we climbed Mount Gorely. At first, fog blocked the view and we fought with gusts of wind at the edge of the crater. Suddenly the fog cleared and revealed a beautiful lake inside.

On the last day, we treated ourselves to a helicopter flight over Kamchatka, over volcano cones, into the Valley of Geysers, and into the Uzon Caldera. A sulfur lake there creates a magical play of colors. We are already back in Novosibirsk now and fondly remember Kamchatka.

It only remains to say thank you: to our fellow travelers for the great time and heartfelt thanks to the team! Thanks to Alla for the great tour guide and for all the lovely explanations in Austrian (mushrooms, ground meat, cottage cheese,....); all-rounder Liosha (including changing truck tires with a sledgehammer); Sergei for constantly conveying and embodying Russian traditions (drrrrinking all the tiiiime) and for being able to get beer anywhere - no matter how difficult; the driver Gena for his incredible driving skills, his dog Nora for cuddle sessions, and especially chef Tatiana, who always provided us with rich soups and delicious fresh salmon dishes (unforgettable: her salmon burgers and birthday cakes). It's incredible what this woman conjured up on a plate with just two hot plates and one hand while defending the kitchen tent against the wind. She also taught me how to make fried kefir pastries and Olivier salad, and I was able to show her how to make rösti. Thank you very much! You are amazing!

Kamchatka - we will definitely come back someday!