Russia Adventure Guide (in developing)

Kamchatka is a peninsula in the North Pacific, a real country of wild beauty, bears, salmon and volcanoes — more than 300, of which 29 are active (10% of the world’s quantity). The long isolation of the peninsula from the negative impact of civilization has preserved wild animal populations to this day. Bears (more than 20,000 individuals, max. density in the world), reindeer, steller sea lions, killer whales and many others. The rivers of Kamchatka are overflowing with fish,  in the spawning season it can be caught with your hands! The peninsula has almost no cities and roads, tourist infrastructure is not available. Many tourist locations can only be reached by helicopter. For this reason, tourism in Kamchatka is an expensive pleasure. But the uniqueness and beauty of this place more than pays for all costs.

Golden Mountains of Altai — this is the name of this UNESCO site known throughout the world. "Cradle of Peoples" for ethnographers and anthropologists, for Altai is the scientifically proven ancestral home of all Turkic peoples and Indians of North America. "Crossroads of Cultures" for archaeologists, religious scholars and culturologists: Cult of Ancestors (preserved to this day), numerous menhirs, mounds, Turkic statues, runic inscriptions and prehistoric rock art. All this creates an amazing atmosphere of the living Museum of Ancient Times. Altai has the most developed tourist infrastructure in Siberia (Asian part of Russia). There are safe trekking trails, horseback riding trails, ideal opportunities for bike tours and rafting. Chuysky tract (highway that crosses the whole Altai from north to south) is in the TOP 10 of the most beautiful roads in the world. All this creates a lot of options for building your adventure tour.

Sayan Mountains are located in the geographical center of the Asian continent, between the Altai Mountains and Lake Baikal. This includes three regions: the Republic of Khakassia, the Republic of Buryatia and the Republic of Tuva. All three republics are European Russia only nominally, in reality it is Asia. Tuva is especially interesting, it is too hard to reach region, which joined Russia only in 1944. There are no railways, there is no direct flight connection with Moscow, only two mountain roads connect this mountain republic with the outside world. For this reason, many ancient Asian kulties of nomads and hunters have survived here to this day. The most interesting of these is shamanism. There are also many Russian villages that live in isolation for several centuries (the so-called Old Believers). Life and traditions in these villages have been preserved since the 18th century. All this is complemented by the most beautiful Mountain National Parks (for example, Ergaki) with excellent infrastructure for trekking and hiking. Due to the lack of advertising and information about these regions, the Sayans are little known even in Russia. The tourist traffic is very small, but the tourist infrastructure is at a good level. And this is a great opportunity for your exotic trip!

The Caucasus is the highest and southernmost mountains of Russia. Also here is Mount Elbrus — the highest mountain in Europe, 5642 m. In the Caucasus are almost all the mountain resorts of the country: Dombay, Cheget, Arkhyz and Krasnaya Polyana (Sochi, Olympics 2014). And the main tourist infrastructure exists around them: safe hiking trails, climbing mountains, backcountry, rafting, horseback riding routes and much more. But this is only a drop in the bucket — the Caucasus has amazing adventure opportunities and wild territories! Ancient cultures, observatories for observing planets and deep space objects, mysterious archaeological objects (dolmens), medieval fortresses, many mineral springs — definitely, the tourist potential of the Caucasus is huge!

Yakutia (Republic of Sakha). If Yakutia was a separate country, it would be the coldest country in the world and having the lowest population density. Area: more than 3 million square kilometers and 900,000 people (for comparison, Europe without Russia: 5 million square kilometers and 520,000,000 people). In Yakutia there is not even a minimal tourist infrastructure, but there are many interesting locations: unique UNESCO landscapes, mammoth cemeteries, giant meteorite craters, many mysterious and unexplained natural phenomena — exploration of Yakutia continues to this day and it has many more “white spots” on its map. Therefore, each tour in Yakutia is a unique product, as a real work of art, possible only thanks to the professionalism of the guides.

Siberian Taiga is the lungs of the Earth (along with the Brazilian loungles), it is the largest forest in the world. Of course, this endless kingdom of wildlife and tourist infrastructure is no place here, but there are pleasant exception. This is Kuznetsk Alatau Mountains. Only here in Russia there is a system of safe huts and trails for hiking, which work even in snowy winters. Namely, in winter you need to come here.

Putonana is a huge Permian plateau of volcanic origin, with numerous canyons, waterfalls and lakes. Nobody knows their exact number, because Putorana has no permanent resident population and maps of these places were made only in the 1950s. In many places of Putorana there have never been people. All the lakes located on the plateau together form second-largest store of fresh water in Russia by capacity after Lake Baikal. Many travelers consider Putorana the most beautiful location in Russia and one of the most beautiful in the world. At the same time, in the summer tourist season (July — September) Putorana is visited by no more than 500 people. Can you imagine this? This is the real Terra Incognito Planet Earth!

The Kurile Islands are a chain of islands of the Pacific Ring of Fire located from the Kamchatka Peninsula to Hokkaido Island (Japan), which separate the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean. Almost all islands have volcanoes, many of which are active. Islands of the Foggy Dragons — this name is called by travelers of the Kurile Islands. Fogs, like volcanoes, are really frequent here, the reason is the cold air of the Arctic, cooling many islands and coastal waters that have a rich and productive ecosystem: many species of whales, sea otters, seals, on land bears, foxes and numerous bird colonies. This is a wildlife world where the tourism industry is represented only by rare and expensive expedition tours. Of particular interest are the Japanese and American military machines (tanks, planes) and the fortifications of the Second World War, which can still be easily seen on the islands. Some of the islands are a disputed territory, which is why Russia and Japan have not yet signed the Peace Treaty.