May 31 Zhupanova River and southward

We have been treated to some really interesting lectures on various local wildlife and always before we go ashore or on zodiac expeditions we are well-briefed on what to expect - a bit about the history and the wildlife. This morning in preparation for our southward journey through the Kuril Islands, we had a short lecture from Leonid a longtime resident of one of the Kurils by choice, but Ukrainian by birth.  He is a volcanologist and naturalist and also a passionate historian and champion of the Kuril Island Archipelago. He gave us an introduction to the recent history as well as the aboriginals of the region - the Ainu. He speaks little English so the lecture was in Russian with Katya, assistant expedition leader, interpreting. I have since engaged in halting conversation with Leonid and he is quite delightful, gentle, helpful and caring. One of the passengers, Fujio Mizuoka a Japanese professor of geography, raised a small challenge to some of what Leonid talked about so it was agreed that he would be given an opportunity to give the passengers a different (non-Russian Japanese} perspective.

One of our amazing cooks with the fish-processing plant in the background

Heading up-river

After lunch  we piled into the zodiacs and headed ashore for a trip up the Zhupanova River (we flew over this river on our way to the Valley or Geysers just five days ago). At the mouth of the river there is a large lagoon on the banks of which is a large fish processing plant - this is a land of fishes and fishers! Unfortunately it wasn't operational so we didn't get a chance to inspect. No matter we just headed on upstream to find some Sea eagles. It was a grey, watery vista: quiet and beautiful with snow-covered peaks as a backdrop, a broad expanse of fast flowing river edged with willows, birches and other trees just starting to throw out pale green buds, and long blonde grass flattened by months under snow.  I imagine it would be an entirely different scene during the salmon spawning season.

Watching and counting Aleutian Terns

A very gentle peaceful landscape. We spotted Harbour and Largh Seals who popped their heads up to check out who was invading their territory, 3 large black and white Stellar Sea-eagles on nests and various other birds, and a couple of people also saw Musk Rats and Marmots. 

The nest of a Steller's Sea Eagle

And there was a baby, a big baby, in that nest

Mother was out catching dinner!

A tranquil place - at this time of year

Eventually we had to turn the boats around and head back to the lagoon to meet up with the kayakers and offload two-thirds of the people to go tromping through the marsh looking for a special albeit elusive bird. The rest of us headed back to the ship and hot drinks.  Dinner was latish tonight but worth the wait - roast lamb or chicken.  We are served 3 courses each night and we are finding it a bit too much but it is all delicious and the daily menu quite varied.

Tomorrow we explore a fiord on the southern end of Kamchatka.

May 30 A little piece of paradise - Medny Island

Approaching Preobrazhenskaya Bay, Medny Island

Another early start today - breakfast 6am, briefing 6.45 for a 7.15 departure - in order to maximise our time exploring Medny Island (the other large island in the Commander Islands chain). Later that day we would be sailing back west towards the Kamchatka Peninsula to venture up one of the large east coast rivers.

Scrambling aboard being careful not to slip!

Before I tell you about this beautiful island, let me tell you about boarding a zodiac. Bear in mind that we are dressed in a few layers of warm clothing, hat, gloves etc finished off with wet weather outer layer - pants and coat plus clumping great gumboots a few sizes too big - all of which hamper movement somewhat. We line up and wait our turn to go down the gangway. Oh and I should mention that 90% of the passengers are over 60. The gangway is a stair-like ladder swaying with the ship and it feels like it is held together with rope - it's not of course it's chain! but it is a wobbly affair.  We are helped individually into a zodiac by a couple of sailors using a 'sailors' grip to avoid your hands slipping. You have to step onto the pontoon of the zodiac first then down into the boat, perch on the pontoon, 'slide' down to the back and hang on. We zap across the water like a small flotilla of harlequin beetles - black upturned carapaces dotted with bright spots of colour, us! - there are usually five boats that head out. The first time was a bit nerve-racking but soon the ride became quite exhilarating (depending which driver you get). 

Landing at a totally deserted beach on a deserted island - heavenly

We landed at Preobrazhenskaya Bay which had been a settlement established by Russians for the collection of seal, sea lion and sea otter pelts and a dabble in copper mining (hence the name). They brought Aluets from the Aluetian Islands to 'service' the settlement and support their fur and sealing trade.That was a dark period of history but the settlement was abandoned, I don't recall when, and the remnants of the settlement left to rot. 

Reminders of the settlement - well may they seek blesings from above!

A large group went off birdwatching, a few intrepid trekkers walked up snow-covered mountains, over headlands, cliffs and rocks and me? I went off on my own exploring plant life and rocks. I found masses of beautiful green rocks which I reckoned contained copper which makes sense - I found out later that the name Medny means copper. They had attempted to mine it at one stage but it was too hard to extract. It was quite fascinating for me discovering strange plants including cow parsley which the bears eat. It grows about 3 feet high and when it dries, it leaves a stiff hollow stalk which the indigenous people used to stuff with salmon roe and then dry and smoke it over the fire. They would then take these nutritious snacks with them when they went hunting or travelling.  

An Arctic fox a little wary of anyone near her den. The grass has still not recovered from the winter snow

A glorious shore to explore and a couple of seals were keeping watch over their piece of paradise

Another remnant of earlier Russian settlement. All inhabitants were moved to Bering Island in 1970

I saw an Arctic Fox also known as a Blue Fox because of the bluish tinge in its summer coat - their winter coat is pale golden. They are about the size of a kelpie and so adorable. As I wandered a couple of seals (Harbour Seals I think) kept watch from a rock in the wee harbout I was beachcombing. 

After everyone had returned for their various 'excursions', we piled back into the zodiacs to explore the coast line. It was like being live inside a National Geographic documentaey - breathtaking.

Bird-snow decorated cliffs

Medny is stunningly beautiful! Towering moss-covered cliffs, some with grass mats on top like strange-looking toupees, caves and tiny hollows where seabirds nest, plunged almost vertically to the ocean. Fortunately the sea was fairly calm with only a diaphanous blanket of fog hanging over us as we glided through kelp forests that hug the cliffs and provide a safe haven for the Northern Sea Otters and other marine life. Our little flotilla had an audience - the curious sea otters kept popping their heads up out of the kelp in ones and twos, including mums with their young on their bellies, to check us out. Adorable! They float on their backs while not diving.  Sea urchins are their food of choice but they also eat clams and other crustaceans which they gather and tuck into skin flaps under their arms before surfacing to eat floating on their backs. They often using rocks and shells to crack open their food, clever things.  The kelp was dense and we had to untangle ourselves a number of times but oh how marvellous to see such a sea forest.

A Horned Puffin perched high above the water

We were all mouths agape as we moved slowly along the sea cliffs

Hugging rugged coastal cliffs - thrilling! (This is Roger the ship's doctor who went on every excursion)

Bird snow iced these spikey rocks 

We cruised slowly around rocky headlands, passed beaches littered with debris (mainly large logs), maneuvered between rocky outcrops 'iced' with 'bird snow' and poked into the entrances of large sea caverns. I spotted  a few pairs of Horned Puffins - they are soooo cute! They perch and nest on the tiniest rock ledges and their babies learn to fly by simply falling off the cliff. I was very happy and there was so much more yet to come - what a magic holiday!

We rode back to the ship in dense fog which had started to descend around noon after an absolutely perfect morning.  That afternoon we set course for the Zhupanova River on the east coast of Kamchatka to search for ginormous Stellar sea eagles.

May 28-29 The Commander Islands

We didn't sleep well our first night on board - everything was a bit strange, constant movement, and we were awakened very early by an announcement that a couple of Blue Whales had been sighted.   We all dashed up to the top deck above the Bridge, the 'monkey deck', but saw nothing except lots of fog. But that set us all on alert for further sightings. We spent a bit of time on deck watching but eventually Lindsay and I, and a lot of others, headed for the Bridge and a little warmth.

That first morning the sea was like satin pewter - so smooth. It became a little more choppy as the day wore on and the fog swept in from the northeast only to peter out after a little while. 

I was feeling the effects of our many days of travel plus the unfamiliarity and excitement of being at sea so I had a rest with my book in the afternoon.  I had just drifted off to sleep when another whale call came over the PA system so I rolled off the bunk grabbed my binoculars and headed to the Bridge.  Then we saw them - two Fin Whales breaching the waves and blowing spouts of water high in the air.  So magnificent, they had us all entranced until they disappeared into the depths not to resurface for a long time. We saw a number of species of birds throughout the day - albatross, fulmars, gulls, petrels, guillemots, and even the gorgeous puffins (the birds I most wanted to see).

That evening Lindsay faded and had to return to our cabin before he had finished dinner.  He was headachy and feeling seedy. It had all caught up with him, poor thing. But after a night's sleep he was fine.  I reckon we are both adjusting to the constant motion. It can be a bit unsettling, so I've been chewing ginger 'lollies', drinking lemon and ginger tea and have taken some ginger tablets - just in case.

Negotiating down the gangway and into a moving zodiak can be tricky

Landing on Bering Island

This morning we arrived at Bering Island, the largest in the Commander Archipelago which extends east to join the Aleutian Islands.  We were dragged from slumber at 6am for breakfast as we were heading off early for a landing on the island - a whole new experience for us.  We had a briefing before we left about what to do and what not to do and were then sent off to don layers of warm clothes, wet weather gear, gum boots, and life jackets and to then line up at the gangplank. Before we boarded we had to wash our boots to remove any nasty exotics which might threaten native flora or fauna.  We looked hilarious bundled up to the eyebrows and looking twice our normal size with thermals, parkas, raincoats, scarves etc etc.  Getting down the gangplank in gumboots and then stepping into a bobbing rubber boat was a little nerve-wracking to say the least.  But we managed it and set off bouncing from wave to wave, through light rain for the 1km ride to the landing which was a 'wet' one i.e., we disembarked in the water, hence the need for gumboots and waterproof pants.

Expedition leader Rondney giving us last minute instructions

It was a dismay morning with light rain as we stripped off our life jackets

Man was it cold! We split up into two groups - the mad birdies, including Lindsay, who planned to walk for about 3 hours in the rain and icy wind, and the sensible ones who chose to go to the museum and visit a local eccentric artist in the village of Nikolskoye. Not surprisingly I chose the latter! But even so we had a long walk in the freezing wind and rain.  Thank goodness for wet weather clothes is all I can say. I wore just my thermals with a parka, waterproof pants and raincoat and felt completely warm except for my face which froze. 

Heading for the village of Nikolskoye, Bering Island 

It was pretty run down place yet we were warmly welcomed - too far from Moscow to matter

The artists studio was an Aladin's cave of surprises. 

The skeleton of a Steller's Seacow hunted to extinction by fur hunters

It was a very interesting visit and we left there knowing a little more about the discovery, exploration, history and in fact the very existence of what was for me an unknown part of the world.  It was once fertile ground for sealers and fur trappers who had no regard for preservation even for their own economic reasons. The beautiful, slow and gentle Steller's Seacow (related to our Dungong) was the first historical extinction of a marine mammal at human hands. Within less than 30 years of it being discovered by Europeans, this easily-caught mammal was hunted into extinction for its meat, fat, and hide.  

(As I write this I have to brace myself on the chair and keep track of the iPad on the little desk top as the ship tosses and rolls in a swell of 3 metres.  It's hard work).

Back on board ship, we warmed up with a delicious lunch of seafood chowder. The afternoon was cold, windy and wet but nevertheless three zodiacs took off with a few stalwarts to cruise around a small island a few kms away. I stayed on board and was glad I did as they came back looking rather shell-shocked after braving rough seas and driving rain. Embarking and disembarking in rough seas is fraught with danger as you have to step onto a moving narrow target. In spite of that, only a few people fell into the boats and none went in the water - except for one of the kayakers who went under. No harm was done.  The kayakers are all Aussies and in their 60s - they are inspiring. 

In the evening the bar opened about 6.30 (And this became the norm!) and people gathered to have a drink and chat before dinner. It is all very informal.  Well actually the whole of life on board is informal apart from having to observe the safety rules of the ship, landings and boarding etc. Throughout the day, calls go out that a particular bird or cetacean has been spotted and people appear out of cabins hastily donning coats and hats with binoculars in hand to dash outside or climb to the Bridge for a better look. Everything stops for a special sighting and meals are delayed if it means we get to hop into the zodiac and head for shore. For example, as I write this 3 June, it is 6.40pm and we are waiting to see if the zodiacs will be launched for a trip ashore at Matur Island in the Kuril Archipelago and the kayakers are also waiting to see if it is safe for them to attempt a paddle.  I won't be going as it is too rough for my liking - we will see soon enough, but dinner could be late!  A report on that later ..........

May 27 Begining an exciting expedition off the coast of Far East Russia

All aboard!

Our final day in PK was one spent waiting.  Luggage pick-up at 12 noon, bus pick up 3.30 for a 6pm departure which as it turned out was delayed until 9.30pm due to a technicality. So our first dinner on board was while we were still tied up in Kamchatka. Speaking of food - it is excellent and plentiful - breakfasts comprise all manner of cereals including porridge, fresh fruit from as far away as Ecuador, sweet pastries, eggs, bacon, sausages and beans (they have two New Zealand cooks on board). Lunch - 1st day out lasagna, 2nd day seafood chowder, plus fruit and pastries. Dinner we get to choose between two alternatives; dinner is always 3 courses - man oh man!  Just think of the waistline but we walk miles each day - up and down stairs between decks and my arms and shoulders ache from hauling myself up and bracing myself going down - the stairs are very steep and the outside ladders are rather treacherous particularly when wet which is most of the time. Lectures and briefings take place on deck 2 (2-3 per day), all meals are on deck 3,  our cabin is deck 4 as is the library and bar, and we climb to and from decks 5 and 6 watching for birds, whales etc etc. It's an open bridge which means we are allowed to go in and enjoy watching the sea, birds and sea-mammals out of the weather which is wonderful when you have days like today with 20-knots winds blowing straight from the Arctic and temperature below 5 degrees C, not to mention rain.

Our ship the Professor Khomrov-Spirit of Enderby

The 47 passengers are a mixed lot - 4 from Russia, a few from Great Britain, some from Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, one from Japan, some from Canada and the US, and the rest from Australia. The company we are traveling with, Heritage Expeditions, is NZ-based and there are a few staff from there including the expedition leader, but there is also an Aussie kayak leader. The cruise director is from the US, a couple of the guides are Brits, a couple are Russian, and I think the crew is all Russian.  It is a small Russian ship named Professor Khromov and was formerly an science expedition ship set up to study meteorology and hydrology, max 50 passengers and 22 crew. The cruise company charters it and a sister ship from the Russians.

The staff include expert guides - 2 bird experts one of which is also a photography guru, a marine biologist whose specialty is the sea otters of the area and orcas from the Ross Sea (she is now enrolled to do a PhD in Qld Uni studying Bottle-nosed Porpoises), a Russian volcanologist, naturalist and historian from the Kuril Islands, and the cruise director is an environmentalist and naturalist. And because this is a wildlife expedition there are many amateur experts and passionate birders including a retired professor of geography from Japan (whose English is not brilliant but way way better than my Japanese). So there is always someone to turn to with questions (and I always have loads!) and to top it off there is a lecture program - we've had a couple of great ones already.

All togged up against the weather complete with life jacket

Temperature and weather wise - it has been very cold maybe 4 C during the day and there has been quite a bit of fog and some rain, but we are toasty-warm inside.  The cabins and the rest of the ship are well heated. Outside we rug up with thermals, thick sox, parkas, hats, gloves and scarves and feel perfectly OK. Our cabin is absolutely fine - two lower bunks, a small bathroom, oodles of storage space, a writing desk and a porthole to peer through.

What have we done so far?  Stay tuned ........

Finally setting sail looking back at Avachinsky volcano towering over PK in the background

Heading out of port 

May 26 Kamchatka - World heritage land of ice and fire

Kamchatka Peninsula

Kamchatka Peninsula is a precious place and along with its volcanoes is listed as a World Heritage site. It is a fairly isolated and remote krai (a geographic administrative division) of the Russian Federation and often its people feel that it is forgotten particularly when it comes to resources and the like.  Health care is free but residents have to wait months for an appointment for routine medical matters. There are a couple of private clinics but most people fly to Korea, Singapore or perhaps Moscow 10,000 km away for more major surgery/treatment.  There is an increasing incident of cancer in young people but few resources to mount a serious health campaign. 

Wages are low but the cost of fuel, in this fuel-producing country, is comparatively high. For instance a fully qualified doctor earns ~$600 per month yet fuel is about 80 cents a litre. As with many country regions in Oz, many of the young people in Kamchatka have to leave to find decent career opportunities. 

The locals can grow vegetables such as cabbage, potato, carrot and beet and some berries, but much of the food is imported especially fruit. Meat and milk are imported either from mainland Russia or SE Asia. Fish however is plentiful and we could have eaten smoked salmon 3 meals a day!  You'd be crazy to complain about that but it makes one aware, yet again, of how luck we are in Oz with plenty of everything. 

Cropping near Yelizova not far northwest of PK

In the days of farm collectives, wheat and buckwheat were grown here but are no longer. Many people have a summer house - dachas - which may be quite close to their usual place of residence (apartments in town). There they can grow their own vegetables plus some exotics such as tomatoes under glass. We saw many glasshouses as we flew back to base last night as well as fields awaiting planting once the ground thaws a bit. Central heating and hot water is piped to all building from volcanic thermal sources. It is turned on in September-October and turned off April-May.  So homes are as warm as toast. 

Because of its location beside the Kamchatka-Kuril trench (which is around 10 km deep), this is a place of frequent earthquakes. I was told that tremors occur almost daily but most are too small to notice. Nevertheless all the streets and pavements and structures are cracked  As a  result of decades of earthquake damage, old housing is gradually being replaced with structures which will withstand earthquakes of a higher magnitude.

I have to say I am missing Google and our easy access to the Internet - it is available but we don't have affordable access. I have a travel SIM but that is limited. Oh well - but next time (Note to self ) I will seriously consider buying a local SIM on arrival. In the meantime, while we are staying here (and I hope at every hotel we stay in), we have free Wi-Fi albeit intermittent, and for that I am very grateful.
Tomorrow we head out to sea and will have no internet for a couple of weeks until we dock at Yuzhno-Sakhalin.  Bon voyage .....

No this is not our ship but about the same size!

May 25 Bucket list day!

We were loaded into a 4-seater helicopter and are about to lift off

Me and Lindsay flying high and loving it!

Wednesday 25 will remain a very special and memorable day for us - a day of firsts and realised dreams. Volcanoes, helicopter rides and bears. After a slightly anxious morning waiting to hear if we could make it over the peninsula's volcanoes and into the Valley of Geysers - the entrance to the valley is narrow so winds are a problem and is fog - we lifted off at 1pm! 

Flying in to the Valley of Geysers via a snow-encrusted corridor

We munched on statistics and exotic-sounding names most of the day but only remember a few - our guide Elaini was very knowledgeable about Kamchatka and very passionate about her home. She is a lecturer in tourism at the Kamchatka University and has traveled extensively often on specialised assignments with people such as wildlife photographer Mark Brazil (Birds of East Asia).  

Our helicopter was a 4-seater and was very 'cosy' but it afforded us almost panoramic views. Our pilot, Alexi ,was very skilled so we felt safe the entire time. The winds were a bit blustery so the ride was a little bumpy as our little bubble of 'glass' and metal was tossed about, but that made it feel so much more real and exciting. We communicated through headphone speakers because the noise level is really high - the rotor is only feet above your head after all! Lindsay (who is a little fearful of heights)bravely sat in the front with all that nothingness under him. What a star! but it was his 70th birthday present, albeit 2-odd years late, so he got to be in the birthday seat!

Ash-coated snow

I felt that I could almostb reach out and touch this magnificent volcano

We flew through valleys and alongside towering, and not so towering, volcanoes - hard to believe that we were right there so close to the rugged crags of live volcanoes.  There are a few hundred on the Kamchatka Peninsula but at the moment only about 30 are active ... wow! We saw a couple like sleeping dragons breathing out plumes of gas/smoke/steam and one which, although not active yesterday, is perpetually black and 'smooth' because it constantly spews out black ash.  The snow for miles around is grey - truly mind-boggling .  We saw the footprints of bears weaving bizarre trails in the snowy slopes and we were told that a mother and a couple of cubs were found wandering inside the rim of one crater - keeping warm no doubt.  Evidently the bears do venture up pretty high, but normally concentrate around the many rivers during the salmon season gorging themselves on salmon until around October when they seem to only eat the roe - they stand on the fish and squirt the eggs into their mouths, clever things. They also eat the fishes' brains - all high fat and protein food to last them through winter. The rest of the time they live on cedar nuts, berries and meadowsweet (or some herbaceous plants like that).

We were surrounded by volcanoes - what an awesome spectacle! We learnt about the different types of volcanoes on Kamchatka and in fact saw all 5 so we felt very fortunate. The destination of our flight, the Valley of Geysers 200Km from PK, was discovered by a woman geologist back in 1941. 

The helipad for the Valley of Geysers - from there you walk

Valley of Geysers - you had to be there

The valley is quite beautiful - green and lush with a river barreling through it, the valley walls variously coloured with smears of sulphur and other minerals deposited by the many geysers and springs that dot the floor and walls of the entire valley. Then further up the slope there are pools of blue water, gorgeous to look at but quite toxic, mud pools of various sizes plopping away like saucepans of simmering chocolate custard but to be avoided at all costs.

The bears had used the stairs before us leaving muddy paw prints

The valley walls were like stained-glass windows

Steps! I lost count but Lindsay reckons the walk down into the valley from where we landed was equivalent to the height of a 20-storey building. We descended, walked, then ascended halfway, wandered some more - and then we saw him!  A beautiful brown bear about 20-30 metres away grazing quietly. What an amazing experience! I felt safe as we had a ranger with us to protect us - but mainly the bears. He carried a gun just to scare them off. Incidentally we saw seven bears throughout the day. The bears here are Kamchatka Brown Bears Ursus arctos beringianus also known as the Far Eastern brown bear. They are omnivores and very closely relatived to Grizzly Bears.

Our guide Elaini with Lindsay 

A beautiful brown bear amongst the greenery happily munching on nuts and berries

Fortunately for us Elaini was passionate about the natural world including plants so she had my attention! We saw tiny violets, dwarf Japanese Cedar, alder trees sprouting their sweet smelling catkins, Dwarf Willow, Stone Birch, wild grasses, Cow parsley, ferns and curious herbage that grows only in the hot acidic waters and mud of volcanic regions.  Elaini told me an intersting little snippet about the Cow parsley: the indigenes of the region used to stuff the long hollow, almost woody, stalks with salmon, smoke it and take it with them as a 'snack' when hunting. A botanist's dream place. I could write a book on the whole wonderful day, but maybe later.  On the way back, we stopped in another valley where there are hot springs.  Unsurprisingly, there are hot springs all over the place but this string of pools has been made accessible and a lodge built for people to visit the area. It was very rustic but totally delightful.  We floated in silence in the warm sepia-coloured water watching the sky fade and the snow take on the faintest blush of pink. By this time it was about 8pm - and mozzies about the size of our helicopter were starting to dine on us! So we clambered out of the pool and climbed back into the chopper to head home for a very late supper and then to fall into bed completely exhausted but feeling wonderfully replete. And this is just the start of our Russian odyssey! Next .........

National Park - just us and the view!

May 24 Kamchatka. We have arrived!

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is ringed by volcanoes

After almost three years, the long-awaited helicopter flight over Kamchatka's volcanoes is just one sleep away IF the weather behaves. All we can do is wait and hope. In the meantime we are being semi-immersed in Russian hospitality. We had the real deal Russian borscht (which actually originated in Ukraine) for lunch - with Spanish wine .... oh dear never let it be said we are not global in our tastes. Our hotel is basic early-1950s but is adequate and the staff are very patient with us helpless, monolingual English-speaking visitors. I practice saying the simplest of words of greeting and gratitude and am pretty tongue tied, but I have found a practice buddy. The doorman is trying to learn English so we set about having a bizarre 'conversation' via our respective phrase books (the same one the kids and I used back in the 80s!). I have to practice a few words before going down to dinner tonight. After I get some washing done! Our clothes could walk to the bathroom on their own - our journey to date has been a bit warm and we've done a bit of walking too. That topped off with 'sleeping' in the same things a few nights.

The two delightful Alexs who fed and looked out for us

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (PK), Kamchatka's capital, is a frontier town of 250,000 people and is the world’s second largest city unreachable by road. It is remote!  It is 7 time zones and 9 hrs flight from Moscow - 9000 odd km east to west.  A fair bit of building going on but it is struggling economically and it really shows. The township we haven't explored as yet but the surrounding countryside is wonderful. Snow-capped mountains ring the town overlooked by a few towering volcanoes looming monstrous on the horizon and in the foreground, white-barked Birch trees are just starting to show some green. It looks a bit like an Ansell Adam's dramatic black-and-white photo albeit with smudges of pale green here and there.

A room with a view! Koryaksky volcano (L) towers over PK

It is 2 degrees outside at the moment but we are toasty. What a contrast to the last couple of days sweltering in 30 degree humidity in HK. It will be a holiday of contrasts - and that's precisely how we like it. From the humidity of Honk Kong we were about to fly over snow-encrusted volcanies to the Valley of Geysers where the geothermal heat keeps the valley free of snow year-round. 

St Peter and St Paul

Everywhere in Russia and former Soviet countries massive statues of Lenin tower of town squares

Prior to lift off for the Valley of Geysers, we were treated to a tour of Petropavlovsk (PK) which gets its name from its two patron saints - St Peter and St Paul. The origin of the name Kamchatka is not so clear. Some say it was named by the early exploring Cossacks because the mountains looked like folds of rich brightly-coloured velvet (when in their autumn colours). Others say it is based on an aboriginal word the meaning of which I don't recall exactly, but something like 'people from this place'. Regardless it is a quite special part of the world. It is the eastern defence-line of Russia both nationally and politically, but it is geographically astonishing and stunningly beautiful. It attracts the world's top volcanologists, biologists and geologists as well as snow-sport enthusiasts, serious hikers, whitewater rafters, birdwatchers and and and .....  The provence attracts 40-50,000 tourists each year half of whom are Russian. 

More anon, do svidaniya