Kamchatka

Alushta – Kamchatka

After the performance, I looked at the space where one pioneer hotel turns waste into raw materials. It’s like balm for the soul. We drove to the recycling point in an electric car. The room is not large, it has 4 machines: 1st compresses paper, after which it is sent for recycling. Other types of waste are not processed in Crimea, and the hotel finds its own solutions. The 2nd machine cuts and softens (crushes) thin plastic, which is used to stuff bags-poufs for the hotel territory (and it’s large!). The 3rd machine makes chips from wood trimmings from the territory, which are used for paths, flower beds, and as mulching material. The 4th machine crushes hard plastic (plastic boxes from under products) with it, the question of finding a solution for secondary use is still open. Raw materials for recycling are used from kitchen and hotel cleaning waste. There are bins for separate waste collection on the territory, but people throw everything into one pile. The understanding that trash is not waste but raw material has not yet formed. Such simple solutions reduced waste disposal costs by 70%. Recycling equipment pays off quickly.

A night in Rostov-on-Don at my friend Inga’s, chatted, ate, saw Maya, the little one has grown.

Morning…airport…Moscow…Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. A long flight of 9 hours. The duration of the flight is well tolerated if you are in comfort class and excellent in business (according to those who flew). The last 2 hours are a bit hard, legs get tired. I walked, did exercises, and stretched in the last 2 hours. The time difference is also an interesting thing. It accompanied us for a long time, we slept at any convenient opportunity: in minibuses, shift buses (a convenient option), on poufs in the Volcanarium (the most convenient option).

We were met at the airport and, traditionally, taken to take photos with the monument of bears and the inscription “Here begins Russia”. The nature of Kamchatka is a delight, it can be described in 10 volumes. This became clear even from the plane.

We settled in, went to the Volcanarium (a museum in Kamchatka, entrance 800 rubles) where all our activity on urbansprint took place (creating a modern comfortable environment for residents in cities). What were we doing in this distant city? The team developed a concept for the improvement of a street in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky together with the city’s residents, for residents and tourists. In this process, we encountered different stories about the streets, the center, and the water bodies of the city. At the end of the work, the concept was presented to the residents and the governor. The implementation process should start soon.

We went to the camel – this is the saddle between 2 volcanoes, Karyaksky and Avachinsky. We go to bed at about 2 am, get up at 5:30. A shift bus picks us up – it’s an interesting transport, a Kamaz with a cabin, where seats are installed like in a bus. It takes a long time to drive to the ascent point along the dried-up bed of a mountain river with stones and various height differences. The shift bus automatically lowers the wheels and moves along this bed. You can sleep, it’s a long ride. We get to the foot of the hill, start climbing. Very interesting sensations. There is no firm ground and stones underfoot, only sliding small volcanic remnants. They crawl under your feet, creating a sliding effect on the pebbles, mixed with snow zones. We crawled to the top, the weather is clear, all the tops of the volcanoes are visible. One even “smokes,” as the locals say – this is the active Avachinsky volcano, its eruption is expected any day. The last eruption was in 1991, our guides saw it. Spreading lava is not the most dangerous type of eruption. More dangerous is microscopic lava, when the tiniest glass particles are thrown into the air, in this case, when inhaled, crushed glass enters the lungs and all living things die, including humans. We took kilometers of photos and videos, inhaled the power of the volcanoes, forever imprinted the indescribable beauty in our memory, and crawled down. On the surfaces of the volcanoes, where soil particles manage to accumulate, there are flowers, amazing yellow poppies, and other flowers of different shapes and colors.

Upon returning, we attended a lecture by Guy from Israel on innovations. He highlighted the main innovative trends, but I would add alternative energy and CO2 balance in the economy and consumption. In the evenings, we talked a lot and for a long time, bathed in pools from hot springs. You can’t stay in the pool for more than 15 minutes, and you need to eat before the session in the springs, otherwise, the food will not taste good.

I fell in love with surfing!!! We arrived at the beach planning to surf))) The black, volcanic sand is incredibly beautiful. Here we are already wandering around the camp, choosing our surfboards, getting wetsuits. The water is +10 C, the instructor is a legendary coach and surfer from the film about Kamchatka by Dud. There are about 12 of us beginners, wanting to learn to surf. We first practice with the board on the shore, now we have to repeat it in the water))) Swimming to the depth, you need to work hard with your arms. In the process of rowing, you catch a thrill and sway on the waves. We line up in the depth in a queue. The coach should push you on the board at the moment of a successful wave, and then according to the training scenario. First, you need to lie on the board and at the moment of the push, stand up with your torso on straight arms, catch the balance and fly at the speed of the wave to the shore. The first attempt, I succeeded. YAY, I scream with delight. I run to the shore, the waves are strong and it’s hard to get out of their depths with the board. I swim to the depth and repeat, everything works out. I start pestering the instructor to teach us to stand on our feet and glide on the waves. He long refused, saying we don’t teach that in the first lesson, but then he gave in and showed. Swim, attempt and YES, I’m flying. This short moment, a few seconds, but so much delight and adrenaline. The power of the ocean pushes you, you feel it – it’s such a force, filling the whole body with crazy energy. And repeat and again victory. And on this wonderful note, I put an end to my first surfing experience. Not everyone managed to repeat the lesson. The guys tried, one girl was covered with a board, she got scared and could not overcome her fear. Alexander did great, we both cheerfully rowed and glided on the waves, and then for a long time exchanged excitement from the emotions received. The process is energy-consuming, upon returning to the camp we were awaited by a heated bathhouse and a delicious dinner. It seemed incredibly tasty.

The next day, we sailed on a boat around the bay with a small exit to the ocean. We saw: “Three Brothers” guarding the bay, the devil with the middle finger, grandmother’s skull, a zoo of stone animals, a dead clown – this is the rich imagination of our sailor-guide, that’s how he presents stones and rock formations to tourists. A golden bird market on it has 15 species of birds, only locals know, and ornithologists identify dozens. Many “puffins” with red beaks. It turns out, if a bird flies along the water and cannot take off, then it is full. The sailor showed a master class in cutting crabs, those very tasty Kamchatka crabs. Juicy and very interesting in terms of flavor saturation. In a small bay, we stopped for fishing. Bait octopus, big hook, catching flounder. Cool, bites like herring in the Rostov region. Without a float, just lower the sinker to the bottom and jerk the rod and voila. We caught a lot and had juicy flounder for dinner.

The day we went to the Vulcanarium with Ilya and Roma was informationally wonderful. We talked so interestingly and Roma pumped up the residents, pulled out all the tricky moments and suggestions for improving their territory. Ilya told me about floating cities from their inception and existence in modern civilizations.

On the penultimate day, in the morning we went to Khalaktyrsky beach (then we could not imagine that a terrible story would happen here and a huge biodiversity of the ocean would die). Shot footage for a very interesting project together with the KVN team. After that, we went to the city, to meet the residents. And after presenting the project to the residents, we went for a walk around the city. We wandered into a new tourist hostel, looked around everything, bought some souvenirs. Went to Nikolskaya Hill, they made it a beautiful walking area in 2018, it looks interesting and worthy. In the evening, our Katya performed there, sang beautiful simple songs with themes that everyone encounters in everyday life. She sang a birthday song for our Handsome Alexander – the governor of the square as it is (the nickname stuck to Sasha, nothing can be done)). The people present in the park liked it, bravo Katya! After the performance, quite unexpectedly, a girl about 16 years old came out and asked to play the piano in the park. She started singing, but no one heard her, the microphone was off. I turned on the microphone for her and the residents of her city heard her. A very talented girl, she played and sang so beautifully. I hope everything will be fine for her. While we were driving to our accommodation base, Andrey and I came up with a simply Mega creative PR project for the field of fools in Volgodonsk, I hope Tanya will support it🤣 Andrey, easy to get up person he has a harem (these are his beautiful girls architects). And we also have hardworking Dasha, she works until 7 am and sleeps 1 hour (poufs to help her).

The last evening we congratulated Sasha, he told many stories from his life. It turns out that this person was a talented musician, winner of various music competitions, but because of one case his life changed radically. Need to rest, tomorrow we’ll buy some caviar and crabs to take home and fly home.

Last day.

I slept well, you need to be rested for the road, my husband always tells me that, and I rested. And at 11.45 I decided to check when my flight was, the guys said theirs was at 16.00 and I was 100% sure that I was flying with them🤣 but I wanted to go home so much that when I opened the ticket, and it said “departure at 13.05 and boarding until 12.45” I caught the most powerful adrenaline rush in my life. I call Ira, and she says “I have a driver there now, let’s try to make it”. It takes 40 minutes to get to the airport, we flew in 20. The driver is a super person!!! I made it to the flight and even managed to check in my luggage, which the driver managed to bring me. That’s how Kamchatka played a joke on me. I’ll have to come back for caviar, crabs, and a plate for Ilya’s mom🤪

I’m writing the story already on the plane, usually, I write it every day during the trip. It’s wonderful when the Aeroflot service is at the highest level. You can apply moisturizing lipstick to your lips, cream to your hands, grape water to your face, put on an eye mask, and just digest everything that happened during the week in Kamchatka.