Destinations

Southern Kuriles | Simon Winchester | Russian Federation, Kamtchatka, Kuriles

Seeing the islands at first hand, one has to wonder at the madness of it all. The four islands that the Russians occupy are lonely, wretched ruins, settled by disconsolate people, guarded by a demoralized rag-bag

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Heliski in the Land of Fire and Ice | Alf Alderson | Russian Federation, Kamtchatka, Kuriles

It’s impossible not to notice the distinctly minimalist interior of the craft, which makes Ryanair’s offerings seem luxurious. One of the helicopters we used was literally held together in places by string

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Riches of the Tundra | Robin Hanbury-Tenison | Russian Federation, Kamtchatka, Kamchatka Peninsula

Geographically, the place we British should be most interested in is Kamchatka. The peninsula is about the same size as the British Isles and lies between the same latitudes. Moreover, it is almost exactly on the opposite side of the globe to us being only a few degrees off longitude 180, the continuation of the Greenwich Meridian. What makes it very different is that it lacks the benefit of the Gulf Stream, so the temperature drops to Minus 60 in the winter and the permafrost never melts more than a foot or so below the surface...

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