"Driving to the Americas" Episode 7: Volcanoes, Brown Bears, Sea Fishing, Hot Springs, Where is Kamchatka, the World's Top Ten Travel Destinations in My Heart? Kamchatka Scenery Volcano Hot Spring Kamchatka Wild Brown Bear Kamchatka Experience Sea Fishing King Crab Kamchatka Culture Of the Corian People

Hello everyone, I am a foot on the accelerator, that is, the owner of the Shanghai C license Chevrolet Explorer who drove to France in 2018. This year I set off again, this time to the Americas by car, and I am currently on the road. The last update and you shared my experience of encountering scammers during my journey to Russia, friends who did not see the last update in their busy schedule can click the following link: "Drive to america" Episode 6: 3 times to Russia the first time to meet scammers, travelers be careful! In this issue we came to a mysterious place, where wild and primitive, there is a magnificent wild beauty, it can even be ranked in the top 5 of my travel destination recommendation list, in the Tang Dynasty it was also China's ghost country. This place, that is, Kamchatka! Located on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the top ten places in the world in my heart</h1>

Often friends leave messages to let me recommend travel places, ask me where is it fun, today I will take the opportunity to write Kamchatka to give you a plate, in the 24 countries I have traveled in the two continents of Asia and Europe, I recommend the 10 most recommended travel places:

10th Qinghai, China

9th Inner Mongolia, China

8th Croatia

7th Xinjiang, China

6th South France Provence

5th Turkey

4th Kamchatka

3rd place In the Alps

2nd Place: 5 Nordic countries

1st Place: Tibet, China

Haha, my leaderboard, how many points do you recognize? This issue only ranks, does not comment, and leaves a follow-up issue to write about these travel places and the reasons for the list. Of course, these are my personal preferences, I believe that everyone has their own favorites in their minds, welcome to discuss the comment area actively haha. You are also welcome to make a small game together, choose your favorite 3 travel places, it doesn't matter if you haven't been there, then choose what you want to go to the most:

Pick your favorite 3 places to travel Multiple

0 people 0% China Tibet

0 people 0% Nordic 5 countries

0 people 0% Alps

0 people 0% Kamchatka

0 people 0% Turkey

0 people 0% South France Provence

0 people 0% Xinjiang, China

0 people 0% Croatia

0 people 0% Inner Mongolia, China

0 people 0% China Qinghai vote

Next, I will take you to take a good look at how Kamchatka ranked in the list and ranked 4th!

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Where is Kamchatka? </h1>

The Kamchatka Peninsula is located in the Russian Far East in northeastern Asia and is now part of Kamchatka Krai. It is bordered by the Sea of Okhotsk to the west and the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea to the east. With a length of 1,250 kilometers and an area of 372,300 square kilometers, it is the second largest peninsula in Russia and the largest peninsula in the world that cannot be reached by road. In other words, if you want to go to Kamchatka, you can only take a plane. Kamchatka is sparsely populated and most of the area is undeveloped. The inhabitants are predominantly Russian, but there are also Koryak, Chukotka and Kamchatkas. The economy is dominated by marine fisheries and the hunting of sea animals, fish processing, and wood processing. The main cities are Petropavlovsk and Usty Kamchatsk, the former being the capital of Kamchatka.

As can be seen from the above figure, Kamchatka is already close to the American continent, and it has important strategic significance for Russia.

As soon as you come out of the airport in Petropavlovsk, the capital of Kamchatka, you can still see the kind Chinese characters.

Miraculously, it is said that Kamchatka was once the ghost vassal state of my Tang Dynasty. According to historical records, when Tang Taizong fought against the Turks and played the title of a heavenly khan, the surrounding countries followed suit and joined the ranks of the Tang Dynasty's vassal states, including a ghost country and a small country. The Book of Tang records that fifteen thousand miles away from Chang'an, surrounded by the sea on three sides, should be on a peninsula, then the general geographical location should refer to the area of the present-day Kamchatka Peninsula. It is rumored that there is also a night fork country next to the ghost country, and the warriors of the night fork country have fangs in the corners of their mouths and specialize in eating people. This may be an uncivilized people, the north is short of supplies, and the cannibalism may be true.

There is a way to lean against a big tree to cool off, and the ghost country does not want to destroy the country, nor does it want to become the belly food of others, so it sent emissaries to meet Tang Taizong Li Shimin. The emissaries of the Ghost State proposed to Li Shimin whether it was possible to relocate the countrymen to the territory of the Tang Dynasty, but Li Shimin directly refused. There was no way for the emissary to retreat to the second place, asking if he could join the ranks of the vassals? Li Shimin agreed and crowned the royal family members of the Ghost Kingdom. As a result, the Liu Ghost Kingdom became the northernmost and smallest vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, and some soldiers and horses were also sent to the Heishui Governor's Office to control the man-eating Night Fork Kingdom.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Kamchatka's volcanic hot springs</h1>

There are more than 160 volcanoes in Kamchatka's 370,000 square kilometers, of which 29 are active. The west coast is a narrow plain called the Western Kamchatka Lowlands. The earth's crust is unstable, volcanically active, earthquakes are frequent, and there are many hot springs and geysers. At 4,750 meters above sea level, Klyuchev Volcano in the east is the highest peak on the peninsula. The Kamchatka volcanic group is characterized by high volcanic density, a variety of eruptions, and a complex landscape with zigzag caves, overlapping formations and geysers, hot springs, fountains, etc. The peculiar volcanic landscape and the variety of springs are some of the attractions here. There are 25 geysers in the Geyser Canyon near the active volcano of Kronorgi, and the minerals contained in the springs dye the surrounding rocks red, pink, blue-purple and tan. The largest geyser, called Weikon, spews out boiling water and steam columns up to 49 meters and sprays about four minutes every three hours.

Avacha Volcano

The northeast boy who accompanied me to climb the volcano, I asked him if he was cold, and he said that he was really not cold.

Volcanoes are also mountains, in fact, just as climbing, we use trekking poles.

At the top of Mut Volcano, the sulfur dioxide is spewed out, so smoky!

We were in the caldera

hot spring

The above photos are my actual shots, the following picture is from Kamchatka Xiao Zhu, if the original author has objections, please contact me quickly to delete:

So why are there so many volcanoes in Kamchatka? Geologically, it belongs to the Cenozoic Alpine Fold Belt, with the Central Mountains and the Vostonage Mountains running from north to south, the former extending along the axis of the peninsula and the latter parallel to the east coast. Between the two columns of mountains is the central Kamchatka lowlands, where the Kamchatka River flows. The Earth's crust is unstable, volcanically active and earthquakes are frequent, so Kamchatka is among the most volcanically active regions in the world.

There are very few roads on kamchatka, basically none, especially the area close to the volcano is full of wild fields, swamps, and rocks, so we must take the big cart of the local Russians to get to the foot of the volcano.

<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > a wild brown bear in Kamchatka</h1>

In addition to the volcano, this place in Kamchatka also has a very big feature - brown bears! Kamchatka is home to a large number of brown bears, said to be more than 10,000, more than the dogs kept by the residents, and in previous years there have even been incidents in which bears have strayed into the city and injured people. This time we took a Mi-8 helicopter to Sakhalin Lake to see the bears, where there are herds of brown bears, where they can prey on their favorite salmon.

We went to Sakhalin Lake for a ride in a Russian Mi-8 helicopter

Guide who led us into the reserve to see the bears

I met a French friend by chance, and I talked to him about my Paris past, haha.

Kamchatka brown bears are a very large subspecies of brown bears and one of the largest mammals in Eurasia. The body is 2.4 meters long and reaches 3 meters when standing, and the male is second only to the Alaskan brown bear, weighing up to 780 kilograms. Mainly inhabited in the cold temperate coniferous forest, mostly active during the day, walking slowly, no fixed habitat, usually alone, eating habits are more mixed, plants are a variety of rhizomes, tubers, grass, grains and fruits, like to eat honey, animals including ants, ant eggs, insects, rodents, ungulates, fish and carrion. Speeds of up to 56 km/h are possible when running. During hibernation, 1 to 4 litters are born, and female bears often take their cubs to play in the forest in spring.

The salmon, which is the favorite of Kamchatka brown bears, has a migratory habit, which is amazing. Kamchatka salmon grow up in the ocean and still return to their birthplace, where they breed in a particular stream. According to research, this directional migration is achieved with the help of the geomagnetic field of the fish body, and the juvenile fish of this salmon has the coordinate information of the geomagnetic field of the stream area where it was born and swims to the ocean along the way!

In addition to brown bears, in the tundra at the foot of some volcanoes, another wild animal can often be seen - marmots. Kamchatka marmots aren't even too afraid of humans, probably because people often bring them good food.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Kamchatka experience of sea fishing for king crabs</h1>

Kamchatka is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and once it goes out, the Pacific Ocean is very rich, so sea fishing in Kamchatka is a very popular travel experience. Most of the fish caught are salmon, salmon, flat-mouthed fish and so on. However, my feeling is that fishing is really a slow exercise that requires a lot of patience, and of course, good luck is also an indispensable factor.

In addition to sea fishing, what you must not miss when you come to Kamchatka is of course hairy crabs, oh no, it is king crabs, haha. Kamchatka's king crab is large, meaty and cheap, and it is said that it is only 300 yuan a piece in the high season, which is worth rmb. The last time I ate king crab was in Jeju Island, South Korea, in 2015, and I came to Kamchatka to hear that the king crabs in Jeju were shipped by Kamchatka.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right">

The Korillak nation of Kamchatka culture

</h1>

As mentioned earlier, Kamchatka was also a vassal state of Our country during the Tang Dynasty, belonging to the uncivilized ethnic groups in the north. Today, the indigenous people of Kamchatka are Koryak, Chukochi and Kamchatka, and our trip mainly visited the Koryak Ethnic Area. The Koryaks are of the same origin as the Chukchi and Ittermians and form in the kamchatka peninsula and the northern part of the Okhotsk coast. From the end of the 17th century the Russians began a large-scale expedition to the Corillacs, and in the middle of the 18th century the Corillacs finally surrendered to Russia. In 1930 the Koryak National District was established, which belongs to the Kamchatka Region of the Russian Federation. The Corillac are mainly engaged in deer farming, sea beasts hunting, fishing and hunting.

The appearance of the Kolyak people is extremely similar to the northern ethnic minorities such as the Hezhe and Orunchun in China, the bridge of the nose is flat, and they are also related to the Manchus in China. Due to its sparse population, wide distribution, and long-term presence under Russian rule, the national culture of Koriak is now gradually disappearing, and some young people in the clan do not even speak their own language, but only Russian.

Does anyone think I'm dressed up exoticly? Ha ha. The following two are siberian huskies raised by the villagers, that is, sled dogs. Look at its eyes, one blue and one black.

Kamchatka is really a place that surprises me a lot, the name sounds so mysterious, and it's even more amazing! There is a monument in kamchatka's capital, built for Mr. Bering, who discovered the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Strait, so posterity named this dividing strait between the two continents of Asia and the United States after him. Mr. Bering also established the city of Petropavlovsk, the capital of present-day Kamchatka, on a voyage of expeditions. About his story, we will talk about it in detail in the next episode.

Twilight in Petropavlovsk

Supermarket in the city of Petropavlovsk

I'm at the Mr. Bering Monument

Above, we are off the coast of Bering, across the sea from Alaska on the other side. The first on the left is Kamchatka Junior Zhu. Well friends, this issue of the update will write so much first, the next episode we will go to Chukotka, which is where the Bering Strait is located!