When you look at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky from an airplane window, you immediately know whether you're in luck or not. The snow-capped volcano peaks on the horizon are the city's greatest adornment. When the sky is overcast, they disappear — and the town looks dreary and unremarkable. But the moment the sky pulls back its curtains and lets the sun through, the scenery is enough to make your head spin!
This time, unfortunately, we landed in cloud cover. Not that we had much time to lament it — the night was reserved for a culinary reconnaissance mission (a mandatory ritual upon arrival), and the next morning we had a transfer to the port and boarding the catamaran.
By morning the weather hadn't improved. We made our way to Russkaya Bay like hedgehogs in the fog, hearing stories about everything we'd be seeing if only the skies would clear. The spread laid out on the table did a fine job of distracting us from those wistful thoughts — caviar, salmon cured every which way, crab, and a steaming fish soup from our enthusiastic and supremely talented cook, Elena.
About an hour and a half after setting off, we stopped for some fishing. We were handed rods and told not to be greedy — two or three fish each, maximum. Within ten minutes, everyone had a bite at once. We hauled in our catches. To lift our spirits, someone suggested a competition. The fish we were landing were fairly consistent in size, running between 4.5 and 5 kg — which made the contest all the more exciting. In the end, Dima Vasyanovich took the prize for biggest single catch at 6 kg 320 g, while the ladies claimed the title for most fish caught.
By evening we had moored in a quiet, scenic bay where curious Largha seals came out to greet us. We went for a walk along the shore before dinner.
The next morning brought more fog. We did a check dive in Russkaya Bay, then headed off to dive and swim with Steller sea lions at Cape Kekurny. The sea was slightly rough, and the sea lions were clearly not in the mood — they'd drift over to have a look at us, circle the group a couple of times, then head back to their haul-out. We didn't get great shots.
After lunch we walked along a riverbank and caught salmon for dinner. There were fish everywhere but not much water in the river, and our instructions hadn't changed: don't be greedy. Our escort was Vasily — a deckhand, local guide, and official bear-scarer. Along with the fishing rods, he handed each of us a flare and a strange canister that looked like insect repellent, except the label had a bear on it. We called it "anti-bear spray." It wasn't actually a spray at all — it was a signal device that emitted sharp, loud noises. Bears hate noise. As extra insurance, Vasily stuffed a massive Bluetooth speaker into his backpack, and off we went to catch our dinner, accompanied by the gentle pulse of Latin music.
The morning of day three absolutely blew our minds. We woke to clear skies and a clean horizon. At last we could see the outlines of the volcanoes, the mountains and cliffs, the hills and ridges. That one day more than made up for all the bad weather that had come before.
The glorious weather was only the beginning. The wildlife that day was extraordinary — Steller sea lions, sea otters, the comical tufted puffins (known locally as toporki), and of course orcas. Lots of orcas. An almost indecent number of orcas. We sat at the bow of the yacht, breathing in the fresh ocean air, soaking up the sun, and watching them. In moments like that you almost lose your grip on reality. An extraordinary experience even for seasoned travellers who have been everywhere.
The sky grew even brighter, the air even cleaner. The seafaring leg of the journey was over, and we moved from the catamaran into a beautiful house with its own thermal pool, right on the shore of a magnificent lake. There was no time to laze by the pool, though. Dropping our bags, we rushed off for a helicopter excursion to the Valley of Geysers. The valley is undeniably beautiful — but its scale, shall we say, is somewhat overstated. A major landslide not long ago reshaped it dramatically, and it's currently in a phase of new formation. That minor shortcoming was more than compensated for by our guides, professional volcanologists with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the area's history. We learned a surprising amount about volcanoes, the structure of the Earth, and the peculiarities of Kamchatka's Valley of Geysers. It was fascinating and genuinely educational.
That day we went to visit the bears at the legendary Kurilskoye Lake in Kamchatka's Kronotsky Nature Reserve. The sky was clear again and the volcanoes looked stunning. From the helicopter window the landscapes were simply breathtaking.
We felt as though we'd been transported to another world entirely — bears, hot springs, and the endless stories of the reserve's staff. It was hard to come back to earth after everything we'd seen and experienced. Putting it into words feels almost impossible.
At dawn we piled into vehicles and set off to conquer Mutnovskiy Volcano. The weather was with us again. Along the way we made several stops to photograph the stunning scenery. Our transport was equally remarkable — extraordinary handbuilt bigfoot vehicles, assembled by hand for exactly this kind of expedition, based on Japanese off-roaders.
After an hour or so the decent road ran out and we veered onto a strange track — or rather, into full off-road territory. Only our drivers knew the way, but they navigated the terrain with easy confidence and brought us to the base ahead of the other groups. We were first to head for the summit. The climb itself was not difficult, and the views along the way were spectacular. When we returned to the vehicles, fresh-baked pies and hot tea were waiting for us.
That evening we finally gave ourselves permission to linger for a long soak in the hotel's thermal springs. The next day it was time to head home.
*This was a short journey, but a vivid one. Our thanks to everyone who shared it with us, and to Kamchatka itself — for giving us a few days of wonderful weather and letting us see everything we'd hoped to see. We will be back!
Want to experience something truly unforgettable and find yourself in a completely different world without leaving Russia? Head east on an expedition to the Russian Far East. Choose one of our routes across Russia.
