Things to see and do Far East

Opened in 2005, this ethnographic complex located outside the city is built in homage to the explorers of the Yakutia. Surrounded by forests, meadows, mountains and small lakes, this natural site offers reconstructions of ancient wooden houses with a variety of small museums, a hotel and a yakoute kitchen restaurant. Also on the complex is a centre for the rearing of huskies, which offers sorties dog dogs in winter, a panoramic terrace offering views over the entire town of Yakutsk and the "Permafrost Kingdom" museum inside a hill where everything is made of ice.

The park offers a spectacular view of the Amur River and a vast promenade. It is one of the city's assets that the municipality has endeavoured to restore very well. From Komsomolskaya Square, a very large staircase leads to the banks of the Amur River, which have also been turned into a promenade, and to Khabarovsk beach, which is very popular in fine weather. The river station can be reached via this promenade. Cruise ships sailing along or across the Amur River leave from here.

To the north of the village of Doubovy Klioutch, there is a pretty lake covered with lotus trees. In Russia, this plant is included in the list of endangered species. The site is therefore considered an exceptional natural treasure: the flowering period lasts two to three days in August. It is a very short period, but worth seeing: hundreds of pale pink buds open at the same time and cover a good part of the lake. Tourists come here in great numbers. Even out of season, the lake is worth a visit.

Exhibition of regional painters. Children's drawings.

Forming the most southerly part of the Magadan region, the Koni peninsula belongs to the Magadansky Reserve where live, protected by law, bears, foxes, rare species of marmots and many other animals. During the spawning season (end June-August), Pacific salmon go back to Koni rivers. In coastal areas, seals are numerous, and the baleinoptères sometimes approaching the coast can be observed. Koni also retains interesting remains of human habitation of the stone age.

Kamchatka has over 150 thermal springs, the most abundant of which are in the Paratounka region. Ideal for a rest or treatment stay, the stations are located on the axis of the main Elisovo-Paratounka road, not far from Petropavlovsk, in the river valley of the same name.

The Usurysky Nature Reserve occupies mountainous terrain south of the Sikhoté-Alin Mountains, in the upper part of the Komarovka and Artiomovka river basins. Flora: hard juniper, ginseng, red pine and Japanese yew. The reserve has become a place for growing ginseng, the root of which is useful in pharmacy and cosmetics. Fauna: the Amur tiger, the East Siberian leopard, the tangerine and the black stork.

It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful natural and protected sites in the world. And it deserves it: accessing it can indeed be difficult, especially in wet weather (all-terrain vehicle). The cape "Giant" overlooks the Sea of Okhotsk, to the south-east of the island. You will be amazed by these arches and mineral columns sculpted by the wind and sea waves. The lucky ones will witness the spawning of wild salmon, which attracts many brown bears. A must-see.

Lakes Izmentchivoye and Tunya, two saltwater lakes of 12.9 km2 and 174 km2, are located in the Korsakov district, southeast of Sakhalin Island. They are ideal for bathing, fishing, bird watching at bird colonies resting on their shores, hiking and kayaking. Lake Izmentchivoye is also rich in marine sulphide mud, which has therapeutic virtues (skin and gynaecological diseases).

In the Kronotski Natural Park, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Caldeiras and Geysernaïa caldeiras form the largest Kamchatka geothermal zone. The pebble of the Ouzon volcano, measuring 9 km over 12 km, is the largest of the peninsula. It formed in the middle of the Pleistocene following several major eruptions that destroyed the cone over 3 000 m high. Ouzon is a kind of natural laboratory: many métallogènes minerals (arsenic, mercury, copper, zinc, etc.) were discovered in its groundwater flowing to the surface. As water cools, these minerals are deposited around the sources of ore.

This volcano distinguishes itself from its neighbours by its height: at 3 456 m, it is the highest volcano in the southern peninsula. The Koriakski has a conical shape, the slope angle of the slope reaches 15-20 ° at the foot and 35 ° in the upper part. It attracts many climbers and climbers. His complex and technical ascent unfortunately causes many accidents every year. For mountaineers who are experienced and duly accompanied by professional guides.

A natural reserve and biosphere with a unique fauna, flora and ecosystem in the world. The reserve includes the Geysers Valley and the Ouzon volcano.

It is one of Kamchatka'oldest and most active volcanoes, consisting of four fused stratovolcans. His last eruption took place in the 1960 s, but there are still some ground explosions. The climb of the volcano (2 323 m) takes about 7 hours and allows you to appreciate the beauty of the surrounding landscapes where fire and ice are constantly confronting each other. Steep walls of glaciers surround the crater and glittering under the rays of the sun.

The volcano Plosky Tolbaltchik (3 682 m), located 350 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamtchatski, is part of the Klioutchevskaïa volcanic group to the east of the peninsula and is located in the territory of the natural park of the Klioutchevskoï volcano, which is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The volcano is cut by two caldeiras: the first 3 kilometres in diameter was formed about 6 500 years ago in a powerful rash. It was formerly occupied by a small shield volcano and a glacier that formed a characteristic flat summit, hence the qualifier "plosky" (dish) attached to its name.

Inside the old pebble is a young pebble 400 meters high and 1,8 km in diameter created during the penultimate volcanic eruption of 1975-1976. This eruption ever changed the surrounding area of the volcano causing two ruptures (north and south), creating four scories cones and destroying all vegetation over 400 km ². The visit of the volcano, its cones and the "dead forest" allows to realize the magnitude of this phenomenal eruption.

The smallest volcano of the three was once a shield volcano whose foot was 30 km in diameter. Its central part disintegrated to form an oval pebble of 9 km over 14 km, with many craters from where the lava appeared on the surface. Today it represents a chain of stratovolcans amount of one single caldeira. The almost complete absence of vegetation and life on the slopes of the volcano is reminiscent of lunar landscapes. This is due to a fairly high volcanic activity. From time to time, the volcano thus emits columns of steam and gas at a height of 3 kilometres. The ascent of the Gorely volcano takes about 8 hours and allows to observe strange sculptures of hardened lava, slag fields and craters sometimes filled with hot water.

Extending over 50 ha, the park offers, in the centre of the city, an area of calm and freshness but also of attractions, games, sleigh rides and sports activities. There are cafés, a video games room, the Cosmos sports stadium, the ski jumping and the oldest railway in the country, which still operates in the park's territory for the greatest joy of children.

Once a haven of nature and peace off the coast of Vladivostok (Empress Eugenie Archipelago, Gulf of Peter the Great), Russkiy Island served until the end of the 20th century as a large military station protecting the Russian border from Japanese invasions. In Soviet times, as a closed territory, it was home to several naval training/training units. Then, in 1992, four soldiers on duty, forgotten by their officers, died of hunger there (one of the biggest military scandals after the USSR). The military installations were destroyed.
Charming and forested, Russkiy Island is one of Vladivostok's favourite summer resorts. It is also home to the former gigantic business complex, built to host the 2012 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Forum) summit at high speed. A building whose faults have been denounced time and time again... After the forum, the decision was taken to convert it into a "Federal University of the Far East" and to develop the island's tourism potential. Since then, it has been inviting travellers to laze on its beaches and explore its forests. In 2016, Russia's largest aquarium, the Oceanarium, was inaugurated there. Also since 2012, the island is connected to the continent by the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world. It will always be interesting to borrow the structure, at least to photograph it. Its tricolour stays are in the colours of the Russian flag.