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Author Archive | Heidi Sequenz

Bears Country – Kurile Lake – Kamchatka

Paradise was the first word that came to my mind when the Mi-8  descended onto the little heliport next to the small cabin on Lake Kurile. The water of the lake below was painted in different colors, green forests threw their shadow into the lake where bears were hunting salmons, lots of bears. Kronotsky Nature Reserve in southern Kamchatka is Bears’ Country.

Approaching Lake Kurile

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Kamchatka Land of Fire and Bears

No roads connect the peninsula of Kamchatka in Russia’s far east with other parts of Russia’s Far East. So you call it a pretty isolated place. Only in the late 17th century did Russian explorers arrive. Why travel to such a remote place? First of alI, I love exactly such places, plus Kamchatka has a lot of offer: Bears big&small fishing bright red salmon and volcanoes, 160 of them, 29 are still active. I climbed three, Tolbachik, Mutnovsky, Gorely, lived a couple of days with reindeer herders and spent four days at Kuril Lake watching bears big and small catching salmons.

Mighty Tolbatchik

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Vladivostok Russia’s San Francisco

Vladivostok and San Francisco  have quite a few things in common. The phantastic setting on hills overlooking a huge bay, streets climbing up and down these hills and the most elegant bridges taking you to green islands. I spent four days simply walking and discovering this great city

View of Vladivostok’s bay from the top of the funicular

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Olkhon the scared Island

On Olkhon Island shamanic symbols are omnipresent with Shaman Rock being the most famous one. I had expected the island to be green, but it looked more like a savannah. Later I learned that Olkhon is the driest spot in the whole of Lake Baikal. The cliffs around Cape Khoboy are spectacular even on a foggy day. Khuzir, the not so lovely capital grows on you, watching the Russian holiday makers with their beach gear became my favorite pastime.

Shamanic site on Olkhon

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Irkutsk – the Paris of Siberia

The city celebrated its 350th birthday a few years ago, hard to imagine. It is not a hectic, cosmopolitan place but definitely a thriving city with beautiful architecture. Famous are the 19th old wooden houses of Irkutsk with beautifully painted window panes. Some of them are nicely renovated, whereas others look neglected.

 

Irkutsk 19th century architecture

Irkutsk 19th century architecture

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Moscow – Off-sights

Moscow’s metro stations are still a sight on their own. My last  to Moscow was in 1983, even back then I marveled at the beautifully decorated stations. My absolute favorite became one that is dominated by a dog chiseled in black marble. To touch its nose brings good luck. I could not believe how many Muscovites rushed by, quickly brushing over the nose that has changed color already into a dirty white. Some things even outlast Communism.

Good luck charm in Moscow's metro station

Good luck charm in Moscow’s metro station

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So very Armenian -Khachkar, Lavash, Zhingalov

There are quite a few things that I found either unique to Armenian or omnipresent in this country: the gas-pipelines crisscrossing the country , the  candle trays in churches, Lavash and Zhingalov, the famous flat bread, or Khachkars, stone crosses. And lets not forget the current hairstyle for young men.

 

Zhngalov Khat, flat bread filled with 7-27 herbs

Lavash and  Zhingalov Khat

Lavash, a kind of flatbread, is the staple food in Armenia, it is found everywhere. There is even a sweet version. Unique to Nagorno Karabagh is a  refined  version,  Zhingalov Khat. It is Lavash filled with many different herbs. In Goris I was lucky enough to come across a group of ladies who were making lavash in a tiny bakery, they three were working like machines. One was rolling the dough out flat and thin , the next step and done by a second woman  was spreading the think spread of dough on a cushioned board and then slamming sticking against the walls of an oven set in the ground. The third was getting the Lavash out with a long iron hook.

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Shushi – sad reminder of the war

It was the very name that first drew my attention, finally a name I could easily remember. Once there, it became ingrained in my memories forever. Large parts of Sushi are still in ruins, 23 years after the war with Azerbijan that cost the lives of thousands of Azari and Aremnians soldiers and civilians. The reminders of this war are much more evident in Shushi than Stepanakert, only 15 minutes drive away.

Sushi apartment block destroyed in the war 1991- 1994

Sushi apartment block destroyed in the war 1991- 1994

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Travelling to Nagorno Karabagh

Reading my Lonely Planet before leaving for Armenia,  the section on Nagorno Karabakh drew my attention. Vaguely I remembered a conflict over this Caucasus region, without having any specific knowledge of the reasons behind it. After walking through the bombed out areas of the town of Shushi, 23 years after the war, I will never forget. Azerbaijan and Armenia each claimed this territory for themselves. After a three-year war that left 400.000 people dead, Nagorno Karabagh is now a de-facto independent state, with a population that is predominantly Armenian.

 

Sushi bombed house

Sushi bombed house

Nagorno Karabagh has close relations with the Republic of Armenia and uses the same currency, the dram. As a tourist you don’t notice the volatile situation. Locals told me of daily skirmishes on the border with Azerbaijan. One week after I left 33 people got killed.

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