Kamchatka: The Land of Fire and Ice - Part 1: The Land Frozen in Time

Part One 

"Comrades, we are landing in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 30 minutes. The ground temperature is 17 degrees Celsius." The captain of the bumpy plane announced in Russian. I almost choked on the smoked salmon (Russian version of Salmon Sashimi) offered by Yakutia Airlines as complimentary airplane meal. It was my first time hearing a public announcement addressing the people  "comrades", especially when it happened more than two decades after the regime of the proletariat fell part in Russia. 

That wasn't the only reason why I almost choked on the smoked salmon I got as complimentary meal. In the past few days I had to endure several days of near 40-degree Celsius heat and heavy smog caused by wildfire in Yakutsk. I got really really sick from the barbecue-flavoured air and the lack of air conditioning at the hotel I was staying at. Upon learning that it was only 17 degrees Celsius in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (I know it's a long name, we'll call it PK from now on), my polluted lung could already feel the cool, fresh air inside it. I took a deep breath, but it turned out that the cool, fresh air actually came from the smoked salmon. Fortunately, nothing bad happened. 

Smoked salmon served on Yakutia Airline flights

All of sudden a human arm holding a cellphone appeared in front of my eyes. I recognized that cellphone immediately. During the whole trip it served as my and the fellow beside me's GPS. Russia was the first country where I saw people surfing internet with their mobile data while being over 30,000 feet in the air. Meanwhile, in many other countries, using cell service after take off was prohibited, many carriers even warned that anyone dared to challenge this rule would be prosecuted. 

I looked towards the window right beside me, then I pulled out my own phone, and took this picture. 

High above the clouds

A flashback crossed my mind. I remembered my math teacher, who once told us that we should feel fortunate to live in a city like Vancouver. He told us that every time the plane touched down, you would see the most beautiful city on earth right in front of your eyes. For a long time, I agreed with him. Every time returning home was a heart-beating and thrilling experience for me: the mountains, the ocean, the trees.....You just don't see them when you land in places like, let's say Chicago or Moscow. 

By the way, this isn't Vancouver

The plane landed, and passengers gave the pilot a huge round of applause- for not killing us airborne.When I got off the plane, my mind was completely blown away. In the background, two monolithic mountains stood like the guardians of this mysterious land. Around it were thousands of acres of pristine forests that have been untouched for millions of years. The wind blows, and I immediately knew that they were seabreeze - we were right next to the ocean. PK nailed Vancouver like a boss.

Airport gate at PK Airport

After going through PK's either post -modern or lack-of- funding airport gate, I boarded a bus to the city center. From the old advertisement written in Korean, I could tell that it was a second hand bus from South Korea. All of the city buses I saw while in PK, as well as many of the household vehicles were second hand products shipped directly from Japan or South Korea. Being the second largest city on earth that was not connected by road, most of PK's needs were met through either air cargo or shipping through the Sea of Okhotsk. With Japan and Korea just right across the sea, it would be reasonable to obtain necessary supplies there rather than Europe or Moscow. 

Sunset in PK

Sunset in PK

Once a forbidden military zone that was off limits for all tourists, Kamchatka opened up only after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. You might have heard about that Korean Air flight that was shot down by the Soviet Air Force in the 1980s. Yes, it was shot down because the plane accidentally flew over Kamchatka, and over 200 innocent civilians lost their lives. How could Kamchatka be such a jackass? Besides the nuclear submarine facility on the peninsula, if you are looking for any other clues, all you need to do is to look across the Bering Strait. An online blog called The CD Box has a legend that if you swim hard enough from PK, eventually you will reach the United States of America - the nemesis of the U.S.S.R.

PK

Avachinsky Volcano in the backdrop of an old Soviet city

The statue of Peter and Paul - the name sake of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

When I got off the bus at the so called city center (which by the way, wasn't the real city center where all the shops and restaurants were),  I saw a familiar face staring at me: Lenin. To be honest, that statue of Lenin in PK was definitely the one with the most exotic background: hills, a lake, the ocean, and a super, duper tall volcano. Oh yeah, don't forget the GAZPROM building - belonged to the international capitalist pig who was the biggest money maker in Russia.

Statue of Lenin

PK

The Kamchatka Krai Government Building

Next to the statue was the Kamchatka Krai government building. Next to  the government was a building labeled "Г У М "(GUM)- The main department store of each city during the Soviet era. Unlike Moscow's GUM, which has transformed into the poshest mall in all of Russia, if not in all of Europe, PK's GUM was closed down. However, the new occupants of the building- the regional headquarters of the Communist Party of Russian Federation, still reminded me the fact that Russia once was the center of the international Communist movement. 

The de facto city center of PK today is where the shopping malls are. Coincidence? I think not. Back in the days, it was the government affairs that dominated the economy of PK, and to a larger extent Kamchatka. After 1991, the big government was gone. People gotta feed themselves, as there was no more big government to feed them. More and more shops opened around the former state owned guesthouses in order to earn the tourist dollars. Heck yeah, even the United States of America doesn't even sound that scary anymore, as now there are flights from Alaska to Kamchatka (then onward to Hokkaido) every summer. 

30 years ago, if you were an American in Kamchatka, chances are you were a freaking bloody spy. Today, if you are an American in Kamchatka, people will still think that you are a freaking bloody spy. Well, maybe it was just you thinking that you were treated like one. The fact was that for the entire week I stayed in Kamchatka, I did not meet a single American, despite now there is the flight I mentioned earlier. Locals were still suspicious of tourists from English speaking countries. There wasn't a single person from countries such as the U.K or Australia who didn't complain to me about the "bad experience" they had with everybody in Kamchatka, no matter if it was the tour operator, the hotel manager, the waitresses, the bus driver, you name them. They didn't understand how could these Russians "stick their nose so high" and provided such crappy services. In more than one occasions I heard about how they felt like that they were treated like "illegal immigrants" as there were occasions how their passports was taken away by their hotels for 3 days and were questioned by the hotel manager about their visa. There were also people, such as the well-traveled Czech gentleman I met multiple times during that one week, told me that he was OK with everything. He told me that Czech Republic before 1989 was just like Kamchatka, and he didn't find any of the  stuff all these Brits or Australians complained as something new. There was one thing he didn't get though, was that how could Kamchatka still be like this more than two decades after the U.S.S.R was gone.......

PK

Kamchatka was indeed a place full of paradoxes. It was a place where you could see Lenin standing in front of the largest natural gas vendor in the world (in this case, was Lenin standing up to capitalism or was he standing with it?), the Communist Party taking over the building of the main department store of the city (alas, finally! After the U.S.S.R collapsed), and an awkward Soviet style city with one of the most stunning backdrop one could ever imagine. You think the story ends here? Think again. I mean, where-else have you not seen something called "Part Two" after you see "Part One"? No, not here.  We don't build up false anticipations.

(Click here to read Part 2)