Kamchatka: The Land of Fire and Ice - Part 2: Burning Sky and Scorching Earth

Part Two 

My heart was jumping up and down like the helicopter I was riding. I doubted the quality of the Soviet made military chopper made nearly 40 years ago ever since the first time I laid my eyes on it. I was sitting on a plank of wood, like 20 other people in the same helicopter. At one point the chopper tilted violently towards right, then left, then right again. I observed the faces of fellow passengers changing from "I don't give a frap" to "WHAT THE FRAP?" All of sudden Eric, the Chinese tourist holding a giant DSLR camera sitting right across me ejected from his seat. Guess which direction was his body moving towards?

My direction.

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(Continued from Part 1)

It was my first time riding a helicopter. In fact, I had always dreamed of being on a helicopter. My big bro proposed to his wife on a helicopter right above the famous skyline of Manhattan underneath the beautiful blinking stars. How cool did that have to be?

We all know dreams and realities are sometimes nowhere near each other. When I first learned that my first helicopter ride would be on a nearly 40 year old, Soviet made military chopper, I d0ubted whether my bro would still propose to his wife if they took this one. To convince myself that nothing would happen to me by the end of the ride, I repeated a modified version of Deng Xiaoping's cat theory in my heart:

"It doesn't matter if you are taking a fancy chopper or a crappy chopper. As long as it takes you to the destination, it's a good chopper."

A Mil Mi-8 Helicopter, the same as the one we were riding

I tied the two thick, black strings on each side of the wooden plank I was sitting on around my waist, and waited for the helicopter to take off. The only person in my heart at that time wasn't Jennifer Lawrence, but God himself. After a violent shake, the chopper began to elevate.  Three seconds later, it returned to the ground. The door opened, a big man came in, told us that there was some mechanic problem with the helicopter. He advised us that the whole repair process would take about 15 minutes. 

One of the mechanics arriving with his bicycle

5 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed, 15 minutes passed, during this whole time all of the passengers were locked inside the broken helicopter. We heard the engine starting several times, but we never ended up being propelled into the sky. 

Fields of Kamchatka

The helicopter produced another violent shake, this time, we were in the sky. 

A small town seen from the sky

Looking down from the window,  lush green valleys were decorated with colourful villages in this remote part of the world. Despite the fact that Kamchatka was not connected to the rest of Russia, the infrastructure within the region was well-developed. 

A small Kamchatka village seen from the sky

A village from above

The wilderness of Kamchatka

Highway system in Kamchatka. It, however, doesn't connect to the rest of Russia

The further we traveled from PK, more and more giant peaks appeared. Being a land of more than 16o volcanoes, these epic sceneries composed the UNESCO world heritage site - Volcanoes of Kamchatka.  Even in July, many of these mountains were covered with snow from the top all the way to the bottom, creating an awe- inspiring image to people who were unfamiliar to Kamchatka: people like us.

All of sudden, Eric, a Chinese tourist from Ningbo pointed at the window behind me. He untied the "safety belt" (two pieces of safety harnesses tied together) and jumped right in front me on the moving chopper. The attendant signaled him to return back to his seat immediately. He kept pointing to me towards the window, I turned my head, and couldn't believe what I saw:

An erupting volcano.....

Last time I heard about an erupting volcano, I saw it on news. Volcano eruptions in Iceland had caused flight delays across Europe, due to the smoke obstructing the visibility of  pilots and thus endanger the passengers. I worried that the eruption might have to cause the chopper to turn back and trap us in Kamchatka like passengers in Iceland. 

But I was wrong! The pilot suddenly tilted the body of the Soviet chopper - we were heading straight towards the erupting volcano! The pilot circled the helicopter around the smoking dome - just to give all of us a closer look at this wondrous sight people don't see all the time.

About an hour later, the chopper landed in a place called the Valley of Geysers. The place had the second highest concentration of geysers in the world, after the Yellowstone National Park in the United States. It was first discovered by Soviet geologist Tatiana Ustinova in 1941, who later immigrated to Vancouver and passed away there. Unlike Yellowstone, getting to the valley was only viable by helicopter. This had greatly protected the surrounding environment, making it also suitable for environmental studies related to human activities' impact on the ecosystem. 

The tomb of Tatiana Ustinova, whose ashes were buried at the natural wonder she discovered

Geysers at the Valley of Geysers

Because I had already been to the Yellowstone National Park, I knew what geysers looked like. However, for many who traveled on the same helicopter, they were quite surprised and excited to see geysers the very first time. This also suggested another fun fact, yet a sad truth: while westerners complain how hard it is to visit Russia, for Russians and Chinese tourists like Eric going to the United States is even harder. Canadians and Americans have the privileges of driving to the wonders of Yellowstone in their own vehicles whenever they want, whereas many Russians had to fly all the way to Kamchatka and ride on a helicopter to see geysers - probably only once in their lives.

A hot spring pool. Like its counterparts in the yellowstone, it's too hot for a bath!

Bubbling hot mud

If either Russia or the West could aim for peaceful relationships and most importantly the well-beings of mankind, rather than geopolitical games that divides our world to "the East" or "the West", the whole world could enjoy the amazing creations of the mother nature, no matter if it's Kamchatka or the Yellowstone. 

Valley of Geysers

Afterwards, we flew to the center of Uzon caldera. It was formed after a violent volcanic eruption. The gigantic empty field we were standing on was indeed the caldera of an active volcano. Volcanic activities could be spotted with bare eyes throughout the caldera. There was one thing missing from the whole scene: wild animals. 

The Uzon Caldera

Inside the caldera of a giant volcano

Volcanic activities were observable with bare eyes inside the caldera

Despite being green and stunning, the lack of wildlives revealed the inhospitable nature of the caldera. The caldera had a research center, which also doubled as a visitor facility for volcanic studies. Instead of exploiting the area for mass tourism, the wonders of Kamchatka's volcano more importantly served as a field for academic studies of our world.  

Withered trees inside the caldera

A geyser inside Uzon Caldera

Before heading back to PK, we landed at a natural hot spring. I was amazed by how in the middle of the wilderness, there was a small lake with a water temperature of 40 degrees Celsius all year round. We had picnic there after soaking into this wondrous gift of Kamchatka blessed by the nature.

Stunning landscape around the natural hot spring

To enjoy this natural pool of hot spring, one must take a helicopter to reach there

After arriving back at the hotel, I was ready to go to bed. At 22:30, a sudden yet incessant knocks on my door dragged me out of the bed. I opened the door, it was the hotel manager. 

"Come to my office! There's problem with your passport!"

Volcanoes seen from the chopper ride back to PK

What now?

(Click here to read Part 3)