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Karelia –
OutdoorParadise 
I’m a pathological
optimist ;-).
This is why I still hope to find takers for the
special trip that combines almost everything I like: history, art, culture and
Russian natural wilderness. The two weeks trip consists of one week sightseeing
in Moscow and St. Petersburg and one week of paddling down one of the Russian
rivers.
For paddling expedition I picked Karelia, region in
northwest of Russia, called “blue eyed” for the abundance of lakes and rivers.
Convenient location of the region (overnight train from Moscow or St.
Petersburg), scenery and moderate complexity of the Karelian rivers (no
experience necessary for the route I’ve chosen, only good physical health) make
the region very popular among the water travelers. Complexity of the route
increases gradually that gives the participants to get an experience and skills
to work together. Despite the fact that it is quite close to Petrozavodsk
(capital of Karelia), the travelers find themselves among wild and austere
surroundings, in forests abounding in mushrooms and berries. Fishing is usually
good as well. With every twist and turn of the river, stunning vistas come into
view, and unexpected adventures await travelers who are sure to enjoy them,
even if they are quite experienced in this sort of things. In terms of
difficulty the river is suitable both for beginners and for experienced
adventure-seekers. We’ll paddle down the river and camp in the wilderness for
6 days enjoying fishing, picking berries and mushrooms and enjoying campfire at
night. There are Russian sauna and Kizhi Island in the agenda of the trip.
Our trip through the Karelian outback, down the rapid-strewn river among virginal forests, ends up in Petrozavodsk, where my guests will return to civilization to stay with it for a long time to come. However, after the week of adventure in Karelia, they cannot but doubt some of its values.
TENTETIVE ITINERARY
Day 01 Arrive Moscow. Homestays with
Russian families. Light dinner.
Day 02 Full day sightseeing tour of
Moscow. BLD
Day 03 Today we use public transportation to get to
the points of our interest. Walking tour of Kremlin. Armory Chamber. After
lunch stroll at the Arbat street (Mecca for souvenirs shopping and watching
people). BLD Leaving Moscow for Karelia by night train.
Day 04 Arrival to Petrozavodsk, capital of Karelia, in
the morning. Transfer to the tourist refuge.
A bus will take the group from
Petrozavodsk railway station first to the lodge (20 miles from Petrozavodsk)
where breakfast will be served. Participants leave their belongings that won’t
be needed during the trip at the lodge, put on water outfits, load traveling
gears and headed to the starting point of the adventure.
Then the bus will take you from the
lodge to the upper reaches of the river, and from here you will cover 65 mile
down the picturesque Shuya river in five days.
Days 05-8. Expedition down
the Shuya.
We’ll paddle down the river and
camp in the wilderness for 6 days
enjoying fishing, picking berries and mushrooms and enjoying campfire at night.
Day 09. Return to the tourist
refuge. Russian sauna.
Day 10. Excursion to the Kizhi
Island (to Kivach national reserve if weather won’t permit to go to Kizhi).
Transfer to the Petrozavodsk railway station. Departure for St.-Petersburg.
Day 11 Arrive in St. Petersburg. Sight-seeing program
in St. Petersburg, Church of the Savior
on the Blood. BLD
Day 12 Tour Hermitage. BL
Day 13 Peterhof – the palace and park ensemble with famous
fountains. BL
Day 14 The St. Isaac’s Cathedral and Yusupov palace.
BL
Day 15 Return flight.
Price:
$1725
(land only). Airfare, visa fees, theater and circus tickets are extra.
Group
size: up to 10 people
Everything will be taken care of: all meals but two dinners in St.
Petersburg, lodging, sightseeing (museum fees included), land transportation. All white water and camping equipment for expedition will be
provided: tents, PFD-life vests, boats - catarafts or inflatable kayak (plastic
kayak or tandem canoe by request). Participants need to bring only their
personal equipment (recommended list will be provided).
Special note: if you have a group of experienced
paddlers who’d like to paddle in Russia we can consider more complicated route.
Give me your objectives asmbl@mail.ru
and I’ll come up with the suggestions.
Brief information of places to be visited:
Karelia
Karelia lies in the northwest of
Russia, between Finland and the White Sea. 18% of Karelia’s territory is
covered with lakes, 50% with woods.
Karelia is hill country with abundance
of rocks and boulders left behind by glacier. Karelian rivers peppered with
rapids; quiet stretches are frequently interrupted by places where the stream
turns fast, though usually rapids are not very long. This makes Karelian rivers
pretty safe place to improve one’s paddling skills. In terms of difficulty the
Shuya is suitable both for beginners and for experienced adventure-seekers.
Karelian wilderness is famous for it’s fishing, mushroom hunting and picking
berries.
Kizhi
This island in Lake Onega is a truly
fascinating place. Here on a strip of land several kilometers long, among these
picturesque surroundings, unique monuments of Russian and Karel wooden
architecture from the 14th –19th centuries have been
collected at an open-air museum. The main treasure of Kizhi is the
twenty-two-domed 18th-century church of Transfiguration built
without a single nail and regarded as an architectural and historical monument
of world significance. The famous Russian poet, Yevgenij Yevtushenko, called
Kizhi a “song in wood”.
Home page About myself Small group tour to Russia Restoration of an
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