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Oh, look at this thread I found; it's a great place to do some "Necropolis-posting."
So, as I've already buzzed in everyone's ears—yes, I only just got back from Karelia today! A fairytale land with incredibly beautiful landscapes, most of which I unfortunately failed to photograph. But a little tip: when driving through Karelia in the summer, it's best to go between 4 and 6 AM; when the thick fog rolls in, the forests and marshes are especially breathtaking. It feels as if you've stepped into a fairytale or traveled back in time about a thousand years.
I went on a tour package from a travel agency; the program included a "whirlwind" sightseeing tour—which for me was just right for a first introduction. I already want to go back :3
Day 1.
After a sleepless night, they brought us to the hotel to drop off our bags and feed us. The hotel is very cute and cozy inside, although from the outside it looks like a terrifying Soviet gray box in the worst sense of the word. The food is actually a bit monotonous, but there's hot tea in unlimited quantities. After breakfast, they gave us a sightseeing tour of Kondopoga. By the way, the name translates to "bear's corner."
The town is quite small and very cozy. To my great regret, I only managed to take photos along the tour route, while the ice palace and some very cute modern high-rises remained off-camera. And we only got to hear one set of carillons. We didn't listen to the organ at all. Here are photos of both carillons and the house with the organ.
Then they caught us and brazenly dragged us to the Kivach waterfall. But I'm not offended. Look how beautiful it is.
Then we stocked up on souvenirs and went to the ancient Girvas volcano. Here, a little "surprise" awaited us—the volcano is located next to an operating hydroelectric station, which decided to let some water drain through it under the cover of noise. The guide said this is a very rare phenomenon and hoped we wouldn't be offended if another picturesque waterfall awaited us instead of basalt boulders. We weren't offended.
While I was waiting to leave the volcano, I found this little beauty right next to the bus:
After lunch, a boat awaited us with a "Schumacher" of the shipping world, who counted every wave along the way. But he did get us to Kizhi. In Kizhi, they told us a lot about the churches, wooden architecture, and the life of ancient Northern Russians, as well as other interesting things. Well, the guide can tell you that better than I can, so I'll just post a few photos. Of course, the magnificent wooden church is there, but we couldn't get inside because it's being slightly restored.
Day 2.
After dinner (someone forgot to pay for dinner in advance and ran off for some forage, photographing the second carillons on the way), finally taking a shower and getting some sleep, we went to two workshops. They taught us how to bake traditional kalitki—these are rye pies with porridge or potatoes, or as a last resort, cottage cheese. Then we strummed the kantele for a bit; these are local gusli, they sound very beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't hear "Smoke On The Water" on this instrument.
Karelians are terribly proud of the "Kalevala" epic, which was passed down by word of mouth including within the republic; they mention this epic whenever they get a chance, so it's no wonder they love the kantele so much, as Väinämöinen—the main hero of this epic—played them. In the workshop hall at the hotel, there is a small installation of him and his companions.
Then the normal people went rafting, but Kosha, fearing for her health, didn't want to get wet and, in the company of other timid souls and another Schumacher, went to a tourist base hidden in the depths of the Karelian forests. I hoped Lake Onega wouldn't be too cold, but no; I stepped into the water up to my knees, wandered around, thought about it, and went back for warm socks. But I wanted it so much... I'll have to harden myself by the next trip; probably, the locals only swam like that and they're fine. Here are a couple of crooked selfies with a tilted horizon.
After cuddling the local dogs (far from huskies, mixed breeds at best) and counting all the bumps and mosquitoes in the local marsh ("our dogs are tame, affectionate, you can walk them for free, the leashes are hanging there on the hook"), I looked at the sky and ran for my camera. A few things turned out okay, but it's only a pale imitation of the original. This is something you have to see with your own eyes.
Day 3.
This day turned out to be relatively calm. A workshop (a guardian doll for the road), a small quiz on "how well we know our tourist base and Karelia," a walk to the village of Vatnavolok—that's how we entertained ourselves until lunch. There are few photos; besides, I don't really want to post completely random people here. The dog isn't from the base, it's a village one, but looks very much like the beauty at the base—same fluffiness and different colored eyes. It let me cuddle it willingly.
After lunch, there was a small quiz in a shamanic chum, sitting by the campfire, various rituals and tricky questions; as a result, I received two badges (I gave one to some boy, I don't mind, and he was happy) and a lollipop (because I behaved like a five-year-old child, lol). They also announced the quiz results; our team won a bottle of cloudberry tincture, which was solemnly handed over to me again. I'm not greedy, so while eating through a lingonberry pie, the tincture successfully made its way around the entire dining hall; it seems no one was left out. Not many photos from this part. I hope the animator-guide won't be offended that I posted her on ХВ. She's a soulful lady, kind and cheerful. They didn't take a great photo of me with her, but oh well.
Day 4.
Mornings aren't always good, especially if at five AM you are kicked out of your warm bed into a drizzling rain, and in your paws is a heavy bag with clothes and goodies. But if you manage to nap on the bus, and one of Karelia's most beautiful sites is ahead, life is bearable. By the time we reached Ruskeala, the rain had stopped. There was no sun, alas, but at least it wasn't drizzling.
This is an abandoned marble quarry, entirely man-made, insanely beautiful; a gazillion movies were filmed against its backdrop, although you can film it even without movies. A few photos plus the remains of the mine that weren't flooded.
Near Ruskeala, before reaching it, there is a very cute waterfall. For some reason, only one showed up in my photos; apparently, it's particularly photogenic. Unlike me, lol.
Last, but not least, on our schedule was Valaam. Now, I am far from the most religious person, but there is such a reverent atmosphere on the island; you can feel that it's a holy place. I didn't forget to take photos, though they didn't allow photography inside the church. And I didn't really want to; the lower church is actually quite modest, but the upper one cannot be captured in any photo—you definitely have to see it with your own eyes, all those frescoes, feel that atmosphere; I was completely delighted, I didn't even want to leave.
Also, the local monks or assistants put on a mini-concert of church choral singing for us. The guys have incredibly beautiful and powerful voices; they sang simply magnificently.
This is how the improvised concert hall was set up; you can take photos there. If you want an idea of the frescoes in the upper church—multiply this beauty ten times.
On the way back, I enjoyed the views of Lake Ladoga in the evening. Sorry for the tilted horizon, the meteor was shaking.
As a bonus, photos from the surroundings of Valaam. Just so you understand, the landscape is quite typical for Karelia. Can you imagine what beauty they live in?
In the evening, we went home. At one AM, we passed through Porebrik-city; now I plan to visit there too—it's a shame Kosha has never been there once in her life until last night.
Overall, my only regret is that the water turned out a bit too cold for me; otherwise, it was complete delight and adoration, even the mosquitoes didn't bother me much. Speaking of mosquitoes, I occasionally encountered souvenirs with such themes :) (sorry for the crooked photo)
In short, 10/10, I am completely delighted, Karelia fareva.
So, as I've already buzzed in everyone's ears—yes, I only just got back from Karelia today! A fairytale land with incredibly beautiful landscapes, most of which I unfortunately failed to photograph. But a little tip: when driving through Karelia in the summer, it's best to go between 4 and 6 AM; when the thick fog rolls in, the forests and marshes are especially breathtaking. It feels as if you've stepped into a fairytale or traveled back in time about a thousand years.
I went on a tour package from a travel agency; the program included a "whirlwind" sightseeing tour—which for me was just right for a first introduction. I already want to go back :3
Day 1.
After a sleepless night, they brought us to the hotel to drop off our bags and feed us. The hotel is very cute and cozy inside, although from the outside it looks like a terrifying Soviet gray box in the worst sense of the word. The food is actually a bit monotonous, but there's hot tea in unlimited quantities. After breakfast, they gave us a sightseeing tour of Kondopoga. By the way, the name translates to "bear's corner."
The town is quite small and very cozy. To my great regret, I only managed to take photos along the tour route, while the ice palace and some very cute modern high-rises remained off-camera. And we only got to hear one set of carillons. We didn't listen to the organ at all. Here are photos of both carillons and the house with the organ.
Then they caught us and brazenly dragged us to the Kivach waterfall. But I'm not offended. Look how beautiful it is.
Then we stocked up on souvenirs and went to the ancient Girvas volcano. Here, a little "surprise" awaited us—the volcano is located next to an operating hydroelectric station, which decided to let some water drain through it under the cover of noise. The guide said this is a very rare phenomenon and hoped we wouldn't be offended if another picturesque waterfall awaited us instead of basalt boulders. We weren't offended.
While I was waiting to leave the volcano, I found this little beauty right next to the bus:
After lunch, a boat awaited us with a "Schumacher" of the shipping world, who counted every wave along the way. But he did get us to Kizhi. In Kizhi, they told us a lot about the churches, wooden architecture, and the life of ancient Northern Russians, as well as other interesting things. Well, the guide can tell you that better than I can, so I'll just post a few photos. Of course, the magnificent wooden church is there, but we couldn't get inside because it's being slightly restored.
Day 2.
After dinner (someone forgot to pay for dinner in advance and ran off for some forage, photographing the second carillons on the way), finally taking a shower and getting some sleep, we went to two workshops. They taught us how to bake traditional kalitki—these are rye pies with porridge or potatoes, or as a last resort, cottage cheese. Then we strummed the kantele for a bit; these are local gusli, they sound very beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't hear "Smoke On The Water" on this instrument.
Karelians are terribly proud of the "Kalevala" epic, which was passed down by word of mouth including within the republic; they mention this epic whenever they get a chance, so it's no wonder they love the kantele so much, as Väinämöinen—the main hero of this epic—played them. In the workshop hall at the hotel, there is a small installation of him and his companions.
Then the normal people went rafting, but Kosha, fearing for her health, didn't want to get wet and, in the company of other timid souls and another Schumacher, went to a tourist base hidden in the depths of the Karelian forests. I hoped Lake Onega wouldn't be too cold, but no; I stepped into the water up to my knees, wandered around, thought about it, and went back for warm socks. But I wanted it so much... I'll have to harden myself by the next trip; probably, the locals only swam like that and they're fine. Here are a couple of crooked selfies with a tilted horizon.
After cuddling the local dogs (far from huskies, mixed breeds at best) and counting all the bumps and mosquitoes in the local marsh ("our dogs are tame, affectionate, you can walk them for free, the leashes are hanging there on the hook"), I looked at the sky and ran for my camera. A few things turned out okay, but it's only a pale imitation of the original. This is something you have to see with your own eyes.
Day 3.
This day turned out to be relatively calm. A workshop (a guardian doll for the road), a small quiz on "how well we know our tourist base and Karelia," a walk to the village of Vatnavolok—that's how we entertained ourselves until lunch. There are few photos; besides, I don't really want to post completely random people here. The dog isn't from the base, it's a village one, but looks very much like the beauty at the base—same fluffiness and different colored eyes. It let me cuddle it willingly.
After lunch, there was a small quiz in a shamanic chum, sitting by the campfire, various rituals and tricky questions; as a result, I received two badges (I gave one to some boy, I don't mind, and he was happy) and a lollipop (because I behaved like a five-year-old child, lol). They also announced the quiz results; our team won a bottle of cloudberry tincture, which was solemnly handed over to me again. I'm not greedy, so while eating through a lingonberry pie, the tincture successfully made its way around the entire dining hall; it seems no one was left out. Not many photos from this part. I hope the animator-guide won't be offended that I posted her on ХВ. She's a soulful lady, kind and cheerful. They didn't take a great photo of me with her, but oh well.
Day 4.
Mornings aren't always good, especially if at five AM you are kicked out of your warm bed into a drizzling rain, and in your paws is a heavy bag with clothes and goodies. But if you manage to nap on the bus, and one of Karelia's most beautiful sites is ahead, life is bearable. By the time we reached Ruskeala, the rain had stopped. There was no sun, alas, but at least it wasn't drizzling.
This is an abandoned marble quarry, entirely man-made, insanely beautiful; a gazillion movies were filmed against its backdrop, although you can film it even without movies. A few photos plus the remains of the mine that weren't flooded.
Near Ruskeala, before reaching it, there is a very cute waterfall. For some reason, only one showed up in my photos; apparently, it's particularly photogenic. Unlike me, lol.
Last, but not least, on our schedule was Valaam. Now, I am far from the most religious person, but there is such a reverent atmosphere on the island; you can feel that it's a holy place. I didn't forget to take photos, though they didn't allow photography inside the church. And I didn't really want to; the lower church is actually quite modest, but the upper one cannot be captured in any photo—you definitely have to see it with your own eyes, all those frescoes, feel that atmosphere; I was completely delighted, I didn't even want to leave.
Also, the local monks or assistants put on a mini-concert of church choral singing for us. The guys have incredibly beautiful and powerful voices; they sang simply magnificently.
This is how the improvised concert hall was set up; you can take photos there. If you want an idea of the frescoes in the upper church—multiply this beauty ten times.
On the way back, I enjoyed the views of Lake Ladoga in the evening. Sorry for the tilted horizon, the meteor was shaking.
As a bonus, photos from the surroundings of Valaam. Just so you understand, the landscape is quite typical for Karelia. Can you imagine what beauty they live in?
In the evening, we went home. At one AM, we passed through Porebrik-city; now I plan to visit there too—it's a shame Kosha has never been there once in her life until last night.
Overall, my only regret is that the water turned out a bit too cold for me; otherwise, it was complete delight and adoration, even the mosquitoes didn't bother me much. Speaking of mosquitoes, I occasionally encountered souvenirs with such themes :) (sorry for the crooked photo)
In short, 10/10, I am completely delighted, Karelia fareva.
А, вот почему.
🏹🎪+⛓️♿=💕
🏹🎪+⛓️♿=💕