Amazing places in Russia that you rarely see in guidebooks
Lakes with multicolored water, rocks inhabited by ghosts, ancient abandoned cities and sands surrounded by ice – this is not a list of scenery for an adventure film, but points on the map of our country. This article is about the places in Russia that know how to impress!
Photo: Mikhail Gnatkovsky
Lake Elton, Volgograd Region
Photo: Viktor Vodolazky, vodolazky.com
Surrounded by a ring of white salt, Lake Elton is also called the golden bottom, because of the algae, the reservoir shimmers with all the colors of precious stones: from gold to pink and bright indigo. The lake is so shallow that you can literally walk on it: the average depth in summer is only 5 cm. This is a great opportunity to take beautiful reflection shots, creating the illusion of walking in the sky.
Diamond mine “Mir”, Yakutia
Photo: Sergey Kobakh, diesel-cat.ru
The man-made diamond quarry was called “Mir” for a reason: having discovered the source, geologists transmitted a coded radiogram to Moscow: “We lit the pipe of peace, the tobacco is excellent.” Why a pipe? It’s simple: that’s what geologists call such deposits. Today, the mine is no longer operating, and tourists have a chance to look at a quarry of colossal size – one and a half kilometers in diameter! The Yakuts believe that diamond deposits in their lands are connected with intervention from above: once it was so cold that a deity hovering in the sky froze his hand and dropped a whole bag of diamonds on the ground.
Chara Sands, Transbaikalia
Photo: WooFDriver, instagram.com
A sandy desert among glaciers – sounds like a mirage of a tired traveler. However, the Chara Sands is exactly the place where such an anomaly is found in reality: the hot desert is surrounded by the harsh glaciers of Kodar. True, this neighborhood makes its own adjustments: instead of camels – deer, and instead of palm trees in rare oases – larches and cedars. This contrast adds even more charm to the place.
Mount Big Bogdo, Astrakhan region
Photo: Sergey Poproshaev, instagram.com
Where did a mountain come from in the endless Astrakhan steppe, and even such an unusual color – red? This is due to the concentration of metals in its soil, but there is also a less prosaic explanation: according to legend, the nomadic Oirats, leaving their native expanses, wanted to take the mountain with them.
The monks carried it on their shoulders, however, one of them could not hold Bogdo – the mountain fell and remained in the middle of the steppe. This place is part of the Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Reserve, where comfortable conditions are created for tourists and excursions are conducted. Big Bogdo is the only mountain in the Caspian lowland.
Krenitsyn Volcano, Kuril Islands
Photo: Eugene Kaspersky, eugene.kaspersky.ru
Located on the island of Onekotan, the active volcano Krenitsyn is truly a unique phenomenon. This is not just a volcano, but a volcano within a volcano, and the largest in the world. Around its forested top, a lake ring closes, enclosed in flowering slopes – calderas. The bewitching landscape is complemented by the haze that has enveloped the lake – the scenery for the Jurassic
Glass Bay, Vladivostok
Photo: Yuri Smityuk, instagram.com
The pebbles and sand of the bay mingled with the sea-turned glass. Red, blue, yellow, green – what kind of pebbles are here! This is the perfect place for a spectacular photo session: glass pebbles shimmer in the sun with all the colors of the rainbow, sparkle and scatter colorful highlights everywhere. The glass bay is a unique phenomenon, you will not find a similar place in our country any more.
Kutkhiny Baty, Kamchatka
Photo: Sergey Grinev, kamchatkaland.ru
Sacred for Itelmens pumice rocks are a real place of power. According to legend, the creator of the world Kutkh, who loved to fish on the Kuril Lake, folded his boats upside down to go fishing at any time. This is how Kutkhiny Baty appeared – translated as “Kutkha boats” – picturesque slopes, the views of which tourists now admire. The locals make Kutkha figurines out of wood and bone: they are bought not only as souvenirs, but also as talismans.
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