June 06, 2009

Finding Russian Adventures


Finding Russian Adventures

First you need to find a company or group of fellow-adventurers. If you don't have any friends in Russia interested in adventure travel, you can always write a letter. Say, to Gorbachev. This is no joke! In 1990, riding high on the wave of perestroika, a group of American friends wrote a letter to Russia, suggesting that the Cold War could be buried through bilateral adventure travel trips. The letter worked its way through the USSR tourism bureaucracy and landed in our laps. That year, we were among 20 Americans and 20 Russians who headed out to Karelia, to the Southern Shuya river. The Americans floated on rafts, the Russians on catamarans. Everyone spoke English, although of course the Americans picked up some Russian words along the way. Many of us keep in touch to this day.

One could also write to the Russian Federation of Sport Tourism. Their website (like most every site listed on this page) is only in Russian, but if you write in English, they will understand you and eventually answer. There are forums for people in interested in: sailboat tourism http://www.bit.ly/cssMAp; water tourism (kayaks, rafts, catamarans, baydarkas, etc.) http://www.bit.ly/apsoHi; and trekking, biking, spelunking and mountain climbing http://www.bit.ly/aEuUdH.

Keep in mind the Russian difficulty classifications. If you have never done adventure travel, you should stick to Category I trekking or river trips. Category II is considered somewhat extreme, and Category III and higher can be life threatening for those without previous experience at this level.

The website veslo.ru has a section “Looking for a fellow traveler” (Ищу попутчика) in water tourism: http://www.bit.ly/bM86Dm. You can post in English. I have seen Poles, Swedes and Brits looking for Russian comrades here. Is it safe? In my personal opinion, most likely yes, since adventure travel in Russia is as a rule pursued only by educated, responsible Russians.

This site is devoted to kayak tourism, but only at the more extreme levels: http://www.bit.ly/dpt6Vc

Clubs attached to Moscow State University have websites where they announce trips (in Russian) for mountaineering: http://www.bit.ly/d9kYK9 and water tourism: http://www.bit.ly/cwl3Dw

All the above are non-commercial offers, meaning that it is generally free or very low cost to participate. Members are responsible for the costs of their travel to and from the point of departure and return. The costs of food and equipment rentals are divided equally among the members.

There are, of course, also commercial adventure tourism options for Karelia: http://www.bit.ly/djepRP http://www.bit.ly/b9TVOx; Sayana and the Caucasus http://www.bit.ly/cjyMmv; Siberia and the Far East http://www.bit.ly/dnEhkt; and there is a clearing house of commercial tours for Karelia http://www.bit.ly/9B9xDc.

Those resident in the US should also check with reputable U.S. tour firms, such as Mir Corporation (mircorp.com – named one of the world’s best adventure travel companies by National Geographic Adventure).

Second, if you have a company or group and are ready to go, and they indicate that the conditions for your participation are that you bring your own supplies (kayak, life jacket, backpack, etc.), you would be best off looking at renting such items from a Russian company, rather than bringing them in with you. Here are some good sources:

Rental costs are roughly R200 per day for the first five days or week, R100 for the second five days or week.

Rail travel to your destination is also a cost to consider, and that can be investigated on the following sites: tutu.ru; rzd.ru. By way of example, a third class (плацкарт) ticket to Northern Karelia (about 30 hours by train), one-way, is about R1300 ($40); in a second class cabin (купе), it is about R2500 ($75). You can purchase tickets online at these sites.

Note: In Russia you cannot purchase your train tickets further than 45 days in advance. If you are planning to travel in the high season (July-August), you should plan to purchase your ticket(s) on the first day they become available.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955