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

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

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.
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.
The Moscow Eccentric

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.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Survival Russian

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.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
White Magic

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.
Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

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.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

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.

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
PO Box 567
Montpelier VT 05601-0567

802-223-4955