Monthly Archives: January 2025

Do svidanya, Kamchatka; Nǐ hǎo China!…

You’ve had my photographic teaser, aperitif, and hour d’oeuvres already. Now for a photographic preview-overview of the whole trip. So, as the title says – off we go!…

The most beautiful place on earth, in my humble opinion, is Krenitsyn – the “king of all volcanoes” – on the Kuril island of Onekotan. The most beautiful region in the world is Kamchatka, where you can easily count more than a dozen natural objects of the highest category of unusualness and contemplativeness – that is, my “five-K”, or “KKKKK” category. Of course there are other places that are rich in various natural (and sometimes historical) delights and quirks, like New Zealand, Indonesia, Namibia, etc. But the richest country in terms of the sheer quantity, quality and… out-of-this-world-astonishingness of touristic delights is, of course, China. I wouldn’t be surprised if you can count already more than 50 absolutely magical places here that I’d strongly recommend visiting at the first opportunity. I compiled a list of Chinese must-sees back in 2018 as part of my Top-100 series, but today that list looks wholly incomplete…

Cue photo of one such must-see natural masterpiece ->

Read on…

A moment comes when memories of even the most powerful and almost-perfect trip to Kamchatka in the summer of 2024 begin to fade. That went for me recently. So I needed to refresh my memory…

But why was this trip only almost perfect, and not entirely? Simply because one week out of the three was spoiled by dreadful weather! Still, any experienced Kamchatka traveler will tell you that you should allocate at least 50% of your time for cyclones, rain, or just view-spoiling low cloud cover. Or a bigger percentage; or a much bigger percentage. Just ask Vitus Bering. So, as it turned out – we were lucky with just 33%.

In good weather, you see things here that you won’t see in everyday life. Well, except perhaps in Indonesia or New Zealand – though, even there, you won’t find such vivid phenomena as those in Kamchatka. For example, there’s the hot Khodutka lake, the hot beaches of Ksudach, the bright colors of the Koshelev volcano, and bears everywhere – Kamchatka exclusives.

In short, it’s simple: Kamchatka is the most magical place in the world for contemplation-meditation. It only just beat its nearest competitor (New Zealand), but it’s so much more interesting – than everything else on this planet!

As our trip was coming to a close, we took a final helicopter ride around the some of the peninsula’s hotspots (pun not intended!).

Farewell glimpses of southern Kamchatka – of bright colors and snow cover…

…And of the “greenery” of the volcanic ridges:

Read on…

Toward the end of our nearly three-week summer trip to Kamchatka, after already countless splendid days and endless incredible, breathtaking views that we were so fortunate to experience, we finally encountered the single most magnificent day of all. This day became unforgettable thanks to a walk around the peaks of Koshelev. This remote volcano, far from the main tourist routes, isn’t all that well-known, and it doesn’t always greet its rare visitors with good weather. We, however, were lucky: it treated us to an endless riot of shapes and a kaleidoscope of color:

The volcano itself is a complex structure formed by the merging of five (!) different volcanoes.

Read on…

Having had to sit out the bad weather the previous day, we woke the next morning to clear blue, sunny skies – a rare but actually possible climatic phenomenon in Kamchatka. So after a quick breakfast (the weather could turn later in the day, so we had to look sharp), we all hopped into the chopper and flew up to the peak of Kambalny volcano!…

Read on…

When descending the slope of Kambalny Ridge the volcanism goes into overdrive. Everything hissing, boiling, and bubbling, and with every color of the rainbow present. The overall result is a surrealistic scene – like a mini-Uzon. So, of course – we set up camp right in the middle of it!…

Alas, the weather wasn’t great…

Read on…

Happy New Year*, folks!

From the back end of each year and into the beginning of the following one, quite a few traditions are observed around the world. There’s “Catholic” Christmas on December 25 (that’s how it’s referred to in Russia!); there’s New Year (universally celebrated); and there’s Orthodox Christmas on January 7. In connection with the latter, there’s also another tradition of my own – my explaining why I tend to be quiet on these here blog-pages from late December to just after Orthodox Christmas, and why my “Happy New Year” greeting can seem, to some, several days late*: each day is a public holiday in Russia (this year: December 29 – January 8). But wait… There’s yet another tradition – also of mine: my festive mathematical brainteaser!…

The… necromancy of numbers, the elegance of equations… Yes – I am a mathematician by training, and yes – I never let you forget that early January of each year. But of course I don’t: for what better way is there to blow away the cobwebs of gloom brought on by the January blues?…

All righty. Explanations done. Let’s get to this year’s number-crunching riddle (actually – riddles)…

Top-level brainteaser

Using basic math (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing; brackets), turn “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” into the number of this year – 2025, neither changing the order of the numbers, nor combining them (e.g., 43+1+2).

For example, ((10 + 9) * (8 + 7) * (6 + 5) * 4) / 3 / 2 + 1 = 2091, but that’s no good as we need to get 2025.

Read on…