Karelia
Theses about Karelia.
Route: Moscow-Sortavala-Petrozavodsk-Kem-Solovki-Staraya Ladoga-Moscow
Traveled 3.500 km
Crew 2 people (each traveled for 3 hours, there were no overnight stays on the road)
I want to mention 2 things right away: the report will express my personal opinion about what I saw, and there will be no description of these sights: this stuff is full on the Internet without me. So, theses.
1. Roads. We left at 5.30, although we were going at 5. It is not at all tedious to drive to Sortavala, despite the 969 km. Throughout the Moscow region, in every village they stand with radars: observe the speed limit, it’s hard to negotiate (according to rumors, because we didn’t have to meet them, thanks to the wisdom of my husband). If you prefer the same route, do not try to go to Sortavala through Priozersk and Landehpokhya: THERE IS NO ROAD THERE, THERE IS A GRADER. For those who do not know: imagine 52 km of slate a little powdered with earth.
The speed on this "track" is 20 km / h (+ a great opportunity to get on the suspension bulkhead later). At a speed of 30 km / h, only locals rush there. After Landehpokhya, the track is decent, but you won’t go more than 40 km / h there either, because it’s very winding, as if it was designed by a drunk first-year student at MADI.
There is a great road that saves both time and money. It was designed and built by the Finns. We learned about it only in Sortavala from the owners of the house where we lived. From St. Petersburg, leave on the M18, pass Petrozavodsk (you don’t need to go there !!! ) and go to the sign for Sortavala. And that's it, 2.5-3 hours and you are there. The route is straight, like a military charter. There is no such route on the 2 km. The road to Kem (M18) is quite decent, although there are slight bumps, it is nevertheless much better than the Riga highway after Volokolamsk)).
The only trouble is that foxes, cats, badgers and reptile moose come out on the road, especially at night (which I myself saw, and I sing about it: when they saw a moose jumping out of the bushes towards us, they froze a little from fear).
2. Ruskeli waterfalls. Even if you don’t want to see them, you still can’t pass by. They are half way to the marble quarry. There are also tents with barbecue food (delicious) and quality beer. Beautiful, yellow-brown water due to peat bogs. You can't swim there, but some of our fellow citizens apparently can't read, they're stupid.
3. Marble lakes. You leave Sortavala, turn to Vyartsilya, then drive straight through the Ruskele waterfalls, and after 21 kilometers (immediately after the 3rd bridge over the Tokhmajoki river) there will be a turn to the concrete road to the left at the “MARBLE LAKES” sign. There is a paid parking lot and cafes with beer (draft, quality) and barbecue.
Entrance to the park on weekdays 45r / person on weekends a little more expensive. This is without a guide, if with a guide, then more expensive. You can join the tour. Just do not make very smart faces and do not ask smart questions, otherwise you will very quickly go to survey the surroundings alone: the guides know their groups well))). Around the quarry there is a path covered with pebbles, so move along it.
There is no data on lost tourists in the area of the marble lake)). Inspection with photography at each observation deck will take 2 hours. After the exercise, you can rent a boat (150 rubles / boat per hour, seat up to 4 people)
Now for some lyrics. It's definitely worth a visit. A huge (456m x 109m) elongated bowl with very steep banks (height 22.5m) filled with emerald water (depth 31m). You feel like an insect and you feel very good from this feeling. What was there and why read on the Internet.
We came to this place twice: both in the rain and the sun, if there was time, we would come again. Diving happens in the same place (there is a ladder for descent attached to the rock - the test is not for the faint of heart, I climbed it - the sensations are higher than sexual ones))) one lake, only one of its shores is subject to research, the opposite shore is rocks and a forest ..
4. Ryumyakovskiy waterfall. A spectacle inaccessible to organized tourists (gloating)). Everything is located along the same road to the marble lakes. After the village of Ryuttu in the direction of the marble lake (the reference point on the left in front in the forest will be heaps of white sand, oh, we were looking for them ... ) after the stop, the concrete road will go to the left. But nevertheless, 100 meters will need to go through the forest. But the spectacle is worth it...The spillway is larger and higher than the Ruskeal ones.
There are rocks all around, and trees grow on the rocks. ) In fact, this is a former hydroelectric power plant. This place is well known by the locals, but they don’t know how to explain the road))): there are only two options for driving: straight ahead and back)) and they have landmarks: “you will pass 5 birches and turn at the pine tree”)))
5. Valaam. From Friday to Sunday, you will not go to Valaam on a comet, only organized groups are put there. We pushed our way to the pier with difficulty. With us, the guys tearfully begged the captain to take them on board, saying that they had not been to Sortavala and Valaam for the last day, but this did not help them either ((On Monday, we freely reached the island on the same comet ....And it cost Is it all such torment? For us - no: well, Balaam, so what??
Before the trip, I read such enthusiastic reviews on the Internet about peace and quiet, and God's grace ...As a result, we walked more than one kilometer along the promised land, waiting for this very grace to descend on us, but either we were walking under the wrong pines, either God had a day off))) In addition to the beautiful nature, there is actually nothing else there ...
By the way, the monks there are not at all evil and treat tourists quite normally, but pilgrims are another matter ...This is something with something! Now they sing songs, then they swear among themselves, then at wild tourists. The only thing that pleased me was a spontaneous trip to the sketes on a private boat. There are a lot of these boats at the pier.
In short, there are 3 ways to conquer Valaam: one by water (the most interesting: a local aborigine takes you to all the sketes, at the same time tells what, when and why, stops in interesting places and upon request, lets you go ashore to look at the skete closer, take pictures of the life of workers etc. ) and two by land (by minibus and on foot). There is nothing to say about the minibus, because they did not use it. I only know that it stops in the monastery and Nikonov bays (the distance between the bays is 7 kilometers, the road is good, and in good company you can walk it on foot)). The walking method is more tiring, because the distance is measured in kilometers and, with all the desire, the entire island cannot be bypassed in one day. And further. All bridges on the island (except stone ones) are destroyed, so from the White Skete you will only get to Smolensky. Be sure to get to Mount Eleon (near the Nikon Bay): at least here you will be provided with delight)) Yes, and more.
It is advisable to take a ticket only in one direction, because if you are fond of water and hiking on the island, then you will not get to the same comet, but to amuse the crew of another ship that you have already paid someone the return journey, I think you won't want to.
About prices: comet 300 + 300, motorboat 800 rubles / hour, parking at the pier 100 rubles / day. On Valaam, there are many zhrachny places near the pier: both monastic and worldly.
6. About housing. Booked a month in advance, confirmed every week. And as a result, the number was occupied by drunken Finns. But there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. They surrounded us with love and respect and took us to the private sector, saying that we could return to the hotel the next day. But, having examined the house on the banks of Ladoga, there was no question of returning: a sauna, a huge kitchen, 2 floors - and that's all for the two of us!! ! Fabulous!! ! And all the fun is 700 rubles / day per person. For those who seek, here are the coordinates: guest house "by the lake": 8 81.30 4 1.04, +7 92.221 6.19. You will not regret!
The owners will also tell you what else you can see and where to climb, and if you agree in advance, then they will organize fishing. We are going to go fishing with them. I won’t write about food, because there is a lot of information on the website “in Russia by car”. Everything is true.
7. Petrozavodsk. From Sortavala near Impilahti we go straight (without turning to Pitkyaranta) and after 250-300 meters a new road with excellent coverage and further straight to Yarn, and then the coverage is somewhat worse, but there are no holes to the capital of Karelia. The speed on this track is limited only by the presence of the floor under the gas pedal. We arrived in 3 hours. Somewhere on the websites I read about the perfection of the Onega embankment and its sculptures. Yes-ah-ah-ah ...Even Luzhkov's friend didn't spoil Moscow with his monsters as much as they mocked on this embankment ...from the heart.
Apparently, sculpture, architecture and stage died on the same day, when they saw the star factory, new houses in Moscow and the Onega embankment.
But the visit to the Kivach cafe finally knocked us down: such an institution exists as a warning that gluttony is a deadly sin. Absolutely frostbitten waitresses, so young and no longer there, I can’t write about food, because from one memory it starts to stir up. The situation was somewhat corrected by a stop for 2 days at the Sandal camp site near the lake of the same name (booked from Moscow). Not a bad place: a sauna, a fumigator in the room, and a hammock to swing, and a fire pit with a barbecue, and a boat ride on the lake (400 rubles / day), and the food is good.
8. Kivach. There is a pointer to the M18 highway. THE BEAUTY. There are food and souvenir shops nearby. You just need to come the sooner the better, because then tourists and pilgrims are brought up and they begin to climb stones with you and pose for each other in front of the camera.
Kizhi. Look at the photos on the Internet and calm down: consider that you have visited. If you are such lovers of wooden architecture, go to Veliky Novgorod, there is an open-air museum and it is much more interesting, unlike that sawmill. And if you are interested in the technology of building construction without a single nail, go to the village. Teryaevo, Volokolamsk district, the primary sources are still alive there))
10. Kem. From Petrozavodsk about 410 km + 26 km to Rabocheostrovsk. The route to Medvezhyegorsk is not bad, then in some places there are pits, somewhere closed up, somewhere not, but quite tolerable. There are no difficulties with gas stations, there are also TNKovskie, many with cafes. There are motels, you can spend the night next to them (which we used for 3 hours on the way back). A lot of long-range with the forest. Bee line, MTS and megaphone are caught everywhere. You can leave your car at the pier in Kemi (70 rubles per day), you can leave it at the Prichal hotel, but there were no free places at that time.
Rabocheostrovsk. For those who are not in the know, P. Lungin's film "The Island" was filmed there. When we got there, it was raining, leaden skies, a storm of 3 points and a temperature of +6. And against this background, black dilapidated houses are all around, a new church on the pier and not a single person. The spectacle and the prospect of spending the night in the car were not encouraging. In a local bar we find out that a boat should arrive in 4 hours, but it takes people to the fair on Solovki on advance payment, and if there are places in this group, they will take us. We go to the pier, it's cold as hell, there sit the Solovki poor fellows who need to get home and who, like us, have no agreement with anyone. We sit down next to them. A boat arrives, but as for evil, all the fair revelers appeared according to the list. Nevertheless, by our own agreement, at the official price of 450 rubles / person, we are taken on board and placed in our own cabins. Only 3 hours of pitching and we are on Solovki. From Rabocheostrovsk at 08.00.
00 departs "Vasily Kosyakov", he takes a wild tourist without any problems (we drove back on it: he leaves Solovki at 17.30, and starts planting with organized tour groups at 17.00), besides him there are many private carts (Pechak, Stvor, etc. ) and several monastery boats.
11. Solovki. It is necessary to go here, and you can also with tents (there is a tent camp), you can with bicycles, you can with kayaks, you can just like that. You need to come for at least 3 days. For 1 day it is very tiring and you will not have time to feel the spirit of the islands. Upon arrival, go to the St. Petersburg hotel (near the monastery): there they will help you with accommodation and sign up for excursions. The most important thing on Solovki is not to rush anywhere and walk very slowly, slowly. On Solovetsky Island, you can rent a bike (from 400 rubles / day to 800 rubles / day) and take a walk on your own, but for starters, it’s better to listen to excursions. It was especially good on Zayatsky Island.
You can walk around the monastery as much as you like, but for some reason the soul wanted to just be there and be silent and enjoy the peace. It is advisable to merge with some kind of excursion, but not with a pilgrimage, otherwise by the end of the story you will gloriously howl psalms in different ways)). The monastery, of course, is incomparable: strict, without idleness, with wooden domes, boulder walls that you want to touch, on which cats sleep, and on which flowers and trees grow. On Solovki, the monastery is the center of the universe: all distance reports come from it. There are signs everywhere and the locals will always tell you (if you find them)))), because there are only 1000 of them, and there are 2 or 3 more tourists, including foreigners). Yes, and more. The distances on the poles are indicated in kilometers, but in reality they are versts)))
We got to Sekirnaya Gora ourselves on bicycles (12-13 kilometers one way) and joined a group.
About sunsets on the nightingales, about the unusual rocky shore of the White Sea, about begging gulls that always accompany the boat, I won’t write about 5 more sheets. The only thing I’ll say more about is buildings. Most (if not all, except residential) have not been restored since the moment of construction, i. e. since the beginning of the 19th century. This is due to a special construction technology: lime logs were periodically soaked in salt water and dried for 10 years, and now they are not afraid of anything. So, the Don-Stroy company, this is not for you to add up the Scarlet Sails cubes)))
Prices in stores are comparable to Moscow, so there will be no surprise))
A separate word about mosquitoes. Their perseverance and ability to achieve their goals can be envied. They cannot be driven away with twigs and twigs, this only gives them perseverance. Glory to the Solovetsky mosquitoes!!!
If there is no mosquito repellent spray, you will not see the nightingales: you will be eaten alive even on the outskirts of the monastery. Saved Gardex for 1.5-2 hours, and they almost died from the mosquito.
12. Staraya Ladoga. Beautiful, impressive inside and out. This is perhaps all. I will definitely return to Solovki, but only to Solovki and most likely in the golden autumn. If you have any questions - write, I will definitely answer (chervv@yandex. ru)