19. Ust Kamchatsk: The end of the first Kamchaka Adventure..
"Kamchatka Peninsula" by Bike and Kayak
Tue 7 Aug 2012 06:14
After the euphoria of arriving at Ust Kamchatsk, and the Bering Sea, I awoke in my huge comfy guest house accommodation, with a great relaxed feeling, of 'no pressure to move on today', and I could just sit back relax and let the feeling of the last 20 days on the road, come out of me. There was even a TV, and it even had the Olympic games broadcast, but with Russian commentary. You have no idea how strange it is, suddenly having passive entertainment at the press of the button, after no TV for more than a month now. The novelty soon wears off, and mindless, lack of involvement / participation soon wears on one, and I left on my bike to explore the town. Ust Kamchatsk is quite fragmented and spread out. I was staying in the sort of midtown, older section, which has mainly the traditional Siberian timber houses, many of which are literally falling apart. I walked past on that the previous day was all in tact, but today the main from window frame had just fallen out with a huge gaping hole into the lounge and dining room. My mid town area has it's own Lenin square, but sadly the stature of Lenin only just sticks out above the overgrown square, his soul clearly no longer part of this community and a new soul is trying to be kindled in the new part of town.
There is a terrible road, this being the worst ever public road I've driven on, that leads about 4 km to this new section of town that looks like it could be where the future lies. Lots of quite large colourful, concrete (rather than wood) apartment buildings built around a huge, but quite derelict village square and open playground area. Where all these people work and what jobs they all do is a mystery.
A very modern, yet, traditional Russian mosque like Christian church has been built adjacent to this square area, and looks destined to be the focal point of a new community rest place.
Heading back and then east towards the Kamchatka river one finds the commercial harbour at the mouth of the river, and ferries that take one across the river to the south bank and the peninsula that has the river one side and the Bering sea the other, until the river actually ends in the Sea.
The south bank looks like it was a busy industrial centre in the communism days, but today of much of it looks derelict and the river side was just a naval graveyard of abandoned ships and ferries beached on the river bank, rusting away.
Desperate to contact the Bering Sea, as a sentimental end to my trip from the Pacific to the Bering, I cycled out along this peninsula on a lonely, heavily corrugated road. Seeing a foot path running parallel, but closer to the sea side, I took my chances. It was smoother, no dust, and led me closer to the breaking waves of the Bering, but also into this quite astonishing Russian cemetery, literally laid out in volcanic beach sand a hundred metres from the waterline, and stretching for at least a kilometre up the peninsular. Very informal, but also having from simple to ornate, and indiscreet to meaningful these burial sites were very interesting and had a surprisingly sentimental impact on me.
I n pursuit of my Bering Sea goal I walked on to the sea, and along the almost black sand beach just above the shore break tide mark. I couldn't believe my eyes as I saw three lots of separate grizzly bear foot prints along the same path I was taking. They couldn't have been more than 24 hours old!! I'd never expected to find these here...Hmmm, more reference adjustment, and you'd better stay more alert!
It felt good to touch the Bering Sea, and then it was time to head back.
There is just one café / restaurant I've found in Ust Kamchatsk, so once again it won't rate up there as one of the culinary and entertainment capitals of the world.
I decided to take the days off to write all these webdiary posts, both for you the valued reader, but also for me as I find this writing process but therapeutic and valuable for bringing out the intensity of my experience. I hope you get something at least of some small value as you navigate your own unique path in life.
I also decided that I'd take the bus back to Petropavlosvk Kamchatka, but stop at Kozersvsk and try summit Tobalchik. I also have made a commitment to myself to try and find a canoe or kayak that I can do the river paddle from Milkovo to Ust Kamchatsk. The magical Kamchatka river has sucked me in!
Whether this is all possible, we shall soon see..