Edge of the World

story - Olesya Novikova
photo - Viktor Gumenyuk and Olesya Novikova
translation - Alexander Pototskiy

post in russian read here

Two volcanoes 30 km away from a city. Both are active, one of them is erupting right at this moment.
View on volcanoes is most banal view you can get from our windows.
How much I was missing such "ordinary" things when I was away...

Welcome to Kamchatka! This is my home.

Ascend to volcano's summit once in a life. I made it twice.
Maybe my second life begins? Strange, but I didn’t notice this...



"This summer will be snow-less" – the most boring joke in Kamchatka.
"If this summer will be warm... " – the most popular phrase.



After couple of months somehow summer will come. I hope when it happens, I will have a day off. I will go to mountains or maybe to ocean. There is black sand on the shore. Not yellow, not white but really black.



We don't have spring. We don't have it at all. There is dark snow still on the streets. Then for a moment a flash of green and snow again, rather dirty it can gets.

It is really hard to find a place more unexpected than this. Kamchatka opened up not to everyone. Someone see only grayness of buildings, miserliness of summer, fogs and blizzards.

If you come for holidays there is a possibility that you will not see volcanoes because they are hidden from your eyes underneath a smoke. You will see nothing, just line of a horizon.



You can fly to Kamchatka with expensive and easy plans, but the weather here will not let you in Geyzers Valley even for awhile.

You can live here, work in an office, go to shop and night club, but you never will see eruption, never will spend a night at the foot of the volcano, never will breathe the sulfur, never will look into an eyes of a bear, never will raft on a river, never will freeze near ocean...

You can live on Kamchatka, but without Kamchatka.



I definitely know where the edge of the world is.
It is so far that you even can't go any further.



I am living there...

Author

Olesya Novikova is a young writer and traveler from Kamchatka. She backpacked in South-East Asia for 6 months, alone.After she is back to Kamchatka she wrote a book "Азиатское Притяжение". You can purchase her book in Russia. I met Olesya in Laos on October 2007.
Author's blog here

Asia without Borders. Interview by media.

Arseniev State Museum
Vladivostok, Russia
22 of July 2009

Translation of interview:

Hamock and sleeping bag instead of hotels. Adventureous journey instead of ordinary life. Straight from the post of boundary control to the hall of media conference. Results of cultural expedition - a trip to 7 Asian countries.

Alexander Pototskiy: I brought along some materials with me but the most important of all was a talk. I have to explain to people what is 'Asia without Borders' and the reasons why I did this. I have to search for those people that will be interested in this.

It was the first hitchhiking trip of Alexander Pototskiy. He initially planned to finish the whole expedition within 4 months, but in the end it took him almost two years to complete the whole journey.

USD400 was what he had at the beginning of the trip but there were easily fully spend too quickly. That is why the traveler have to do some part time jobs along the road.

China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and another 3 Asian countries. Some of them Pototskiy passed by few times. He worked together with Singaporean photographer and journalists from Malaysia. He spend almost half a year in Indonesia.

Alexander Pototskiy: Of course I love Russia, but I have lived there for 20 years already. I think its enough. I have this strong wish for adventures and new countries. So the remaining 20-30 years I want to spend on other countries.

Now this traveler from Vladivostok giving advices to people who preparing for long journey, writing a book and organizing a photo exhibition.

But desire for freedom is pulling him to new expedition.

Palina Pankova. Vesti Primorye.

Link: PTR