My impressions and memories:
There were many reasons why I wanted to visit the Kuriles - they are far from the world's main tourist areas, the volcanic landscape is wild and unspoiled, and there is good scope for camping and hiking. I was not disappointed!
I enjoyed exploring Sakhalinsk, especially the markets and the remnants of the Soviet times, but I was glad to board the ship for Iturup. The voyage was more comfortable than I had expected, and it was good to see spectacular Kunashir and to briefly set foot on Shikotan.
Kurilsk was fascinating to visit, although I would not like to live there. I had not expected so many modern shops, and the hotel was good. Watching the fishermen, meeting Lenin, visiting the tiny church and walking around the mixture of houses was most enjoyable. Nonetheless, it must be a depressing place in winter.
Our first campsite was functional, but not very attractive. However the surroundings made up for this, with our trips to the geothermal plant, fumaroles and climb up the volcano, rounded off by an excellent visit to the hot waterfalls. Anatoli was a good guide, but as always I wished I could speak Russian to be able to communicate better with him.
The drive south was interesting, after the driver had remembered to tighten the scews to stop the wheel falling off. Visiting abandoned tanks was particularly fascinating. I cannot say that I very much enjoyed the following 8km walk with full rucksacks - on the level this was OK, but a couple of steep climbs were very hard work. The arrangements to meet Andrej at the fishing camp worked well, as did the journey in his inflatable boat. His safety measures (in particular life-jackets) were not up to standard, but he is clearly an experienced boatman. His camping site proved to be excellent, right next to the beach and with a wonderful view to Atsonupuri. The ornithologists there were good company, and we enjoyed our trips together.
Despite the uncertainty of transport (would the "tank" appear or not) we managed to see quite a lot of the area. It was fortunate that we were all prepared to be flexible and adapt to unplanned circumstances. Although we enjoyed the trip to Lion Rock, it took a long time, and would have been better if we could have broken the journey somewhere enroute, not least to have a toilet-break! I did not take part in climbing the volcano, but enjoyed the time in the forest and at the fishing camp Lesozavodskiy, where we were well received. It was perhaps a pity that we always left the camp in the same direction - south-west. For future visits, it might be even more interesting to try other directions - maybe along the coast to the north if there is something to see here.
The trip back went well, although I in particular was not looking forward to the 8km walk. As it happened, this was not necessary, as we were able to stay at the friendly fishing camp, and sail further up the coast in a small fishing boat, to meet our transport. The remaining time in Kurilsk was not very exciting, but we were aware that this was a "buffer" to allow for uncertainties about the ship's arrival. (I think the whole time management was extremely well done, given the sudden changes of plan which might have been forced on us. My congratulations to Marat and Valentina for this!)
We had sufficient time to visit the black Rocks (which were quite attractive on a small scale) but we are not sure if we saw the White Rocks. In any case, it was a good excursion out of the town.
The least pleasant part of the entire trip came when we were waiting at the harbour for the ship back to Sakhalin. The reservation system seemed to be very poor or non-existent, which resulted in us having to forcibly push our way through a slightly hostile crowd. It is to Valentina's credit that we managed to board the ship at all.
Back in Sakhalin we had more time to kill, but used this well to visit a wild part of the coast with spectacular rock formations, next to which we camped. During our stop by the busy beach on the way back, I was horrified at the amount of rubbish left lying around. We used our remaining time in Sakhalinsk to visit some more sights and markets.
Throughout the trip we all very much enjoyed Valentina's cooking, organisation, love of nature and good humour, which were a most important part in the success of the whole venture. Transport, permits, accommodation, guides and food were all very well organised. It is clear to me that it would have been impossible for a non-Russian speaking visitor from western Europe to organise this trip himself. I highly value the experience, local knowledge and contacts which you both bring, and your ability to somehow "fix" things when they occasionally don't work out as expected. It is very important that when problems arise, we should be informed right away - uncertainty about why things are happening, (or not happening), can be disturbing.
We were all astonished at the generally excellent weather, as we had expected to have rain every day. Although we were equipped to deal with this, it would have been much less pleasant. One half-disappointment was that we did not see any bears, even at a distance. Although potentially dangerous, it would also have added a touch of excitement! Next time, please provide at least one bear, at a safe distance (like in Kamchatka)!
This was not the most spectacular trip I have ever made, but was certainly one of the most enjoyable.
Thanks very much to you both.
Andrew
