Valley of the Geysers not entirely destroyed

by Neil Woodburn on

Last June we reported the sad news that a landslide wiped out one of Russia’s most outstanding natural attractions: the Valley of the Geysers.

Although hardly known outside of Russia, this amazing valley, located in the heart of Kamchatka, was home to more than 90 active geysers before a mile-wide mudslide buried it forever–or so the reports at the time led us to believe.

Visitors to the scene–accessible only by helicopter–are now reporting that parts of the valley and its heralded geysers have actually survived. Thanks to a very detailed report by Spanishflyer on LiveJournal.com, we can now see for ourselves what was destroyed and what was spared by Mother Nature’s wrath. A combination of satellite and aerial photos as well as digital imagery clearly shows the path of the mudslide, the geysers destroyed, and the flooding which occurred when the nearby river was dammed by the mud.

The result is a severely damaged Valley of the Geysers that looks like it is still an amazing place to visit–albeit extraordinarily expensive to do so.

If you have the time, be sure to check out the website for a depressing feel for how fickle and temporal our natural world can be.

Angry passengers revolt at St. Petersburg airport

by Grant Martin on

Talk about overreacting to a flight delay. Passengers on an S7 flight between Frankfurt and Moscow that was diverted to St. Petersburg threw a fit when they found out their flight was further delayed and revolted. After they blockaded another flight from boarding in protest, “a boy in glasses who had been hired three months earlier” from S7 was dispatched to disperse them. He was promptly clobbered.

The Moscow Times article goes on to include some incredulous commentary, as well as some off-the-cuff remarks from the article’s source. Give it a read, close your eyes and try to picture the entire debacle.

I’ve been through Pulkovo a few times in the last few weeks and will admit, it does kind of suck. Nobody speaks English (much less German) and it can be really frustrating to get anything done. Come to think of it, I have distinct memories of being very angry in that airport, although in my defense I had a broken arm and was heavily medicated at the time. I wonder how I would have reacted in that situation.

Moscow’s best outdoor markets

by Neil Woodburn on

There is nothing quite like a Russian outdoor market.

Imagine a place where produce and goods from the largest country in the world come together in a bounty of pleasure. Throw in tastiness from the former soviet republics in Central Asia and the Caucuses, and you’ve got a veritable cornucopia of mouth-watering, eye-popping goods which make Moscow markets some of the very best in the world.

I’ve spent hours wandering through their spectacular array of eye candy, marveling over Siberian tomatoes, uzbek melons, dried fruit from Kazakhstan, hard cheese from Georgia, honey from Azerbaijan, and more. Man, it’s unfathomable how people ever went hungry in the former Soviet Union!

While most of these markets do not appear in your typical Moscow guidebook, they are most definitely worth a visit if you have the time. Just wandering around will give you a feeling for the breadth of the former USSR and the myriad of cultures and regional dishes spread throughout.

The Moscow Times has recently published a great article detailing Moscow’s very best outdoor markets and what one can expect when visiting. If you’ve got any type of palate whatsoever, reading through their description of goods for sale will make your mouth water up. As it did mine. Mmmm…

The challenges of foreign language menus: Or, how one restaurant in Moscow got away with serving dog to its customers

by Neil Woodburn on

Have you ever sat in a foreign restaurant with a poorly translated English menu and wondered why it looks so much shorter than the non-translated menu. Are there more dishes for the locals? Are the prices cheaper? Man, I’m always curious what I’m missing whenever this happens to me abroad!

Well, now I’m a lot more concerned after learning that a Chinese restaurant in Moscow has been shut down for serving dog meat. Sure, the Chinese language menu clearly stated that it was dog–a delicacy in parts of Asia–however, the same dish on the menu translated into local Russian stated that the meat was lamb.

To make things worse, the owners of the restaurant were procuring their dog meat from the large amount of strays wandering around Moscow. In fact, according to a Moscow Times interview with the local police spokesman, the only reason the owners were caught was because someone “reported seeing a truck pull up to the restaurant and restaurant employees unloading bags in which something was moving and whining.”

So, let that be a lesson to you; learn to read foreign language menus or at least avoid those restaurants in which the food is still whining when it arrives through the back door.

My favorite corpse

by Neil Woodburn on

My favorite corpse lies in state in Moscow. It’s been there since 1924, all dolled up in a fancy suit and tie. Sure, its brain is missing and probably most all of its organs, but the remaining shell still looks all shiny and new as though Vladimir Lenin had died just yesterday.

Every morning a line begins to form on the edge of Red Square to pay respects to my favorite corpse. It’s mostly just tourists these days, but during Soviet times that line stretched unfathomably long in even the coldest of weather. The communist faithful came here to honor the father of the Soviet state; today Lenin’s corpse serves as more of a morbid curiosity than a revered historical figure. Mausoleum guards still demand that rubbernecking tourists show respect, however, and they maintain a hushed, churchlike atmosphere within the crypt.

There is nothing on this planet quite like the Lenin Mausoleum. Sure, there are other places one can see dead bodies or mummified remains on this Halloween day, but none will look as remarkably lifelike as good old Vladimir. So, if you happen to be in Moscow today, spare a moment to go and visit my favorite corpse; tell ’em that Gadling sent you.