Exploring the Wild Far East of Russia : Kuril Islands

Welcome to one of the most fascinating and disputed regions in the Pacific, the Kuril Islands. Let's visit the land that very few have seen and even fewer truly understand and explore the most scenic parts of the islands. The Kuril Islands are a volcanic archipelago stretching between Japan's Hokkaido and Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. For many years, I had a wish to see this remote part of Russia. I will share my secret with you. Actually, the pictures of these islands are one of the reasons that made me want to explore Russia in the beginning. But the islands are so remote that I've traveled all over Russia before I could reach this place. And finally, welcome to Iturub Guys, if you like traveling and learning about new cultures as well, I would like to take a moment to introduce you to a language learning platform Lingopi, which allows you to learn a language by watching videos and movies with subtitles. On Lingopi, I have instant access to hundreds of foreign TV shows and content in 14 languages. When I watch a show on Lingopi, I see scripts of the videos, I can click on the words to translate them, and I can get an instant After watching a show, I can practice the words with flashcards, quizzes, or with a word master. And there is also a Say It feature, which allows me to practice pronunciation and to get instant feedback on it. Currently, I'm learning Italian, and on the platform I can find cartoons, comedies, dramas, shows about Italian culture, travel and food, audiobooks, podcasts, and songs. In my opinion, it's so much better to practice a language while watching fun content than just spend that time in vain. One subscription on Lingopi gives you access to all the languages. The link in the description will give you 7 days free trial and 55% discount on the annual plan. Rup is the largest of the Kuril Islands. The island stretches from north to south for 200 kilometers, and its width varies from 27 to just 7 kilometers. The east of the island is washed by the Pacific Ocean, and the first thing I wanted to do when I arrived is to see and to touch the ocean. The Kasatka Bay is known for storms, winds, and fogs. They say that because this place is hidden in fog most of the time, the Japanese chose it for their secret military base. It was from this bay that powerful Japanese aircraft carriers and ships were dispatched to the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941. In 1945, following the war with Japan, the USSR took over the Kuril Islands, including Iturup. However, Japan later claimed the southern Kuril Islands, and the dispute between Russia and Japan still remains unresolved. And now let's head to the west part of the island, which is washed by the Sea of Okhotsk. The white cliffs on Iturup were formed approximately 20,000 years ago by an underwater volcanic eruption. The molten rock boiled and foamed, eventually crystallizing into porous pumice. The beach at the foot of the cliffs consists of a mixture of white quartz and black titanium magnetic sand. It's believed that the Japanese added this sand to the steel used to make samurai swords. When it's cloudy, the cliffs look gray, but when the sun appears, their color becomes snow white. And the combination with bright green forests make this place look like a paradise. The Kuril Islands are located in the area of the Pacific Ring of Fire. It's a unique zone containing 75% of all active volcanoes on Earth and 90% of the most destructive earthquakes. And Iturup is one of the most volcanically active islands in the whole archipelago. Despite the island's small size, Iturup is home to 20 volcanoes, 9 of which are active. Baranski volcano is one of the active ones, and at the foot of this volcano there is a boiling hot river. So, three years ago I found out about existence of Iturup island. I saw pictures of the island, my immediate thought was wow, I really want to go there, what is this place? And I was in the far east and I was trying to find tickets to Iturup, but there were no tickets available because it Then for two summers in a row I also didn't have a chance to come here, so it's quite expensive. Now I'm here in the middle of a really wild lake, there's absolutely nobody, probably bears around there on the land. This place feels so wild and calm, my dream came true, and I just want to say to everyone to live with an open heart and to follow your heart's desires, and if you don't go against your true desires, not the ones that people try to put on you in the cities, that you need to be this, you need to be that, if you follow the true desires, the world will always find a way for you to make your wishes come true. I'm so happy to be here. you