Kamchatka: Life in the Shadows of the Volcanoes | SLICE TRAVEL | FULL DOC

[Music] a near forgotten World in Eastern Russia nine time zones and a good 6,000 kilm from Moscow is Kamchatka a peninsular in the Bearing Sea it's short summers are mild but in the wintertime temperatures drop to below -30 dozens of volcanoes spew Ash and gas into the atmosphere to this day cam is home to numerous ethnic groups such as the itans the allo and the kaks it's very important to us to nurture our own way of life and to pass it on to our children that's the only way to keep our Traditions alive cam chatka was closed to visitors for decades the environment therefore remains largely untouched it's a battle not just for survival we're fighting to preserve what we've got here because kamat's environment is unique and we have to protect it there's still no road to the Russian Mainland those who want to get to cam chatka have to go by boat or by plane cam chatka is home to around 400,000 people though the region is larger than Germany most of the inhabitants live in the town of Petra pavlos I know many people who've moved away most were people of the sea they're returning during the season again in order to earn some money cam chakka was closed for more than 60 years while the indigenous population lived permanently on the peninsula soldiers fishermen and their families were only allowed to settle here for a limited period in addition peris Striker brought economic decline it was very tough for the people something had to be done in the '90s you had to find a moneymaking niche occupy it and build something for yourself to stay or to go the first generation those who were born here are grown up now they've built a livelihood for themselves but what keeps people here at the end of the world how did this remote spot become a home for so many migrants [Music] Dawn it's Saturday morning the Emissary of the Nordic peoples has a full schedule first Julia vasila has to help a family with a problem then she has to visit relatives on the west coast but before that she heads into the undergrowth now in late summer is the best time to gather fungi Julia and her daughter Daria are members of the itman [Music] people my grandmother took me to the forest to gather mushrooms and berries just like my grandchild now I always watched she showed me what was safe to eat and what not 14-year-old Daria is at an age when young girls dream of becoming film stars or a career on the catwalks of the big cities I'd never leave C chatka maybe to go on holiday but I'd always come back this is my home it's familiar to me it's the best place on Earth this quantity of fungi isn't unusual for cam chakka everything nature provides it provides plentifully [Music] Julia's destination is an alloyed family who live in the wilderness in the south of the peninsula they breed sleigh dogs but they don't have much to do except in wintertime that's why they've invited Julia she represents the descendants of the indigenous population in the local Parliament and she knows how to get the aid money of the Russian Federation it's a matter of survival for the family their own money often doesn't suffice for dog breeder Andre sashkin wife and their children Andre wants State funds for the dogs and because there are only dog slay races in the winter time he has an idea for Autumn he wants to put on a child dog race with his dogs and the children thereby revive an ancient tradition the dog sets the speed and pulls the little Runners these races used to take place during the Soviet era we used to have state support a lot has changed and we have to see how we get by on our own our dogs are our Capital we feed them and they feed us the races are very popular all the children from the surrounding area join in we have to run and train a lot they tell us the dogs need to be exercised too C we want to know what they expect from this race prizes they say they don't yet know who's taken what place but they think Olga is the fastest because she's got the fastest dog Andre has set up a yur on his property this is where people come together when important issues need discussing like in days by the family members sit together in a circle around the fire Julia has an educational function because not everyone in the wilderness has access to television or the internet that's why many don't know what rights and options they [Music] have it's very important for us to sit together like this and discuss our problems we help each other in the past it was about fish if someone had any to spare it was shared and it's the same with money today if someone's in trouble Let's Help that's how we live together there's State funding available in Russia for indigenous people wishing to run projects they just need to know how to access them that's where yudia helps I can give them advice about solving problems they choose how to proceed but I give them tips and if they have good projects I support them as much as possible during the Cold War cam chanka was the largest Eastern Outpost of The warsa Pact in addition to the fish industry the Red Army was therefore the most important employer the people here have had to learn how to survive in a market economy one of them was Dimitri gorovich the former Soldier as a helicopter mechanic for a private Airline burining tourism in cam chatka gives him a secure job during the peak season in summer he takes tourist groups to the national parks to go hiking or mountain climbing the ancient machines need to be inspected before each flight that's for flight safety it's no more dangerous than driving a car a pedestrian can be hit by a rock if you do your job properly it'll be all right the pilot of the Three Man helicopter crew is a young former soldier who immediately signed up with a private Airline I think the development of Tourism is great for Katka it means extra contracts for our business and secures our jobs Kamchatka is a beautiful region I'm happy that I can show this beauty to more and more people helicopters are one of the most important modes of Transport on Camp chatka Dimitri and his crew are heading south today their destination is kurila Lake around an hours flight and 400 kilm from Petra pavlovsk most tourists only come during the summer months in the winter snow storms and freezing cold temperatures make flying impossible kamam chaka's South has been a UNESCO world heritage site since the '90s [Music] [Music] park inspectors live and work in the vast nalo National Park and they need to be supplied by helicopter because there's no developed Road Network [Music] slavo alexv and just eight other colleagues inspect an area of several hundred square kilometers he spends most of his time out in the wild one of his jobs is to conserve the Flora and forner and to count the wild animal population often he goes days without seeing another human being bears are his only neighbors here slavo has to document their behavior in detail this is the Bear's main feeding ground they eat all day long fish from the river and blueberries from the tundra I've counted six Bears this year one mother with two Cubs and three individuals [Music] slav consciously chose to lead a life in the [Music] wilderness when you see this environment you quickly realize that it has to be preserved you don't get this anywhere else I think i' got this attitude from my parents they taught me early on to respect the beauty of Nature and to not destroy it [Music] there are regular problems with poaches they usually come in groups slavo is powerless to stop [Music] them nicho National Park is surrounded by active [Music] volcanoes since scientists dug a hole 200 M deep into the ground here more than 30 years ago hot water has been flowing to the surface it contains high concentrations of salts and [Music] minerals slavo lets the water drain in a controlled fashion otherwise it would destroy the surrounding [Music] Tundra there's always enough work when I'm on my own I feel lonely I try to keep busy this is my home I spent more time here than in [Music] pavlos slavo rarely has visitors his wife only comes for a few weeks in the summer he maintains a connection with the outside world by radio he has to report to his office in P pavlos once a day nothing much happens in the summer things only get critical in the winter when he sometimes has to wait for the helicopter for [Music] days every 2 weeks slavo is relieved by a colleague I think that my family worries it's not entirely risk-free but they know me person is needed where he is born I've got lots of relatives on the mainland but I never have the urge to move there those who want to build a permanent livelihood for themselves in cam chakka have to be willing to make do without many Creature Comforts Dimitri gorovich and his crew are flying towards corilla Lake this huge body of water can also only be reached by a helicopter for a few years now Rangers with military training have been fighting poachers [Music] here since the state has been investing more money into protecting animals Serge and his colleagues have choked up some successes here too the poachers have their sights set on the huge brown bears that roam the tundra around kurilla Lake there's an abundance of food for them the wealth of fish here is unique in the world the poachers have set their eyes on bear pores and gallbladders for export to China the difficulty is that the Bears here aren't frightened of people as you can see the animals come quite close to us that's not typical that only happens at curilla Lake if the Bears let people come so close they're easy prey for poaches the cam chatka bear is one of the largest brown bears in the world in addition to poachers they're also the the target of paying big game hunters in search of a spectacular trophy the Rangers can't be everywhere at once we want to preserve the environment for our children and grandchildren not just for Russia but for everyone I've been here for 5 years now you grow together with the environment here I know every bear here I meet them again every year I know their offspring and I see them grow up it would be very hard for me to leave shanov and his colleagues are just too few to provide real protection for the Bears Demitri uses the brakes between the flights to stock up fungi the size of loaves of bread [Music] where I come from on the V there isn't any work like this I could work with cars I could do all kinds of things I could fix machines but none of those things would be fun [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] since cam chakka was closed for decades the environment was able to flourish unhindered by human intervention that makes it all the more important to protect this ecosystem today [Music] [Music] it's hot under the ground in camka there's no other place on Earth with this many active volcanoes [Music] experts from The volcanological Institute in Petro Pavlov's regularly climb into the craters hot and noxious gases shoot to the surface under enormous pressure to The Experts the composition of the gases is key it allows them to draw conclusions about future eruptions working in the craters isn't entirely risk-free Tremors could happen at any moment a colleague died here just a few years ago there are 29 active volcanoes on Kamchatka the experts register around six eruptions per [Music] year on Sunday afternoon Julia and Daria reach cam chaka's West Coast this is where Ivan Len lives with his family he's one of Julia's [Music] cousins just like his ancestors he also lives in a small Hut right on the sea of okot his family live entirely off fishing there's no electricity or running water this place used to be home to lots of itans but their number is dwindling because the younger generation tend to move to the city there are no Creature Comforts out here when people live in the city they never have enough time life is so fastpaced that they don't manage to keep up we lead quiet peaceful lives here we know exactly what we're going to do today and what to expect tomorrow we know what we need and when we need it Ivan doesn't want to give up traditional fishing he wants to be a role model to his children and he's doing a great job his wife Lena would never trade life in the wilderness for life in the [Music] city we're our own doctors nature heals us our son is 10 now and he's had no more than two colds in 10 years he got a cold once because he was in the city he can run through the water Barefoot here in the winter regardless of how cold it is it doesn't even give him a runny nose Ian's five children are almost always in the fresh air a disgarded lri has been appropriated as a playground Ian and his family are followers of a natural religion that originated [Music] here this the here we have the totem poles that we sacrifice fish to and that we turn to when we need help this is a sacred place for us a place for the soul we try to nurture our rituals and preserve our culture that's why it's important to pass on our Traditions to our children and grandchildren and so his children learn that they Reg regularly have to sacrifice chunks of fish to the sea god [Music] midgit they do it right in their own way I explain the ritual to them and they give thanks in their own [Music] words such rituals were frowned upon under the [Music] Communists the biggest hurdle for us is a lack of understanding people simply don't want to understand us the authorities don't understand that we view life differently and have a closer relationship to Nature they're trying to force us into a box we don't want to be in we don't understand why that's the biggest hurdle Julia and Daria set off for home in the evening Monday is a school day after all after work helicopter mechanic Dimitri heats up his b he swears by the tradition of the Russian SAA talking with friends is very important we don't see each other all week but then we meet in the ba Russians have always solved all their problems in the SAA if one of us has a problem we meet in the SAA a real Russian saer needs careful preparation this includes dried Birch branches that Dimitri first soaks in cold water [Music] janard an old friend from his military days has come to visit it's a welcome change for Dimitri [Music] [Music] the B visit follows strict rituals period period you always have to drink a beer before getting into the sauna how hot 80 before I close the flu after the first refreshment they're ready after every trip to the SAA they returned to the sofa the men prefer to talk about the past I finished my military service when I was 33 I was a strong healthy man at the time and still very capable of working on the [Music] helicopter in 199 98 I stopped and thought where can I go there's no work finally I found work in civilian Aviation and I'm still here working in my [Music] job Dimitri lives alone since his divorce I still feel like a Soviet person it's a habit I once took an oath I like it here too many people move away but they come back again too that's Kamchatka it draws people in the only city here Petr Pavlov lies on the east coast of Kamchatka it's home to around 200 ,000 people that's more than half the population of C chatka the summer holidays end in the Hall of Russia on the first Monday in [Music] September six-year-old Ana ivakova is starting a new phase in life she'll be going to school for the first time today her mother is making sure she looks particularly smart for the occasion I'm doing her hair so she'll be the most beautiful one today that's tradition on the first day of school the hair is curled and two big bows are put in the hair Ana's father mik only returned from 6 months at Sea a few days ago he's a fisherman like many other people [Music] here when you were at sea for long it's nice to come home I see how much my daughter has grown and how beautiful my wife is I'm very happy that they are so glad to see me it's a good feeling when you come back from being at Sea Ana has learned a poem off by heart for the first day of [Music] school my parents are excited she tells us they didn't sleep the whole night they're worried about [Music] me Anna is their only child Mikael is a member of the chukchi people alar on the other hand is Russian that's quite common in Petro pavlovsk most descendants of the indigenous population have assimilated traditionally the 1st of September is the day of knowledge in Russia new school children go to school for the first time all over the country the same is true here in school number two in Far Away cam chatka discipline needs to be learned early on in rows of two the little ones March out to celebrate on the playground the ceremony is conducted by old the students Anna is allowed to ring the symbolic school bell we will work very hard this boy proclaims and confidently continues once we've started we'll achieve great [Music] [Music] things the day of knowledge is a tradition from the the Soviet era as is the [Music] posos in Russia the children learn together until year 11 the graduation report is necessary for a University Place almost 100 children are starting school for the first time in school number two today that's more than ever before in the post-soviet era it's a sign of change says teacher we've got lots of jobs here now that don't have anything to do with fishing anymore every child has to have a good education regardless of where in Russia they [Music] live the young people in Petr Pavlov need variety to prevent them from just hanging about on the streets the system of promoting Sports was taken over from the Soviet era the up and coming bathon stars are training in Petr Pavlov's Olympic Center the Youth of Kamchatka are getting fit in the summer they use rollerblades instead of skis one of the athletes here is 17-year-old Anna she wants to have a career in sports I want to become a PE teacher I'm training hard to be successful I'm hardworking and try to never miss a session I want to achieve more the Olympic Center is being funded by a state-owned gas company it wants to turn C chatka into an international biathlon Center the snowy Winters would provide perfect conditions [Applause] I think I have a future here because bathon is developing well income chatka sports facilities are being built and soon the junior championships will take place here up to 10 m of snow fall here in the wintertime ideal conditions for winter [Music] sports aacha Bay is kamak gateway to the world it gets its name from the biggest river on the peninsula which flows into the Pacific here everything the people need to live is imported via the icef free Harbor the bay is also home to a large fishing fleet around 600,000 tons of fish are taken from the ocean every year fish is the livelihood for the majority of the people here and that's true too for Mikel iakov [Music] fishing is hard work we don't get days off it all depends on the captain and on how he stores the catch on the ship it's important to distribute everything evenly so the ship doesn't cap sizee in rough conditions Mikel is applying to work on a troller for the coming season in Spring he's meeting with his future employer Captain Serge Cole mik's wages for six months work will be $20,000 it's decent [Music] pay Captain cotile had no trouble finding enough workers it's 100% attractive work that's why people now stay here our society has overcome the difficult crisis of the '90s we're still doing well in some Fields we're doing better than other parts of [Music] Russia mik's wife alga helps out in a souvenir shop now that Anna is going to school every day she can work a little bit [Music] more she has mixed feelings about her husband's job it's particularly bad when there's something on the news then I really worry about my husband he's at sea for half a year and there are always bad storms but he's chosen this job and we have to live with it these momentos are particularly popular with Russian tourists indigenous folklore made in China [Music] we have different souvenirs this Sun is from the eony it protects whoever wears it C is the god of the kaks the god of Kamchatka he stands for eternal life the people are turning back to ancient Traditions at the National Academy of Art and music the children of Cam chapka can learn the old songs and dances Daria also regularly practices them she's a passionate dancer I like being on stage and I want to learn to dance the way our ancestors danced everyone in our family danced because we're itans I want to continue this tradition and pass it on to the next generation trained at the National Academy the children and young people can later perform in front of paying [Music] tourists but how much this still has to do with the original tribal dances is for the beholder to decide in the bay around Petro pavlovsk a few itman fishermen fish in the traditional manner they've set up small camps with tents cars and Transporters slavo shukin spends most of his time here in summer he sells the fish in the town's markets but that's hardly enough to survive on because every year the fishing quotas are reduced a lore of the Russian Federation permits the indigenous population to fish for their own consumption the constantly reduced quotas are Justified on conservation grounds at the same time big businesses are making huge profits the representative of the Nordic peoples Julia vasila knows the problem she speaks to the fishermen as often as she can she also fights a tireless battle with the authorities to demand higher [Music] quotas the fishing of the commercial businesses is more greatly respected than that of the indigenous population for their own consumption but they need that for their traditional way of life in order to have enough fish for the family in the winter they're reduced to fishing for prawns together with a colleague slavo wants to check the traps he's put out in the bay but it's still a bit too early for [Music] prawns the prawns only seek shelter in the bay when the autumn and winter storms start [Music] I only catch prawns now and I'm not catching very many I throw the small ones back into the water to let them grow usually my net is half full I get 20 to 30 prawns but today I've only got four or [Music] five slavo and his colleagues also believe that the authorities favor the big businesses [Music] cam chaka's gold that's what the people here call caviar and red salmon only local goods are sold caught primarily by commercial big [Music] businesses those who aren't dependent on fishing quotas are the lucky ones on the outskirts of Petra pavlovsk is yini shuk's fish Smokehouse he came to cam chaker as a doctor in 1988 but doctors were poorly paid even after the Communist era sharv set up his own business the Red Gold is now the basis of his business we currently have around 50 tons in stock it's all salmon there are further fish species such as herring it's all local from kamat's West and East Coast after the collapse of Communism there were Supply problems in Kamchatka despite the many natural resources lots of people went back to the mainland sharv discovered smoked fish as a gap in the market and stayed it was a difficult situation there was Brandon food and the prices were fixed I was only able to make money when the fixed price system ended then there was raging inflation we'd never experienced anything like it if something cost a Ruble in the morning it was doubled that by noon and three times that by the evening sharv employs 12 people and now has an annual turnover of $2 million with his business he can afford to send both of his daughters to an English PR private [Music] school I built all of this on my own and I don't see any point in moving elsewhere I am not interested in cities it's quieter and nicer here sharv supplies cam chaka's supermarkets as well as those on the Russian Mainland he would like to export to the EU but that's not possible because of strict regulation sugarv has learned one thing from the bad times in the early '90s he swears by [Music] self-sufficiency he Farms on his [Music] plot for himself and his employees this is like an insurance policy for me but I like it too when I wake up in the morning and the [ __ ] crows Life Begins it's a new day it's music to my ears the inhabitants of the volcanic island trust that their children will also have a future [Music] here the wild pristine environment is Cam chaka's Capital flourishing tourism is creating new jobs it gives Dimitri and his colleagues a livelihood the descendants of the indigenous population such as Daria and her mother are committed to preserving their Traditions the people in kamam chakka have had to ReDiscover their home in order to grasp its beauty even if life at the end of the world sometimes requires privation it's in the hands of the people they will decide and chat's Future [Music]

Channel: SLICE Travel

Views: 43,034

Keywords: wide, widedocs, journey, documentary, voyage, discoveries, full documentary, free documentary, eco guide, travel, around the world, road trip, green trip, Kamchatka, russia, peninsula, Petropavlovsk, bear, volcano, eastern, east, region, eastern russia, asia, eurasia

Id: KISxza5F95o

Length: 42min 39sec (2559 seconds)

Published: Sat May 11 2024