Welcome
to Planet Russkij!
A Tour of a Few
of the Great Places
of Russia.
LAKE BAIKAL,
SAINT PETERSBURG,
MOSCOW.
Lake Baikal:
The Pearl of Siberia
As the vast evergreen forests of Russia's Siberian taiga extend southward toward Mongolia, the ground rises and the terrain becomes more varied. The border between Siberian Russia and Mongolia is a natural divide here, with rugged hills and mountains forming a series of wrinkles between the sprawling Russian forests to the north and rolling grasslands to the south. About midway along this border, in a gigantic stone bowl nearly four hundred miles (636 km) long and almost fifty miles (80 km) wide, lies almost one quarter of the all the fresh water on earth — Lake Baikal.
Baikal is easily the largest lake in Eurasia, and it is just as easily the deepest lake
in the world (1,620 metres). On the merits of magnitude alone the lake is renowned
as one of the earth's most impressive natural wonders, and rightfully so — Baikal is
so large that all of the rivers on earth combined would take an entire year to fill it.
What fewer people realize, however, is that Baikal's majestic expanse is situated in
a region of surpassing beauty, its forested shores surmounted by the jagged, snow-clad peaks of the Barguzin mountains.
In the winter Baikal freezes over, with ice so thick that the Trans-Siberian Railway was briefly run over its surface. At this time of year the lake provides an unsurpassed venue for the pleasures of a tour by sleigh.
In the summer, its crystalline blue waters are transparent to a depth of forty meters, and its shores are ringed with the brilliant colors of seasonal wildflowers. Boat tours offered during the warm months are one of the best ways to gain an introduction to the lake, as is hiking amongst the forests, streams, and waterfalls of Baikal's parks.
The lake region is home to an enormous variety of plants and animals, most of which — like nerpas, the lake's freshwater seals, and its trademark delicacy, the omul salmon — are found nowhere else in the world. Bears, elk, lynx, and sables abound in the surrounding forests.
Lake Baikal long ago became famous for the purity of its waters and surrounding shores, a pristine state that had been seriously threatened by planned industrial development in recent years. Luckily, Baikal was one of the first regions to benefit from the new Russian government's reversal of decades of anti-environmental industrial policies. Since 1992 Lake Baikal and the entire surrounding area have been designated as a national park, and Baikal is today a naturalist's paradise and an idyllic holiday destination. With fine beaches, excellent hiking, bird watching, and pleasure boating, Baikal is well-positioned to become one of the most attractive vacation spots in Asia.
St. Petersburg
Few cities can offer so many stunning attractions and intriguing moods as St. Petersburg, the City of the Tsars. From the vibrant colors of spring, through the sunny summer days and
endless twilights of the famous White Nights, the brilliant golden sun of autumn, and into the crisp and brittle brightness of a St. Petersburg winter, the city casts its own unique spell over visitors.
Created by Peter the Great in 1703 to be his "window on Europe," St. Petersburg combines its fascinating Russian heritage with a distinctly European outlook. Considered the cultural heart of modern day Russia, St. Petersburg is rapidly regaining its reputation as one of the Great Cities of Europe. Within easy reach of the capitals of Europe and Scandinavia, St Petersburg now offers visitors luxury accommodations, expert destination management companies, and international travel services.
St. Petersburg is located at the mouth of the Neva River, and across the islands of its delta on the coast of the Finnish Gulf of the Baltic Sea. Its nearest suburbs are situated on the lowland adjacent to the Neva River, and along the Gulf. In spite of the general lowland nature of the site, the relief of the suburbs shows diversity. Izhora eminence is to the south of the city, and hilly Karelia Isthmus with Vuoksa lake land is located to the north.
From late May until mid-July, a visitor can enjoy the magnificent White Nights on the bank of the Neva River. June 21 - 22 are the longest days (18 hours 53 minutes). The sun hardly hides behind the horizon, and you can not find even the brightest stars in the night sky.
Moscow
Moscow, the capital of Russia, is one of the biggest cities in the world. It occupies an area of 1035 square kilometres. Moscow's local time is Greenwich Mean Time plus three; the summer time (+1) is active in Moscow from March to October.
Population: about 9 million people; tourists and other city guests are not included.
Basic language: Russian.
Mayor of Moscow- Juri Luzhkov.
Climate: moderate. The average temperature in July and August is 20 to 25 °C; in December and January, minus 10 to 20 °C. The humidity is moderate and, sometimes, high. The Moscow's winters are, as a rule, cold and snowy.
Officially, Moscow's Ring Road (MKAD) of 109 km-length is considered the border of the Russian capital, but new city districts (Mitino, Butovo, etc.) emerge beyond the Ring Road. There are over ten rivers in Moscow and the Moscow Region. The Moskva River is the biggest waterway. The relief of Moscow's territory is a rather complicated one. The highest points of Moscow's territory are there at the southwest, 250 meters above the sea level and 130 meters above the Moskva-River
Administratively, Moscow is segmented into ten administration districts. The names of districts comply with their location: Central, West, North-West, etc. The districts are, then, segmented into city regions; there are 128 of them in Moscow. Moscow's City Duma is the main legislative body. The executive power is exercised by Moscow's Mayor, the prefects and the sub-prefects. The municipal authorities are elected by the citizens of Moscow, who vote by secret ballot.
Want to know some interesting places to visit in Russia? Check out his section. It includes pictures with a brief commentary. Have you been to some interesting places in Russia? Let us know and we’ll put your story on this section of the website!
Interesting Places to visit in Russia:
Moscow
St. Petersburg
Zolotoe Koltso
Novgorod
Volga River
Kamchatka
Saxalin
*This is the next step toward THE One World Language.
Step Two: Your noun on a signet ring!
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