MOSCOW, September 25. /TASS/. Over 25 years that Dmitry Novikov has been in tourism, he sank on kayaks, turned over on river rapids, burned in wildfires, fell off rocks, dug out a car, towed friends, lost directions on a foggy plateau, and repaired both equipment and himself. Nevertheless, he does not stop and plans new unusual and adventurous routes.
"It’s a weird wild fear, when at night on the White Sea shore, from the taiga you can smell a bear. Or when early in the morning you hear a growling lynx near the tent," Dmitry said. "Frankly, those are just inconveniences any traveler may experience."
What is over there?
Interests develop since childhood, he continued, adding his favorite authors were Mayne Reid, Fenimore Cooper, and Jules Verne.
"Later on, the preferences widened, though the focus remained on adventures," Novikov said. "Since early childhood I was curious to find out - what’s there behind the granny’s fence, behind that house, across that river."
When at school and at the university, he went hiking to gain the experience which later on would be so helpful. First big traveling was after the university, and water adventures have always been the top attraction.
Over 17 years, he has covered more than 3,500 kilometers along waters and lakes, mostly on kayaks. Hiking and skiing routes were no less enjoyable.
"My career made me travel across Russia - from Belarus to the Far East, as I put it," he continued. "Yakutia, the Amur, Siberia, the Urals, the Khanty-Mansi, the Yamalo-Nenets regions, and whenever I traveled I visited as many places as I could. I’ve been to Lake Baikal twice, swam in Buryatia’s thermal waters, climbed the East Sayan and the Urals. A certain milestone was driving my own car across the Altai in 2009."
In 2011, he returned to the Mountainous Altai. "Successful trips to the Mountainous Altai gave considerable confidence in my own abilities and the valuable experience for driving trips in other directions," Dmitry said.
The first expedition north of the Arctic Circle
In 2012, he planned a trip to the Kola Peninsula. A big trip: 5,500 kilometers within 18 days.
"It was due to my curiosity - I haven’t seen the tundra, or the Barents and White Seas, never climbed ridges north of the Arctic Circle," the traveler said. "Back then, I couldn’t imagine how those places would "grasp" me or what would come of that experience."
Dmitry could not resist sharing impressions and wrote about that expedition in his first story - The Attraction of High Latitudes.
"Eight years later, reading that story, I can see the excitement, the joy from what I saw there," he said with a smile. "Later stories about trips were more reserved and thoughtful."
Karelia’s north and the Kola Peninsula are incredibly rich. Within one trip you may see the tundra, the Khibiny tops covered with snow, you may walk the forests and swamps, get stuck in the sand in the northernmost desert near Kuzomen, you may fish in quiet brooks or in stormy rivers, or swim in the tart-salty waters of the Barents Sea or stand enjoying waterfall streams.
The Arctic
Dmitry hesitated to name just one destination in the Arctic. "For example, speaking about the Kola Peninsula, I’d mention the Sredny and Rybachi peninsulas, the Khibiny, the Lovozero tundras, the White Sea’s Ter shore. Every trip leaves most different impressions and emotions."
"During the Blue Mountains Winds expedition in late September, 2015, I returned from the Arkhangelsk Region to Karelia across the Vetrenyi Poyas Ridge. It is a unique place, aged about 2.5-2.4 billion years, scientists say. I could take either route: a regular long route, but in that case I was running late for a wedding party of my friends, or a route across the taiga following a navigator - it was more than twice shorter."
He risked. The biggest obstacle was the Leksa. One of the bridges was ruined, and the traveler did not have any information about wading. He walked across the river a few times, plotted necessary directions, inserted a few poles, and removed several tree trunks from the water.
He drove into the river very accurately and smoothly. "Everything went fine until I got into the main current. The car’s back moved to follow the current. A few moments were, so to say, unpleasant, until the back wheels grabbed the bottom. Finally, I rushed ashore." He made it to the wedding party that time.
On another occasion, when Dmitry stayed overnight in a tent, he woke up from a feeling somebody was nearby. "For some time I listened to accurate steps around the tent, and then I heard hissing and growling. The beast somehow sensed I was awake. It was a lynx that clearly wasn't going to retreat."
It occurred to Dmitry, he had left some food at the entrance, and the beast could’ve felt it. Luckily, his off-road was nearby, and Dmitry turned on the alarm, which repelled the animal. Its fear was above hunger and curiosity.
'Unpopular Pskov'
Dmitry tells many stories about numerous adventures in his native Pskov Region, famous for its Kremlin, Izborsk, the Pskov-Pechory Monastery, and, of course, the Pushkinskiye Gory (or Pushkin Hills).
However, the most exciting places are not on tourist routes, they are off roads, though accessible for those having enough desire and effort.
"My gained materials and emotions were published in the story, called "Unpopular Pskov"," Dmitry said.
It took him three years to write the story. The book has many pictures and details about the trips he made.
"Among many other attractions, I tell about the places which are considered anomalous or mysterious. One of them is the Dobryak stone, which many believe can help make dreams come true. You can find on the net videos about this stone, about the energy poles, about specific energy, and so on. Tourists even buy trips to that stone. Every person believes in what he wants, and my task is to tell about it," Dmitry Novikov said.
No people are missing
Very often Dmitry disclaimed the legends, which the locals and reporters used to tell about these places. One of them is the Lyad Triangle - a wooded ravine, where people are believed to get missing.
"Naturally, I got curious and went to the Triangle twice to find that ravine. The area is hilly, made of alluvial soils from the last glacier. In one of these ravines, flows the Rogatochnik Creek. This particular ravine is called the Devil's ravine. None of its photos on the Internet was true. On an overcast day, the area near the creek does look somewhat ominous," Dmitry said.
A ground road crosses the ravine. However, when Dmitry returned there two weeks later, the road had vanished, and he could not drive there. This was the only weird phenomenon in the area, believed to be mysterious.
"After rains, water raises and destroys the ground bridge. Losing ways in the Devil’s ravine is equal to chances of getting lost anywhere else. Thus, the only ‘anomaly’ was the lost cell connection when I drove between the hills," the traveler said.
Fragments of history
Dmitry includes into a guide book unknown architecture attractions in tiny settlements, which are away from busy roads. A tourist is not likely to find them, Dmitry said.
Take, for example, the Lositsy village, where about 100 people live. They have a school, a shop and a post office, a few old Orthodox churches, which are a tourist attraction. But the village’s main attraction is the Log House where Altayev lived and worked - Russia’s only wooden house of Pushkin’s time.
"I came there for the first time in April, 2016, met the museum’s director Tatyana Stepanova, though could not see the exposition. Later on, for three times I wanted to return there. I was lucky only in November, 2017. The tour of the house was so exciting that I even forgot to take pictures," Novikov told TASS.
The museum was the biggest cultural discovery for him in 2017. However, by the time he worked on the book on the Pskov Region, he had visited a few dozen attractions, like the citadel which Alexander Nevsky built in the 13th century, or a house where writer Dovlatov used to live and work.
"Nothing of the kind has been published about the Pskov Region," he said. "I have described 40 historic, cultural, religious, pagan attractions. I could’ve published more of those, but then I would’ve gone in too many details."
After the story was published for the first time, many local residents and historians shared knowledge with Dmitry. "I am not sure how this new material could be presented, quite possibly it will be Unpopular Pskov - 2," he said.
Traveler’s three lives
Dmitry usually travels on his own, thus he has to prepare everything very thoroughly.
"The old Chinese would say - travel having three lives: when preparing for the trip, when traveling, and when remembering the trip. Preparations are a very interesting part to me, and I live all the three lives. Every trip is a challenge. Every trip changes me, I gain experience and knowledge about the world," he said.
He travels light. All adventures are only during holidays. According to Dmitry, people think differently about him.
"People like me are usually taken for adventurous wonderers, who survive even where nobody can, an "extreme" traveler, a crazy pal, they would call me. Our people and the media use only extreme colors and wouldn’t understand that traveling north of the Arctic Circle is as normal as any other hobby," Dmitry said.
To keep memories
Dmitry Novikov’s archive is a few thousand pictures of "unpopular" attractions in the Pskov Region. His material was published in a book on wooden architecture of the Russian North. He has posted on the Internet a few stories with pictures about trips to Karelia and the North.
"Why would I need it? It’s elementary. I’ve witnessed how over the recent decade many historical monuments have vanished, and many more will do so in near future. This is why I want to keep memories about what we have now, to highlight problems, to make a catalogue, to stir interest and to attract tourists to the Pskov Region," Dmitry said.
Some objects are missing already, just because nowadays have gone those who could have told us about them.
"This year, together with friends we will go to the Lovozero tundras for five or six days. Those are incredibly scenic places with a touch of fairy tales. We shall enjoy the natural beauty striving for places, where the road would fade away behind another turning."