The traditional sightseeing tourism cannot satisfy everybody, more and more people prefer outdoor activities, especially in winter. One of the most exotic and exciting types of the outdoor activity in Russia is dog sleds safari. The dog sled is a traditional mean of transport of the Thule peoples and Siberia. Now the dog sleds tours are provided by many tour operators in different regions of Russia, from Kamchatka to the Moscow Region. Moreover, some of the international the sled dog races take place in Russia.
Dog-drawn sledges are traditionally made of wood without any nails; the details are put together with the leather straps and cords. Such sledge is light and strong, because of the flexibility of the construction. The sledge can transport the people and freight several fold heavier as it. Usually, one sledge takes one-two persons. The dogs, drawing the sledge, belong to husky species. These blue-eyed dogs sleep directly on the snow. The dogs are teamed in pairs; the fan formation is used as well. The dogs, except the king dog, are transposed during the journey, because the load depends on its position.
Driving a dog sledge is a real art, and the tourists have a possibility to succeed in it. The participants of the long tours exercise in driving two days before the trip near the base. Of course, the tourists are escorted by the instructor and his assistant. The tour can take from one day to ten days. All such tours require a good health and physical endurance: the tourists spend the winter days outdoors and sleep in tents with a portative oven.
As to details, the one-day dog-sledged tour to the natural monument of Chertovo Gorodishche rocks in the Urals, not far from Yekaterinburg costs 100 euro and includes transfer from Yekaterinburg to the starting point and back, the instruction, the outdoor dinner and the trip on the sledges to the Chertovo Gorodishche and back, which takes about one hour. The special warm clothes are also provided.
The 6-days tour on the south of the Baikal Lake is a more serious adventure and more expensive entertainment. The considerable part of the route goes through the surface of the lake, covered with ice. The tourists spend the nights in the tourist cottages (with a very different level of comfort), but spending several days in freezing temperatures without habit is a real test. This tour doesn’t require any special training, except the readiness for frost. The group is escorted by the snowmobile, mobile and satellite communication and medical expense insurance as well are provided during all the tour.
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The dog-sled tours are offered in different regions of Russia. On the Kamchatka peninsula the winter tours on the dogs are combined with the sightseeing of volcanoes and other natural monuments and ethnological tourism. Moreover, Kamchatka and Chukotka are the regions, where the dog sledge is a traditional mean of transport of the native people, used till nowadays together with helicopters. The local specie of the dogs, Kamchatka husky is valued very high.
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The Russian visa and train tickets to the start points of the winter expeditions can be booked on our web-site.
Yulia Buzykina