IN MY LIFE THE MOST MEMORABLE AND EXTREMLY EXOTIC WAS THE ADVANTURE TO THE SUBPOLAR URALS AND ALTHOUGH IT TOOK PLACE AFTER TRAVELING TO NATIONAL PARK IN KENYA AND VISITING ZANZIBAR ISLAND, NAMELY THE NATURE OF THE SUBPOLAR URALS HAS MADE THE BIGGEST IMPRESSION. LET ME PRESENT MYSELF A LITTLE, MY NAME NATALIA : I LIVE IN MOSCOW FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS, WAS BORN IN PRAGUE, LIVED IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, THEN IN SIBERIA. WHEN I GREW UP AND BEGAN WORKING DURING MY VACATION VISITED EUROPEAN COUNTRIES LIKE MILLIONS OTHERS YOUNG PEOPLE AND EVEN AFRICA AS ALREADY MENTIONED ABOVE , ALSO WAS IN KAZAKHSTAN, IN ONE WORD, A MODERN COSMOPOLITAN PERSON. SO, THE CIRCUMPOLAR URALS. THE FIRST QUESTION YOU WILL ASK ME - HOW TO GET THERE? OK, AT FIRST I WAS FLYING TO NYAGAN TOWN (WE KNOW IT AS BIRTH PLACE OF FAMOUS RUSSIAN TENNIS PLAYER - MARIA SHARAPOVA, ALTHOUGH FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS FUNNY MONUMENT OF PLUMBER ENGINEER THERE). FURTHER BY BUS OR BY CAR GETTING TO THE POINT WHERE THERE ARE HELICOPTERS DEPARTURES THROUGH THE TAIGA TO THE FINAL DESTINATION – A MYSTERIOUS SMALL TOWN CALLED SARAN-PAUL, THE HOUSE OF MY FRIEND BORIS AND HIS PARENTS. WILL YOU AGRE THAT WE ARE, WELL, AT LEAST MANY OF US, WE ARE NOT FLY\ING BY HELICOPTER EVERY DAY, 500 KM THROUGH THE TAIGA WITH ITS LANDSCAPES, ON A RATTLING MACHINE THAT LEAVES A SHADOW ON THE GROUND IN CLEAR WEATHER. PUSHING APART NEIGHBORS FOR PURPOSE WATCHING THROUGH THE SMALL WINDOW THE REAL NATURE, THE NATURE THAT STILL IS A TERRITORY WITHOUT BUILDINGS, THE AREA WHERE YOU CAN SEE FLOCKS OF ELKS, AND MAYBE OCASINALY A BEAR IN HIS OR HER WAY OF THE OWNER OF THE TAIGA. TAIGA IS THE KINGDOM OF ANIMALS AND LOCAL PEOPLE MEETING THEM IN THEIR COMMON EVERYDAY LIFE ACTING WITH ATENTION BUT DO NOT FELL FEAR, THEY KNOW HOW TO BEHAVE AND MOSTLY THE MEETING WITH THE BEAST IS CONSIDERED AS A SUCCESS. THE LATTER ARE SMART HAVING THEIR AINCENT INSTINCTS MANY HUNDRED YEARS THEY WILL NOT GO TO THE DANGER OF MEETING A HUMAN. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A MYSTERIOUS ANIMAL-A WOLVERINE? I COULD NOT NOTICE HER EVEN IN THE ZOO'S ENCLOSURE, AND EQUALLY THE LOCALS, WHO ARE HUNTERING MOSTLY IN ORDER TO HAVE A SUPPLY OF FOOD DURING COLD HARD WINTERSEATING DISCOVER BEARS, MOOSE, MANY OTHERS, BUT NOT THE WOLVERINE, TOLD ME MY FRIEND'S PARENTS. AFTER SHORT ADAPTATION IN THE VILLAGE HOUSE OF MY FRIEND BORIS WE BEGIN TO PREPARE FOR A WEEK HIKE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND A MORNING CLIMB. DURING THE EXPEDITION I WILL ASK MYSELF MORE THAN ONCE WHAT DID MAKE ME GO TO THE URALS FROM THE COMFORTABLE URBAN CONDITIONS WITH THE CHOICE OF SPENDING A VACATION IN RESORTS. AND THE ANSWER ALWAYS THE SAME-NOTHING COMPARES WITH ALMOUST FANTASTIC CAREFUL CEREMONIAL ENTRANCE TO THE WE CAN SAY MYSTERIOUS TAIGA ON A SPECIAL RUSSIAN CAR UAZ. WHEN FROM THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT LANDSCAPES FROM PAINTINGS, WHEN NEW PLACE’S WALLS ARE PINK MARBLE (SORRY FOR A BAD JOKE-AS IN THE MOSCOW UNDEGROUND). WHEN I HAD TO HIDE BEHIND TREES THERE WAS A SENSE OF COMPLETE SILENCE AND AT THE SAME TIME INSECURITY, ENOUGH TIME PASSED, BUT THOSE MEMORIES AND DISCOVERIES FROM THE NEW ENVIRONMENT OF A LARGE NATURE ARE FRESH AND CINEMATIC. YOU LOOK THROW THE TREES THE SKY THE MOSS UNDER FEET , WHICH BEAUTY, COLOR IS RICHER DEEPER THAN THE VELVET FROM MOST EXPENSIVE MASTERS, LOOK AT THE SOUNDS IN THE AIR OF NATURE AND EVERY INCH OF YOUR BODY FEELS KNOWS THAT YOU ARE UNDER OBSERVING. ALL CREATURES FROM UNVISIBLE TO BIG, FROM AN INSECT, WORM TO MAYBE A WOLVERINE, BE SURE WATCHING YOU. YOUR INSTINCTS ARE SHARPENED, YOU WAIT, ... AFTER YOUR PROCEDURE GENTLY AND CAUTIOUSLY GO OUT BUSHES TRYING MAKE NO NOISE ON THE PATH TO CONTINUE HIKING, HIGHER, CLOSER TO THE MOUNTAINS AND LOCAL LAKES. MOUNTAIN LAKES IS A SPECIAL TEMA, THEIR MIRROR SURFACE REFLECTS THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS AND SKY ABOVE. THE NEWCOMER IS LUCKY IN FISHING AND IN CARDS. AS SOON AS I THREW MY FISHING ROD INTO THE WATER, I IMMEDIATELY CAUGHT A NIMBLE GRAYLING, AND THE SECOND ONE CAME AFTER FIRST RATHER QUICKLY. LOCAL BORYA JEALOUSLY COMMENTED - FORTUNATELY, YOU GOT INTO THE JAMB. THIS IS A DELICIOUS FISH, POWERFUL, NOT EVERY WATER CREATURE ABLE SWIM IN COLD WINTER WATER WITH ICE. ITS FIN IS COCK-BRIGHT AND COLORFUL. TO COOK IT BORIS SPRINKLED IT WITH SALT FOR A FEW HOURS ONLY AND IN THE EVENING DRINKING BRANDY FROM PLASTIC BOTTLE (TO ALLEVIATE THE BURDEN OF HIKING) AND BEING SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS LIKE INSIDE THE HUGE ERKER'S WINDOW, CLIMBING ON WHICH WAS POSSIBLE TO APPLY A SATELLITE SIGNAL THAT WE ARE ALIVE, WE HAD AN OUTSTANDING MEAL ALSO SHARING THE SUPPER WITH OUR DOG DIСK , THOUGH UNFORTUNATLY HE AFRAIDED BEARS NOT LESS THAN ME. COZ CAME THE TOPIC OF LOCAL DELICACIES, I WOULD SAY THAT THE SECOND IIMPRESSION WAITED ME ON THE WAY BACK, WHEN IT WAS DECIDED DESCENT FROM THE POINT IN THE MOUNTAINS MAKE BY RAFTING ON CATAMARANS AND SO MADE BY HAND THE FLOATING TOOL WE SLOWLY MANEUVERED DOWN THE RIVER AT THE SAME TIME OBSERVING AT BOTH SIDES OF THE ROCKY TAIGA LANDSCAPE AND DISCOVERING GOLD DIGGERS USING THEIR TOOLS. IN PEACEFUL AND MEDITATING MOOD I WAS LOOKING INSIDE ALMOST TRANSPARENT WATER. AND THEN SUDDENLY THE BIG DARK BACK FLOATED RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES. AFTER CONVINCING BORIS DURING SEVERAL MINUTES IN FACT OF THOSE, IT WAS DECIDED TO STOP, EVEN GO BACK UPSTREAM AND TAKE A WAIT. AFTER SEVERAL HOURS OF WAITING AND SECONDS OF EVISCERATING, I WILL SAY YOU, MY DEAR READERS, THAT I TRIED ONE OF THE MOST DELICIOUS THINGS IN LIFE – TAIMEN LIVER. SHARMAN, FRIENDS. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE EPISODE FROM ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND STILL WILD PLACES ON EARTH.