Russia's seven wonders art, architecture and culture join with virgin wilderness and sun-splashed beaches, making russia truly an adventurous travellers wonderland. from the volcanoes and geysers of kamchatka, through the siberian taiga to the mineral spas around the black sea coast, it cannot be said russia has nothing to offer the average tourist. but figures cited by tourism experts showed that 70-80 percent of 3.5 million foreign tourists that came to the country last year rarely ventured farther than moscow, st. petersburg and perhaps the golden ring. they don t realize they could be taking a cruise along the waters of the volga, bathing in hot springs surrounded by volcanoes in kamchatka or taking a boat over the crystal-clear waters of lake baikal. an alternative seven wonders of the world could easily be unearthed on russia's territory, if only tourists were willing to dig them out. considered the heart of russia, moscow is described as a place where ancient russia meets the soviet union and capitalism — illustrated by the golden onion domes of the kremlin's orthodox churches, which look out past lenin's mausoleum and over the massive gum shopping complex. st. petersburg, on the other hand, is considered to be a more european capital. the creation of peter the great, it is best know for its 18th- and 19th-century palaces; the peter and paul fortress, a former prison, the hermitage museum, and the white nights. the golden ring is a group of towns and cities — including suzdal, vladimir, yaroslavl, kostroma and others. they offer a host of restored and abandoned churches, monasteries and fortresses, rich museums and preserved wooden villages. set on the black sea coast against the backdrop of the snow-capped caucasus mountains, the beach resort town sochi was for a long time the place to spend a vacation, with its subtropical climate, warm seas, arboretum and gardens. most tourists visit sochi to relax on the beaches, swim in the sea and partake of its favourable climate; but its mineral spas and sanatoriums make it an ideal health resort. for those seeking a natural high, russias best attractions may be the altai and caucasus mountains. untouched, unharmed and largely undiscovered by western tourists, the so-called golden mountains of russia's altai republic are noted for being among the most beautiful and primordial parts of siberia. the altai mountain chain is set in a rich and diverse landscape of steppe, taiga and semi-desert, and stretches about 2,000 kilometres from mongolia's gobi desert to the west siberian plain, through chinese, mongolian, russian and kazak territory. areas of the caucasus mountains, which rise dramatically above the black sea coast and run down to the caspian sea, are also noted for their plant diversity, subalpine pastures grazed by wild animals and lack of human disturbance. here, one can go skiing, scale europe's highest peak — the 5,642-meter mount elbrus — and relax at the spas of mineralniye vody. travellers can visit kamchatka a more than 1,000-kilometer-long peninsula dividing the sea of okhotsk from the pacific ocean, is said to be one of the least explored regions on earth. the most amazing attraction is the valley of the geysers in kronotsky national park, which was only discovered in the 1940s. its 180 or more volcanoes, thermal activity, hot springs, heated rivers and geysers should be enough to attract any tourist. inhabited by less than one person per square kilometre, the peninsula boasts at least 14,000 rivers, 10,000 lakes, thousands of brown bears and sable, and hundreds of bird and plant species indigenous to the area. a holiday pursuit popular among russians but rarely tried by foreigners is to take the pulse of the country by plying its main artery, the volga. the 3,700-kilometer-long river winds its way past republics and cities with varied environments, religions and economies, but all of which hold the volga as something central to their cultural heritage. but among the best waters to ply are the crystal-clear depths of the pearl of siberia — lake baikal — one of the genuine seven natural wonders of the world. an impressive spectacle near the border of russia and mongolia, lake baikal is 636 kilometres long and 80 kilometres wide — and is the world's deepest lake. surrounded by forests and mountain peaks, the waters are transparent to a depth of 40 meters in the summer, and freeze over so thick in the winter that the trans-siberian railroad once ran over its surface. the lake has more than 2,000 recorded plant and animal species — bears, elk, lynx, sables, freshwater seal, trout, salmon and sturgeon. it is fed by 336 rivers, with only one river feeding out. one of the most famous ways to explore siberia's vast expanse — and probably the dream of many a foreigner — is the mythical trans-siberian railroad. the trans-siberian railroad .lake baikal, ulan ude in buryatia and vladivostok, far east, are all along the journey.
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