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now looking for somewhere off the beaten track to visit in russia what's now our special reports on a village that's beyond the arctic circle. on his way to work every day that's just lovely phinney nko walks by what were once the homes of his neighbors the houses are gone now there remains a covered with layers of sand and the people moved out a long time ago. but used to be a house right here it got buried by the sand there were three other homes next to it another house was here. i remember it was turned on its side almost up right. here that's my house there. it's still standing but it won't last long this isn't much of a sandra ft the wind usually brings much more than covers the house up to its roof sometimes the windows are blocked off and there's no use trying to clear the side of the house you would need a bulldozer but you can't get one close enough because that would make the house

collapse. these are not the dunes of the zahara in fact they're found be on the arctic circle in the permafrost of russia's north how did this place come to be deserted. an airplane pierces the low lying clouds and begins to descend inside its baggage laden cabin passengers of patiently waiting to land exhausted from turbulence everyone on board knows that flying to the village of showing a is always risky the white sea coast is infamous for its volatile weather which can change drastically within mere minutes if a strong crossed wind picks up will be impossible to set down the airplane will have to turn back home and attempt to return journey in a week's time weather permitting. when the pilot sees the green patchwork of the arctic plains give way to yellow swathes of sand he knows that he has arrived at

the world's northernmost desert every incoming airplane is an event for the village on wednesdays local residents gather at the airfield. i'm troubled by fort others drive customized all terrain vehicles that are the only machines capable of traversing both the sams and mushrooms. the village of showing a sits on cape can in norse washed by the whites see it lies beyond the arctic circle one thousand four hundred kilometers north of moscow this tiny settlement in the middle of nowhere is unique fifty years ago the sound appeared it has been waging a relentless offensive against the villages ever since local residents were totally unprepared and houses were evacuated china's population plummeted from two thousand people to a myth three hundred seventy rule number one here is not to shut your front door at night otherwise it might be completely blocked up in the morning. local resident

pilcher my league and as many household chores to take care of the most important one is watering the vegetable patch piotr gets his water from the well despite its color it is fresh and suitable for drinking there is no other source of water in the village the tiny vegetable plot that reclaimed from the desert is in stark contrast to the surrounding environment the sand can only accommodate weeds in a few flowers which don't even get enough sunlight to bloom. galena konya cova has been the village doctor for many years most of her patients call on her with heart problems and physiological disorders from walking on uneven sand day after day to day galina has to make a special house call the village has a new resident two week old step his mother brought in from the city of our candles to settle down. does he cry b.c.

coping ok he says yes we born you were born to be the baby does he burst feet ok yes yes after feedin put him upright in lay him down on one side stick to the diagnose spicy food stay healthy i'll come to see you tomorrow bye bye. yes i've been here for six years when i arrived in two thousand and five there was only one lady and a village two thousand and seven series spike in the birth race it was the year when the diesel power plant bend down that we did not have light for a month back then him it ended up boosting the birth rate what else could the on people do ten babies were born at a time today the rate is now relatively normal but there are still more and more children every year. the lighthouse is the pride of the locals in the main symbol of the village it is the only construction in the desert

was unable to destroy it was even renovated got a new coat of paint for its fiftieth anniversary unfortunately in two thousand and ten it was closed down. of the used to be in charge of the lighthouse does not understand what happened in his spare time he still counts the one hundred forty seven steps that bring him to the top. it was wrong to close this place down when the question of reviving the lighthouse was asked also was mairi perhaps perhaps in three five or even ten years right now if we had the means and the money to reopen it it would be up and running again immediately the structure holds a fun place in the hearts of or a man and his former colleagues they continue to say care of the building to the best of their abilities even though they know it is pointless navigation technologies have made such lighthouses redundant but it comes as no consolation to

. the whole scheme was born in choice he returned to his native village from the big city which he found uncomfortable because it prefers to go to work by his own vehicle his daily route takes him along a sunny beach south of the showing a river. today this place looks more like a huge scrap metal of one time it boasted a wooden pavement club welcome visitors and fish with elected around the clock on the pier. the village was founded in the one nine hundred thirty s. the base for a fish trolling fleet it was showing as gold to the local fish processing factories canned millions of fish dozens of boats waited their turn to be unloaded with their cargo holds filled soul called and how about that the intense fishing had a knock on effect the trolling nets were destroying the sea beds vegetation tied

started to pull thousands of tons of loose sand to shore with barely any trees on the tundra the sun's advance could not be held back. and came to work in showing a in one nine hundred forty seven she only planned to stay for three years but ended up living here ever since she remembers the night when the sea seemed to term and to get revenge on them. a few years storm struck in one thousand nine hundred sixty three taken away all the seafront constructions of the village all the warehouses there was a street there that was blown away all the houses were destroyed it all disappeared after that life in the village started to slow down we had cows and horses back then today there are none everything has been taken away the place used to be really exciting people worked into shifts i remember walking through the village she would see people dancing in the afternoon and at night it was so much fun to

hang back then. the damage from fishing is just one possible cause for the sounds coming here the residents simply continue to live out their lives in this quietly dying place now classified as an environmental disaster yet even though showing us suffers nature's wrath it is home to a weather state. studying its affects the station is used for sysfs weather forecasts come rain or shine at three thirty in the morning and evening a weather balloon is released from nikolai much of the person in charge of the police maintenance to raise it he uses phrases which is obtained through an old recipe mixing sodium hydroxide with water sara silicon and a minion powder the gas created it is just as effective as any commercial produced . nicholai prepares it to radio location engineering the control center inputs the

data required for a successful launch finally the loon is ready to go and is released. it will float up forty kilometers into the air and it will start gathering data about the situation in the lower atmosphere. eager to make use of the warm weather there just laugh it is digging up some timber buried in the sand the wood will come in handy to winter turns out to be cold yet as last house is quite old with large cracks in the walls it is vulnerable to the weather so having more firewood never hurts. to do in one nine hundred ninety four i went to live in ukraine though it was ill i spent twelve months there but i didn't like it. there's no freedom there . i'm not suited for farmer's work so i came back here. you know of american hunt and fish i'm free to do whatever i like it's

a place for free people if it is. a feeling of complete freedom and unity with nature is the main reason people continue to stay here despite the fact that a lot of showing the residents are entitled to state and housing in central russia the majority custard aside and return to their homes and showing. unlike many others not just a correction or a never considered leaving an option. she's a member of the village administration and spencer free time in the uk to two hundred only around. she recently purchased an old motorbike and learned to ride it . twice a day during low tide should ride to the white seashore to check on the fishing nets. today's catch is disappointing. what is not much but enough for dinner i get flatfish call it smelt fish and

herring i used to fish with a fish and rod. then i started using the net and then it just kind of bit tiring and i bought a bike to go fish and pick berries or just go see places. i love these shores there's no and to them i love showing that and that's something that cannot be changed because it is in my heart and soul. of. this is to showing i will see that it is a place of contrasts even though each house is equipped with a satellite dish they're all heated with an old wood burning stove firewood is delivered from by sea. quite often the cargo ships have to spend a while on the shore during low tide and end up looking like huge whales stranded on. today showing a is receiving a delivery of fuel some machinery and merchandise for the villages and. shop the

highlight is a brand new tractor for the weather station. the villagers were initially worried that it might have been damaged in transit but it started up on the first try proceeded to head to the station across the sometimes missionary we start sailing in late may and finish in october. we travel from two showing them europe which takes about two days transporting food and equipment we carrying a hundred tons of cargo on this trip as a roads and it's too expensive to transport or by air so that leaves us with the ship's. tide begins to return and the captain climbs aboard the crew has to hurry to steer the boat into the sea with a farewell blast the ship heads out leaving behind it a village of people who have managed to stand up against nature not just literally but also psychological.

sunday mornings are ideal for walking along the shore especially if it gives you dolls the chance to see one of the big ships that come into the harbor. these future mums hold their own as they run into a junior neighbor the one play with mitchell and there is not upset she likes dogs better. and he loves her grandfather leaving more because he always takes her to the beach to look at the ships leaving for our congress city with trees which ano has only seen on television.

in calumny the majority of the population is buddhist here there is a saying that if a person is pure of heart one turn of the prayer wheel is as good as saying a million mantras constantine ben bales is not a religious man but every time he sets out on a journey he comes to the say could place to get about worldly things for a while. today constantine is heading for the so-called chore zimmy or black clans one of the most environmentally troubled regions of kalmykia it is found two hundred kilometers southwest of comic his capital s.

star his mission is to monitor the work battle in the desert of the cation and samara. is an arid region located in the southeastern part of european russia. this is my home land. when we were children playing in the steps of the grass was so tall that you could barely see if this could be more proof they say that climate change takes millions of years but all steps of change right in front of our eyes. it was ploughed in the one nine hundred sixty s. . they planted corn. but it didn't work out and it grew in the steps of coal is very hydrophilic it drew out all the water and left small sun genes in its wake is. throughout history the cow mix of lived as a nomadic tribe the third has lived in harmony with nature breeding horses camels

and even a special breed of cow make sheep these sheep are perfectly suited to life in the desert they grazing did no permanent damage to the grass as hitler's army approached the volga during world war two counted sheep herds were taken to kazakhstan as a result the county kurds had to be restored with a different breed after the war. is a long time sheep herder and is very familiar with another factor that is causing the desert if occasion of come. well one of the fine fleece merino breeds came from grozny unfortunately breed ended up replacing the cull make brief and we ended up with over three million grozny sheep even though. it's got a very small shop who they damage the ground. bad choices in crop planting intense cattle posturing and unfavorable weather conditions of all brought about an

ecological catastrophe these winds that blow over contributed to the disaster they carry solid particles of dust and salt from the drying sea. vast lush pastures have been all that robbed of them. alexandre's clad remembers all too well how it started thirty years ago. and then a master plan of countering desert invasion was put together. when an emergency state was introduced in the republic almost all farmers school children and students were involved in seed collection and subsequent sowing works in the region . the results achieved proved that it was possible not only to stop as its invasion but also to bring life back but. that it will take fifteen to twenty years for this land to become step again. we should remember that it's impossible to revive step

in its original form only open so. that our goal is not only to reinforce the sandy soil but also to create quality pastures that will foster the development of cattle breeding in kalmykia where. it's a tough task selecting which plants are fit for life in the desert and those that can help turn the desert back into step herbs in bush's was selected by way of trial and error the tally panesar was one of the first scientists who proved which plants are most likely to survive here if the cord injuries would not be this is a collision in route one of the bushes planted to study the sun. it's called. the roots can grow fifteen to twenty metres deep. it's a very convenient plant to use because it grows in the sand and doesn't require watering by the. minute i mean the

scientists recommend planting cuttings of killing you know the same way grapes are planted that. we were hesitant at first but it turns out that it grows well after all even on. people can help. wondering they tell us what's the use of planting sticks but after three months the sticks start to blossom. today residents of the county village of pecans kate will start another round combating the desert all they have is an old tractor with soviet era of quick mint attached to fight the invading sands the new agricultural technique of planting cuttings with just the working team is composed of three people two technicians who plant the cuttings and an assistant who stamps on the ground around the plants to make it flat one planting machine can cover up to twelve hectares of sand in a single shift it is hard work especially considering temperatures often reach forty five degrees celsius one hundred thirteen fahrenheit in the shade in the

first year the young plants will shoot out a strong and lengthy root system then every bush gradually gains a territory of about thirty square metres all to itself when the sand invasion is stopped the spaces between the bush rows will be filled with grass this is how a form of desert is going to become a posture. there is a great variety of deserts and some of them instead of being a hindrance can be a natural wonder six thousand kilometers east of moscow in the foothills of the ridge behind lake baikal lies the chara desert it is a unique place siberia. tourists from all over russia visit that even though it's hard to reach the desert is surrounded by rivers and marshes every july it hosts a festival the real enthusiasts stay away from the proper roads the trip to the festival location is an adventure in itself some travel across tigar and rivers and

trucked off road vehicles others head through the marshes on foot one group of thrill seekers full by force has chosen especially to. ok reached. dmitri of the shy program from kazakhstan is the focus of attention his cause is completely unfit to offer aid exploits yet he has travelled four thousand kilometers to join the band of adventurous. unfazed by winds of course i've never dared to go to such a place on my own. but going with a group is a different thing. besides the experience guys took a look at the route beforehand and said we should be able to make you believe. dimitri ran into problems assumes the cars left the highway and the next five hours

were very hard however his fellow travelers tell him it's the only way a rally across tiger is a real test but for the driver and for the vehicle. adrenaline is pumping the car is stuck the wheels are spinning and the terrain is getting more and more difficult now the participants will all experience the hardships of traveling off road through the siberian tiger the crews will help each other out if not many of these cars will end up abandoned in the swamps at the by the time the convoy rives it is already late but the drivers for go exhaustion and start repairing their vehicles right away for the good with no i probably wouldn't want to come every year because you need some time off but the most it's a very intense kind of experience. early in the morning while the campus is sleep.

an experienced hiker well acquainted with the area set softened to the sands his task is to check how safe the route is before the new arrivals hit the road to explore the charred desert the short cut to the desert goes through a marshland and a pine forest. each plane landing in charge of flies over the deserts of cripple the passengers are always but will do to actually see sanjay and hear. that legend has it that want there were two brothers or younger there was like a. common both were princes and they lived in peace and harmony or even if it was me until they came upon a treasure trove of gold they proceeded to divide it mostly but they could never come up with their hogs one always ended up shorter than the other and this led to fighting and civil war the gods were greatly displeased with it and turned one prince into the kadar ridge and the other into the old become rich while the gold they were fighting over became a stretch of sand between them and the first groups of tourists are approaching the

charas sands. each person has to improvise a way of walking over the difficult terrain where the tiger ends and the desert starts the walk ahead of them is fascinating yet tiring the key to success here is to ignore the burning sun and insect bites of the taiga. there is no complete explanation as to the deserts origin one theory is that it was produced by centuries of winds eroding the sediment of an ancient lake. the lake dried out about fifteen thousand years ago and its form of bed was walked on by packs of mammoths and woolly rhinoceros tusks keep turning up in the area to this day. charles landscape is a breathtaking combination of north and south brought together as if by magic. there is no other desert like it anywhere else in the world these fabulous sights

completed by the impressive skyline of the kadar mountain range the chara desert itself is quite small but just over fifty square kilometers. some members of the tour group of stayed behind in the count there completing preparations for the relay competition on the festival's program it's going to be tough with over fifty experienced hikers after the trophy. naturally our goal in coming here was not to take some wild rides in off road vehicles or like bonfires that it was quite the opposite. we're trying to appreciate the beauty of the desert as it is and we'd like to make sure it stays this way for times to come that some countries a desert is considered disaster the char is a place for us to get together and have a good time in a friendly atmosphere. just like today's festival. the relay competition route is set

a few kilometers away from the desert the chara desert itself is a protected nature reserve and visitors only allowed on foot this is no place to host a competition but the protection of the law and the deterrent provided by the sounds themselves make sure that this one of a kind natural treasure remains in its original state. in the evening visitors are treated to one last one. the sun setting over a quiet lake lights up low clouds and fog on the horizon creating an unforgettable beautiful picture. once the sun has set everyone gathers at a large meadow by the lake it is time for the awards ceremony and singing songs by the fire all just for listening to the music of the night forest by the slumbering siberian desert.

russia is going to be so much brighter if you. song from phones to fresh. start on t.v. dot com. do .

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