There is a smelly toilet under the monument: what terrifies domestic tourism

“Petya Was Here”

Against the backdrop of sharply reduced choice and budget due to sanctions, many Russian vacationers for the first time became interested in domestic hiking trails. It seems to be the time to develop and improve them – this is constantly talked about in the tourism industry. But while the court and the case, “domestic” tourists are returning from vacation in their native lands with the words “That’s it! On this, I’m done with traveling around Russia. ”

We found out that it is in the protected areas of the Fatherland that can cause such rejection in a traveler who is familiar with Russian realities from the cradle.

In the last week of August, the government of the Russian Federation approved an action plan for the development of domestic tourism until 2035, which included more than 65 “promoting” events and a whole range of support measures, including financial – grants, sponsorship, concessional lending, subsidies, etc.

“All this is meaningless until you rebuild the consciousness of the locals,” the Yekaterinburg travel agency reacts sadly to the news. – You can’t force our people to protect their heritage – neither cultural nor natural. In Siberia and Altai, people are used to the fact that everything around is “collective farm” – that is, no one’s. Therefore, I can’t even imagine when we will get rid of the notorious “Petya was here”.

It’s a shame, because Siberia and Gorny Altai are just the main “lure” of domestic tourism. And this is how the traveler explains her categorical refusal to further explore the sights of her native country, who colorfully described on the Web her disappointment from the Urals, its capital and its environs. Even in natural attractions located far from industrial Yekaterinburg, the tourist found extremely repulsive details. Let’s listen to what exactly upset the visitor the natural monument “Magpie Rocks” near Asbest, described by the guidebook as “a granite outcrop on the left bank of the Bolshoy Reft River. They received the status of a natural monument in 2001 – for their mattress-like shape, which is not typical for these places. The length of the rocks is about 300 m, the height is 12 m. The protection of the object is entrusted to the Sukholozhskoye forestry.

– On the way to the monument, visitors are greeted by a rusty metal plate. The place under the base of the rocks is one big dump, where even broken furniture is lying around. I wonder how she got there? If we talk about Yekaterinburg itself, then take the “Millionaires’ Quarter” – a pedestrian zone in the city center, it is even compared with Geneva. But nearby is a unkempt wasteland, in which two central streets abut. And this, for a moment, is the most historical center, a few meters from here – luxury housing!

And under the rock “Three Sisters” in the village of Kuri, Sukholozhsky district, famous for the fact that at its foot at the end of the 19th century the first hydropathic clinic was opened in the Urals, local residents, according to the tourist, arranged … a public toilet with accompanying odors, because of which guests old resort very quickly retreat.

It must be admitted that if we set ourselves the goal of collecting impressions with a minus sign, then the material is collected faster on the “anti-guidebook” in Russia. What can you not hear from the “pioneers” of domestic tourism.

– On Mednaya Gora (Mountain Park named after the Ural writer Bazhov – Auth.), Instead of the Silver Hoof, gypsies pester guests, – says Larisa from Moscow, who ventured to spend a vacation with her family in her native open spaces. – And on the Shaitan-stone in the magical lake Itkul, the locals drink alcohol and use foul language. In general, to be honest, there are a lot of interesting things. But somehow everything is dumb!

“Let’s take care of our house, take care of it and keep it clean!” – calls the travel blogger, who just returned from the Urals. Perhaps this is the way out: we can’t wait for decent guests without a general cleaning.