At the end of our trekking tour we were lucky to get a ride with a helicopter. The fly took a half of hour and going back by foot would take probably some days. And we would have to pass areas, we already went through. At the foot of the Asacha volcano big gold deposits were found and a new mine was built. Some bigger parts of the construction were flown in by helicopter.

The workers, who built the gold mine, worked there uninterrupted 5 months and 7 days a week. Because of the high snowfall in winter the area is only accessible in the short Kamchatkas' summer, so each workday counts. This hard job was quite good paid: about 1000 Dollars in month is in Russia an exceptional good wage.

The workers at the gold mine were ones of the nicest people I met in Kamchatka. Their houses looked from outside like hutted camp, but inside they were very clean and comfortable. Even a Russian steam sauna, so called "banya", was provided. The workers invited us and offered food and drinks. We could hardly elude their hospitality. A foreigner was a nice change in the monotony of their workaday routine. The only entertainment they had were fishing and driving the bears through the tundra with the crane.
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