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Today a call suddenly rang: a call from an old friend, TV journalist Vladimir Zharov, who was on a business trip in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Knowing my love for the sea, he even tried to convey the sound of the sea surf using his phone… And, fortunately, I heard a familiar melody, because I was born on the ocean shore. Thank you very much, Volodya!

A friend’s call brought back a flood of memories of my visit to Kamchatka. First of all, I remembered the arrival of our tourist group from 60 cities of the country on board the motor ship “Turkmenia” in August 1965 and the meeting with the residents of Petropavlovsk. “Bouquets of lush Kamchatka flowers, smiles, greetings… And only the inhospitable sky slightly darkened the joyful meeting, but even then not for long.”

The rain, as if ashamed of its tactless behavior, went somewhere beyond the hills,” wrote the newspaper “Kamchatskaya Pravda” in correspondence “Kamchatka is glad to have guests.” I couldn’t help but remember the events of those years that took place on the deck of the motor ship “Turkmenia” of the Far Eastern Shipping Company, which was cruising the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Sea of ​​Japan and the Pacific Ocean, visiting Primorye, Sakhalin, Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The cruise turned out to be exciting and interesting from start to finish. After all, there are still many places along the route untouched by man, a lot of wild nature on the sea and on land.

The rocky islands of the Kuril ridge with fire-breathing volcanoes are already overboard. And suddenly one day during breakfast, the watchman’s voice was heard from the ship’s speakers: “Sperm whales are right on course!” These words probably produced the same effect that the sailors experienced when, after long wanderings, the triumphant cry of the Mars was heard: “Earth!” Everyone rushed to the deck.

Under the slanting rays of the rising sun, the bodies of sea giants sparkled with a matte shine. The sperm whales, as if competing with our ship, swam nearby for some time, then fell behind. On the twelfth day of the voyage, our ship dropped anchor near the island of Kunashir, the largest in the Kuril ridge, and we went ashore. We climbed the Mendeleev volcano with its roaring fumaroles and observed an interesting picture: the steam escaping from the hot belly of the volcano soon condensed, and a few meters from the fumarole a whole snowdrift of golden, bright yellow sulfur formed — come and grab at least a whole backpack!

Each of us dreamed of bringing a piece of sulfur as a souvenir and giving it to friends. The jet of steam was so powerful that it threw back the cobblestones thrown into the fumarole by curious tourists. The main local attraction was the hot beach. Here along the seashore there is a wide strip of sand — why not a beach?

You can undress and lie on this beach. It’s okay that it’s autumn and the sun isn’t visible, the sand is still hot. Exactly — not warm, but hot. You can swim on the hot beach only at low tide, when the sea recedes several tens of meters and sea water remains in the depressions between the stones, which is quickly warmed up by jets of steam gushing from underground, coming from a nearby volcano.

And now the bath is ready. On a rainy day it is especially pleasant to swim in such a bath. Due to the presence of sources with a wide variety of water chemical compositions, the inhabitants of the island, as a rule, fishermen, do not know what rheumatism or radiculitis is. This is truly where nature heals.

Only by seeing this with your own eyes can you believe in the truth of the above lines. Here it is absolutely fair to recall the Japanese wisdom: “It is better to see once than to hear a hundred times.” This suggests the main conclusion: “Travel as much as possible…”. I’ll say right away: there are no easy paths.

But, according to the famous explorer and writer G. Fedoseev, “the more difficult the path, the stronger the feeling of life.” On the May holidays, we again traditionally head for the mountains. There are 15 people on the bus and the same number of backpacks with the essentials for the hike, and even a guitar — the eternal companion of the tourist.

Our team is headed by Sergey Baldanov, President of the Federation of Sports Tourism and Mountaineering of Buryatia. He has been the head of the federation for many years, and things in sports tourism and mountaineering are gaining momentum. And suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, Sergei died tragically while climbing Pobeda Peak. My heart failed.

Memories take us back to the distant nineties. Then, in 1992, a meeting of current members of the federation and the tourist community took place on Verkhnyaya Berezovka in Ulan-Ude. In my final speech, I, being at that time the chairman of the Federation of Amateur Tourism, said words that became prophetic: “I confidently pass the baton into the reliable hands of Sergei Baldanov. Let tourism in Buryatia be successful.”

It must be said that during the existence of the federation, created in October 1977, a new generation of young sports tourism enthusiasts grew up, to which Sergei Baldanov belonged. Now, under his leadership, a new stage in the development of sports and health tourism has begun. In 1997, the Federation of Sports Tourism and Mountaineering was officially registered. In its work, the federation relied on tourist clubs, of which by this time there were more than thirty in enterprises, organizations and educational institutions.

The clubs were financed from trade union funds. But the years of perestroika brought serious changes. It was necessary to earn money to hold public events and travel. Tourism veteran Stanislav Konstantinenko recalls: “Once Sergei asked for a license to carry out construction work using special equipment and mountaineering experience.”

He assembled a team and collected applications for such work. The guys intended to use the money they earned to travel. Therefore, I treated the request with understanding, helped to obtain an official license, and things went well.” Of course, thanks to his determination and perseverance, Sergei found sponsors among entrepreneurs who confidently got on their feet.

Sergei’s cherished dream was the desire for as many people as possible to visit the sacred mountain Munku-Sardyk. Therefore, mass ascents to the highest peak of Eastern Siberia were practiced 3–4 times a year. At the same time, every time serious attention was paid to the safety of ascents. He wanted every resident of Buryatia — from schoolchildren to honorary veterans — to visit the top of the mountain giant at least once in their life.

And the flow of applicants increased every year. Once we observed such a picture. Early in the morning, a continuous line of mountain climbers with assault backpacks rushed up the steep icefalls of the Muguvek stream. Bright sports jackets and hats made the gloomy Muguveka gorge seem to brighten up.

This is how Serezha’s cherished dream became a reality. That was great! Sergei understood well that in order to lead those who wanted to go on hikes, experienced instructors and guides were needed. Ion constantly kept in touch with the tourism departments of the BSU and the East Siberian Academy of Culture, which trained tourism personnel.

According to local legend, the top of Munku-Sardyk is considered a holy place and climbing the mountain means undergoing purification and receiving benefits. Now, near the bridge over the White Irkut near the suburgan, a prayer service is held to honor Buren Khan, the owner of the mountains. It must be said that the authorities of the Okinsky District municipality take an active part in this holiday and provide the necessary support. We still remember with pain the passing of Sergei Baldanov and thank the entire tourist community for the fact that the famous Buryat climber will forever be immortalized by assigning his name to one of the nameless peaks in the Republic of Buryatia with an absolute height of 2,914 meters, located in the Munku-Sardyk mountain range of the Eastern Sayan.

And it is our duty to keep in our hearts the long and respectful memory of this worthy man and comrade Sergei Baldanov.