Mystery of giants

The adventure begins with a small northern town in the Russian outback. Troitsko-Pechorsk, 500 km from the capital of the Komi Komi city of Syktyvkar, 180 km from Ukhta – second to the significance of the city of the Republic of Komi, the city where the first oil production began in Russia.

Bad Roads, Blowed Wooden Houses, Baracks, Stove Heating, Water Wells, Picturesque Shores of the Pechora River, Drawing Virgin Taiga and Swamps, Local Residents Store His Native Comi Language and Komi Culture: Troitsko-Pechorsk retained his flavor to this day.

However, there is in this town and a very unusual architectural structure. Residential five-storey brick house 800 meters long, numbering 52 entrance. If you look at the house from the helicopter, it resembles a snail or strange to everyone known, but the non-existent letter of the alphabet "sump".

It is from here at 7 am Moscow time the helicopter will take the course to Manpoupler and deliver us to the most amazing and magical place in our life.

Flight by helicopter – this is the adventure itself. Everything is surprising here. The most mysterious for me, as a person injecting in engineering, – how easy it is, such a Mahina breaks away from the ground, swears up and noisily takes you into distant Dali.

In flight from the porthole of the helicopter, we open the stunning types of taiga – virgin forests of Komi, who are protected by UNESCO, swamps with shiny water sails, Pechora and Ilych rivers, and snow-covered vertices of the Ural Mountains. If you are attentive, I tell me our accompanying, then you will definitely see grazing reindeer and nothing fearing brown bears.

Manpoupler from a bird’s height majestically appeared in front of us after 40 minutes of flight. Helicopter, making a circle above the pillars, sits just one kilometer from the first Giant – Shaman.

Small mountain idol

It is so from the language of the people of Manci translates "Manpupongor". For Mansi is a sacred place, a place of worship and a cult, the monastery and the place of power. In ancient times, to rise to Mago Pupa-Ner was allowed only to shamans. Then, when "civilization" came to Taiga and the diamonds of the pagan spirit weakened, the plateau for Mansi began to lose her sacralism. However, still women in mansiysk families attend these places is prohibited – insist the oldest family members who comply with the Customs and the laws of ancestors.

Plateau shroudedly by the most romantic pagan legends. For example, according to one of them, reflecting the ancient collisions of Mansi and Nenets, the Samoyed giants walked through the mountains in order to destroy the Vogulian people. But, rising to the plateau, they saw the sacred Vogul Mountain Yalpangnor and all seven giants fired from horror. Since then, they are on this plateau. And their leader-shaman dropped his tambourine. Rolled tambourine and turned into a huge mountain Koyype.

From a scientific point of view of Plateau Manpupunur is a geological monument. Seven stone weathered posts, each of them its bizarre form, in the height reaching 42 meters. Many thousand years ago on the site of stone pillars were high mountains. Rain and snow, frost and heat, and the main wind gradually destroyed the mountains. Soft breeds were destroyed by weathered and crumbled around, solid rocks were destroyed less and preserved to this day. These stone raspets call the Kurumnik, who for thousands of weight, overgrown with a carpet of 250 types of bright moss.

Excursion to the parallel world

As soon as the manpouner tourists are not called: Doodles, Intucans, Kamenyuki, Mana or Just Puffs.

Plateau Manpupunor is geographically located in the Pechoro Ilych Reserve. Guarded by the state inspections and without skipping to visit the Great Idolams is impossible.

Arriving on a helicopter, we go on an excursion to the columns themselves accompanied by the State Inspector of the Reserve. Fraw one plateau is strictly prohibited. You can only go along the rubble path and go from it can not be – in the mountain tundra there are many rare mosses and lichens, which are easy to pull out.

In general, by 2016, due to illegal tourism and chaotic movement of tourists through the territory of the Plateau, Manpuponger began to turn into a dirty swamp. But in 2016, the Volunteer Detachment "Northern Ural" has equipped here an environmental route here, building the same crushed stone path, which has secured nature from human intervention.

We walked along the trail and did not yet know that the most amazing meeting is waiting for us ahead ..

You go from the house of inspectors – a real two-story mansion on the edge of the earth – you see a bit of a piece of the first pillar. And heart freezes from the coming meeting. How real hospitable hosts traverse accompany the locals: partridges with chicks.

There are several viewing sites on the plateau, where you can sit in silence and think about great.

The State Adopor will definitely tell the legends and legend of these places will tell about the geological component of ancient rocks and simply wipes, allowing you to enjoy unity with nature and with himself.

Suddenly I "woke up" a cry of tourists: – "Bear!"

And really, here she is a meeting of the year. Calm, indifferent to tourists, bypassing their possessions on the way grabbing and appetizing chewing juicy grass. We shook from happiness – see the wild animal in the natural environment for him.

After a meditative walk, leaving giants alone with them (they are very old and get tired of long stay of tourists next to them, therefore finding there, on pillars, limited in time), we go back to the helicopter platform in a cute gazebo overlooking the picturesque Urals Mountains drink tea and eat our dry drip, which gave out when landing in a helicopter.

– "That’s where the Mount Koyype, and the Voiro is tear there, and behind him – Holychachl and Dyatlov’s pass …" – tells us the state inspector.

Day ends for everyone as if not having time to start. Emotions leave for later, and now trying to say goodbye to the Great and Mysterious Manpoupooner. It’s time to go back to reality, load yourself in a helicopter and fly away.