HIGHLANDS "WHERE the EAST MEETS the WEST" Adventure cycling tour 11 days/10 nights - town-island Sviyazhsk (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - - Mountains National Park - Bend ( Ziguly Mountains) National Park - Samara

Itinerary day by day

Day 1: Kazan Arrival to Kazan. You will be met at the station and taken to the hotel. The hotel is located in the heart of Kazan just a few steps from the walls and the main historical sites. After breakfast we go sightseeing. We visit the KREMLIN with its famous mosque and after lunch will go on a cycling tour around the city Kazan - In the Late Middle Ages, Kazan was an important trade and political center within the Golden Horde. In 1438, the city became the capital of the . In 1552, Kazan was captured by and became part of . The city was largely destroyed during Pugachev's Rebellion, but was later rebuilt during the reign of Catherine the Great. In the following centuries, Kazan grew to become a major industrial, cultural and religious center in Russia. Kazan is renowned for its vibrant mix of Oriental and Russian cultures. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the right to brand itself as the "Third Capital" of Russia. In 2009 it was chosen as the "sports capital of Russia" and it still is referred to as such.

Day 2: Kazan - Sviyazhsk In the morning we continue sightseeing of Kazan and after lunch take a river boat to the town-island of Sviyazhsk. On arrival we have a guided walking tour around the island including its famous Assumption Cathedral and Monastery. We stay for the night on the island at a newly restored 19th century house.

The town-Island of Sviyazhsk was founded in 1551 as a fortress, which was built within four weeks from parts made in and transported down the Volga. It became a military base of the Russian army during the siege of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible(1552). Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Famous Russian poet called it "Buyan" in his poem "The Tail of Tsar Saltan". "Buyan" - was the name of a fairy-tail town-island in Russian folklore where magic things that help fairy heroes fight against the evil ones are kept. There is also a magic stone "Alatyr" somewhere hidden on the island. It means "center of the world". If you find it, all your wishes will come true!

Day 3: Sviyazhsk - Labyshka 73 km This is our first real day of cycling. We'll ride through endless fields and hills, small and farms. A warm-up day which will bring us some steep climbs. We will stay for the night in one of the villages on the bank of the Volga River, Kuybyshev water reservoir to be exact, at a beautiful cottage with awesome views on the river. Banya (Russian steam house) in the evening.

Day 4: Labyshka - Tetyushy 101 km Long day but easy ride. Perfect asphalt roads, long ups and long downs... We cycle along the Volga River, enjoying beautiful views. We make a radial ride to a monument to those who were killed during a tragic wreck of a big cruise ship BULGARIA. It happened due to human factor. It sank not far from the bank, but most of those who died (122 people) were children and elderly people. The monument was erected on a high bank of the river. There is a Christian church and a mosque. We also drop at an old estate house of local nobility for a cozy tour of the house and the park. Today we stay at 2 small hotels for the night...

Day 5: Tetyushy - Undory 65 km Today the cycling is more or less the same as the day before. Perfect asphalt, beautiful views. Our destination today is the town of Undory.

The town of Undory is usually advertised as "Russian Karlovy Vary" due to its spas and mineral water. The springs of Undory have been known for more than 200 years. The water at spa is rich in sodium chloride among other 20 minerals and comes from artesian wells. There are two spa treatment centers that where build during the Soviet time. As we stay at one of them you have a chance to enjoy treatment in the evening.

Evening program also includes a walk to the Volga bank to enjoy the views on the white cliffs and in search of local treasures - simbircit stones. Simbircit is sometimes called "Volga Amber". Although the only thing the stones have in common is the color palette. The origins are absolutely different. The uniqueness of simbircit is that it was formed in the shells of ancient mollusks ammonites which interacted with different minerals and the stone as if absorbed over 50 minerals like pyrite, pearl, calcite, quartz, onyx, marl and so on. Thus the stones that are widespread all over the world gave birth to a new one that is unique in itself. The age of the mineral is 120 million years. There are only 2 deposits of simbircit in the world - Russia and Argentina. It was discovered 200 years ago but was underestimated and not used and only in the late 20th century people learned how to work with it. The stone owes its name to the town where it was first found - Simbirsk (today Ulyanovsk). Apart from Lenin, who was born in Ulyanovsk, simbircit is the symbol and the main wealth of the town. There is a monument to it in the town centre. Simbircit is believed to be energetically very strong and positive. The only touch of the stone can improve your mood, and if you wear a simbircit talisman it will harmonize your inner world and bring you extra vital energy.

Day 6: Undory - Ulyanovsk 40 km In the morning we visit the local Paleontological Museum. The thing is that 140 million years ago there used to be the sea in the area. It was inhabited by ichthyosaurus, plesiosaurus and the like. Their fossils are found in abundance along the banks of the Volga River and numerous ravines. A unique sample was found not far from the town of Undory and was named Undorosaurus gorodischensis. It was 4-6 metres long. Those findings launched the creation of Undory Paleontological Museum and 2 Paleontological Nature Reserves. Now there are plans to turn them into one GeoPark Undoria. Today is a short cycling day because our destination is the city of Ulyanovsk, home town of , 1917 Socialist Revolution leader. So we take a cycling tour of the city and visit some museums dedicated to this legendary person.

Day 7: Ulyanovsk - Singeley 86 km We start the day cycling through the town of Ulyanovsk following local cycling paths which run through the main sites and lovely parks and then out of town. We continue the day cycling along the Volga River with some patches of gravel or field roads enjoying beautiful views on the river from its high banks. Today we enter Sengiley Mountains NATIONAL PARK. This part of Volga Highlands is sometimes called "ULYANOVSK SWITZERLAND". The mountains are mostly sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous and Jurassic Ages which give raw material for cement and chalk production and it took a long time of about 40 years for the Ecology Community to turn the area into NATIONAL PARK. We make a redial ride along scenic field roads, to a Holy Spring. There is a legend that Genghis Khan, the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death, was taken water from during the battle. Today we stay at a local small hotel in the town of Singeley.

Day 8: Singeley - Volga Utyos (Cliff) 94 km Another long day of riding with perfect asphalt, some patches of field road, with ups and downs, through fields of sunflower, villages and farms. Today we stay at a popular resort that was founded in the Soviet time and called Volga Cliff. All the local community used to work for it and was a closed one. It is situated on the bank of so-called Zhigulyev Sea. It is the biggest in Europe manmade lake on the Volga River. It is also the area where Zhigulyev Mountains start. The resort was several times granted the name of the best in Russia. We stay at a cotage. Banya in the evening.

Day 9: Volga Utyos (Cliff) - Shiryaevo 31km Bus transfer in the morning 152 km. Today we enter another National Park one of the most famous in Russia. The Samara bend (Russian: Самарская Лука) is a large hairpin bend of the middle Volga River at the confluence of the Samara River . As the Volga enters its middle course it reaches the Zhiguli Mountains, and the Samara Bend is formed as the river circles these mountains. The park is highly popular with tourists for hiking and recreation. Famous Russian poets and painters used to work there. Famous painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga" by Ilya Repin was painted in the area. There is a museum of this painter in Shiryaevo. Many festivals are held in the park and if we are luck we'll visit one of them.

Day 10: Shiryaevo - Samara 40km Today we ride through the National Park, visit main sights, enjoy awesome views. It's mostly off road cycling along the trails with ups and downs. The rout depends on the weather. in case of rain we take a ferry straight to Samara. In case of good weather we cycle through most of the park and take a local ferry to cross the Volga opposite Samara.

Day 11: Samara Today we have a guided tour around the city. Among other attractions we visit so-called "Stalin's Bunker" In 1935, Samara was renamed Kuybyshev in honour of the Bolshevik leader Valerian Kuybyshev. During World War II, Kuybyshev was chosen to be the alternative capital of the should fall to the invading Germans, until the summer of 1943, when everything was moved back to Moscow. In October 1941, the Communist Party and governmental organisations, diplomatic missions of foreign countries, leading cultural establishments and their staff were evacuated to the city. A dugout for Joseph Stalin known as "Stalin's Bunker" was constructed but never used. To mark its role as wartime national capital a special Revolution Day parade was held at the city's Kuybyshev Square on November 7, 1941, and since 2011 has been remembered in an annual military parade organised by the city government. In 1960, Kuybyshev became the missile shield centre for the country. The launch vehicle Vostok, which delivered the first manned spaceship to orbit, was built at the Samara Progress Plant. Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel in space on April 12, 1961, took a rest in Kuybyshev after returning to Earth.