August 14, we went to climb the Choketty Hill near Komsomolsk-na-Amure. As we were passing by the aircraft plant, we saw three military aircrafts Su-33/27(?) manoeuvring in the air. We think that these were performance tests of newly-built aircrafts. We stopped on the roadside to watch the performance.
As we left Komsomolsk, I (Anna) took control of the steering wheel to go through the gravel road towards the hill. I like driving when there is no traffic around, even if roads are poor. We left the car and climbed about 400m up the Choketty Hill. We enjoyed the nice view of the Sikhote-Alin range before going down.
Then we went towards Amur River through a gravel/mud road in the forest. As we left our car and walked towards the river, we were surrounded by a cloud of mosquitoes, black flies and horse flies all desperately craving for our blood. That made us unhappy, so we took a quick glance at the river and rushed back towards the safety of the car. After being back to Komsomolsk, we went for a short walk and dinner.
August 15, it was time to go back to Khabarovsk. The weather was turning bad again and it rained the entire day as we were driving to Khabarovsk. Weather forecast for the following weekend and week did not look promising either. Well, we will be home anyways.
It was time to bid farewell to Sikhote-Alin, which was also a wonderful host for us. We spent great time in Primorsky Krai and in the Komsomolsk area and always had good weather when we needed it. Unlike Altai or Sayan mountain ranges, Sikhote-Alin range that we visited did not have tall mountains, but it had its own charm of blue hills and lush tropical forests. It also gave us a glimpse of a wild bore in the forest, which I very much appreciate. No bears in sight, but oh well...
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