This time I’m heading to Kalmykia, the only Buddhist region in Europe.

One of the most striking sights here is the camels. They are regarded as sacred animals, and people treat them with great respect. I meet a camel named Fedya, who not only lets me pet him but even happily takes me for a ride.

I arrive in Kalmykia just as the republic is celebrating Zul, a festival that marks the beginning of winter and the start of the New Year. To experience the celebration properly, I visit a local family. Together we brew jomba tea with salt and butter and make the “boat of life,” a traditional festive dish that symbolizes the continuation of the family line. In the restaurants of Elista I also try beregi, juicy Kalmyk dumplings that are traditionally eaten by hand, and even...camel meat!

Did you know that during Zul the first portion of food is taken to the altar as a spiritual offering? Or that Kalmyk tea was once brewed in mutton broth? discover this and much more in my new episode!

Maslenitsa may be the oldest Slavic folk holiday! It is celebrated in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It represents the last chance to take part in fun social activities, since it’s held the week before Great Lent. We definitely had a lot of fun by dancing, singing, and playing traditional Russian instruments. This is also the last week during which eggs, milk, cheese and other dairy products are permitted by Orthodox tradition, that’s why we eat a LOT of blini (Russian pancakes/crêpes), I lost count of how many I ate 😅 Together with other foreigners (and fellow YouTuber @GabrielleDuvoisin ❤️) I traveled to the Nizhny Novgorod and Koluga regions, where we all got to experience a true Russian Maslenitsa. It was as if the whole world gathered together to celebrate! And finally, we got to say goodbye to winter with the burning of the straw effigy, or Maslenitsa doll, which was unlike anything I had seen before 🔥

00:00 Joined by @GabrielleDuvoisin 🇫🇷

00:42 Going to Gorodets! 🏠

01:00 What is Maslenitsa? 🥞

02:06 All the way from New Caledonia!

03:25 Germans in a remote Russian village!

03:45 Russian folk instrument Gusli 🎶

04:31 Cats celebrate Maslenitsa 🐱

04:50 Maslenitsa celebration begins!

05:10 Blini 🇷🇺 or Crêpes?! 🇫🇷

06:16 Visiting Ethnomir in Kaluga 🌎

07:24 Liza from Germany! 🇩🇪

08:13 This is a HUGE Maslenitsa doll!

08:30 Time to set her on FIRE! 🔥

09:22 A subscriber from Bangladesh! 🇧🇩

10:31 Goodbye Russian winter, hello spring!

11:10 What an international Maslenitsa ❤️

11:24 Is winter over yet? ❄️

Gabrielle’s YouTube channel 🇫🇷 https://youtube.com/@GabrielleDuvoisin?si=EbD0TtpwhDhHMAE0

Telegram Channel of the Germans: https://t.me/slobylinki

Liza’s Instagram in German:
https://www.instagram.com/lizaveta.graf?igsh=dHk5MnJoOGlkcWo2

Thank you to the OKA Agency and Welcome to Russia for organising these amazing trips, check them out if you also want to move or visit Russia! 🇷🇺
https://oka-agency.com
https://welcome-to-russia.com

If you want to visit Ethnomir in the Kaluga region you can check them out here 🌎 https://ethnomir.ru

Beautiful location to visit in Tarusa that was also in my video ❤️ https://tarusagarden.ru/