Russia's Kamchatka cauldron – where fire meets ice

Explosive wonder: Mutnovsky is a magical volcanic crater with boiling mud pots, fuming fumaroles and mineral-coated rock walls.

Russia's far east is a wilderness frontier of vengeful volcanoes, gushing geysers, Arctic tundra and salmon-filled rivers.

The Kamchatka Peninsula, in the far east of Russia, is so unique that it is known as the place where fire meets ice – a volcanic belt containing around 160 volcanoes (of which 29 of are still active) amidst bitterly cold winters.