river vacation
A River Tour
Vocabulary
| along | thing (2) | domestic (3) |
| fold (2) | book (2) | hinterland |
| tour | operator | sit/sat/sat |
| place | intrepid | holidaymaker |
| kayak | freedom | give/gave/given |
| need | continue | distraction |
| appeal | pandemic | constantly |
| owe | riverbank | owes as much to |
| ban | backpack | social distancing |
| appeal | outdoors | swim/swam/swum |
| rule (2) | overseas | comparable |
| purify | count (3) | landscape |
| drag | boom (2) | beleaguered |
Video: River Tour
Transcript
If there’s one thing coronavirus has been good for, it’s domestic tourism. Here along the riverbanks of Nizhny Novgorod, thousands of intrepid Muscovites come to discover the hinterland.
Tour operators say bookings are up three-fold, thanks to those like the Klimentyev family.
Alexander Klimentyev, Holidaymaker: “We have so many places that it’s difficult to visit them all. Kayaks give freedom. No need to drag heavy backpacks over the mountains; you can travel by water. The landscape is constantly changing.
After you can sit by the fire, talking.
Perhaps the appeal to camping holidays owes as much to international travel bans, as rules on social distancing.
In the great outdoors, there is plenty of space to swim, fish, kayak and cook.
And none of the distractions of city life.
Natalia Klimentyeva, Holidaymaker: “It’s incomparable to overseas travel, because here we are close to nature. We’re purifying ourselves. We don’t have phones, we don’t have wifi. We just relax, we look at the sky, we count the stars.
It’s beautiful. It’s great.”
It’s not just Russia: there have been a boom in holidays at home around the world.
The question now for the beleaguered tourism industry is will it continue, long after the pandemic is over?
Questions
1. The coronavirus has been entirely negative. It has had a completely negative effect on everything. It has been totally bad. True or false?
2. Are the tourists along the river all from the city of Nizhny Novgorod?
3. Tour guides and tour operators in Nizhny Novgorod feel very sad. Is this right or wrong? Why are there so many visitors in Nizhny Novgorod?
4. Are there just a few places where travelers can visit? Do they hike everywhere with a rucksack (backpack)?
5. Along the riverbanks, people mostly play with their devices. Is this correct or incorrect? What do people do along the riverbanks?
6. Is domestic tourism increasing only in Russia?
7. Will everything remain the same, year after year?
A. Before 2020, what did you and your friends usually do in the summer or during holidays?
B. How do people feel about the coronavirus outbreak? Are they very happy, mostly happy, in the middle, they have mixed feelings, they feel bad, depressed, awful or terrible?
C. There is lots of beautiful nature in my region. Yes or no?
D. Do people like to visit natural places?
E. What might happen in the future?
