Tourism as One of the Forms of Studying Folklore and Traditions: Traveling With Kelpies, Silks and the Great Poloz

Tourism in modern society is most often perceived as entertainment and recreation, but avid travelers know for sure that every tourist trip is the opening of new horizons of knowledge about the world around us. Traveling can become not only a source of impressions, but can also give rise to a lot of new interests and motivations for activities, both creative and scientific. In this regard, Arkaim is amazing! It not only attracts scientists as a center for archaeological and historical-cultural research, but also as a place that gives people creative impetus. For us, this ancient settlement became the starting point of “traveling with passion,” when we suddenly began to show interest not only in the history of the places we visited, but also turned to the traditions and legends associated with them. And since the routes of our travel project “Ladies in Hats” versus “Guys in Kilts” ran through the Scottish Highlands and the Urals, the object of interest this time was the tales of mountains, valleys, lakes and their spirit-essences with which these are so rich two geographical spaces at different ends of Europe. Moreover, we found very interesting similarities in the plots. This is not only the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, mermaids and silks (seals), who carry away successful stone-cutters, fishermen and sailors into underground and underwater gardens; but both the Great Snake and Kelpie are spirits of mountains and lakes who are able to show a person the limitless power of nature. Writers have long talked about this, however, it is a completely different matter to set foot on the old paths ourselves. It is precisely such travels that can change a person’s view of the world, and also encourage him to be creative. We’ll tell you how the route ended for us.