Mother Russia has much more to offer the world apart from vodka and funny videos on Youtube. It is the biggest country in the world and the ninth place when it comes to the population as it has approximately 150 million inhabitants.

Each year numerous tourists like to pick Russia as their vacation destination, not so much for the luxurious commodities but for its huge cultural background. St. Petersburg and the country’s capital, Moscow, are not only swell when it comes to shopping streets, parks and restaurants but are also a home to a variety of breathtaking landmarks, such as cathedrals and museums that every other country on Earth would be jealous of.

Russia is responsible for copious amounts of famous people who generally gifted the world with their ingenuity on many different aspects. The baron of classical ballet, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, as well as the literature kings, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, are only an example of Russia’s greatness.

But most of you already know about this stuff and the reason you clicked on the article was to read something that would intrigue you. Well, you are in the right place then. Because today is the day that you will learn some pretty weird, unusual and entertaining things about Russia, apart from the fact that their president, Vladimir Putin, has his own published Judo videotape, which is an amazing thing on its own.

So sit back, put your reading glasses on and prepare to be amazed as today we are taking a look at 15 unusual things you could only see in Russia!

15. Military Disneyland

Yay guns and small children, the perfect combination for having fun. A great place to send your kids, ages 12-18, totally safe. Just buy them a ticket and they are ready to go enjoy their stay at the military “Disney” camp.

Even though this place is officially partnered with Disney, the character of this “amusement park” isn’t childish at all. Children have the opportunity to learn how to use assault and sniper guns and are even introduced to bare-handed combat by professionals.

Their survival skills are practiced every day that they stay there, as every morning after breakfast the campers will often take on an obstacle course and form teams for athletic events. So if your kid likes playing with airsoft guns gift him a ticket for this camp to spend his “vacations”.

14. Twin Stars Diner

Oh, Russia, you never stop to amaze. What more do you want people? A diner whose staff is only compiled by identical twins, you might say, and they will reply “Yes, we have that too”.

You heard right, this diner located in the beautiful capital of Russia, Moscow, is a must for every tourist who visits as both the prices and the food is great. Also, your order is taken, prepared and served only by twins. That’s unique as it is the only restaurant in the world that has the policy to hire twins exclusively.

There is also another great rule, the twins also have to wear completely identical outfits. The owner is said to have come up with the idea after watching a film called “Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors”. Go check it out for yourself!

13. The Dancing Forest

Not much is known about this place as information regarding the exact cause of its special structure is little to none. Nevertheless, this magnificent wonder of nature, the Dancing Forest, is located in Rybachiy, a city in Kaliningrad Oblast, and has been a tourist favourite for many years.

Before the pine trees were planted, the area used to be a gliding school for Nazi Germans that was destructed after the end of World War II. Since then, the trees have taken multiple crazy forms such as spiral, hearts, and rings as it can be seen from the pictures above.

According to scientists, the distortion is the result of the actions of a special kind of caterpillar while the locals prefer to think that the forest actually mimics the sand’s movement.

12. Vodka Museum

When other countries have no museum dedicated only to vodka exhibits, Russia has two, that’s how much they adore their national liquor. One is located in St. Petersburg and is dedicated to Russian vodka exclusively while the other one can be found in Moscow and it exhibits the history of vodka.

In the former mentioned, visitors have the option to purchase the basic ticket and discover the place themselves or they can pay the full price and get a half hour guided tour and tasting of many different vodkas.

The word vodka has its origins from another word, voda, which means water. The Russians know that they produce the best vodka in the world. But that isn’t enough so they had to make a museum so that the world can know it too!

11. Cat Theatre

You thought you have seen it all, didn’t you? Well, you were wrong. The Russians are more innovative than anyone would imagine. Located in Moscow is the world’s only cat theatre.

Imagine a circus show on crack. Owned by the Kuklachyov family the theatre has made millions of dollars over the years featuring multiple cats in its performances. Even though it is considered animal cruelty, by many, to use cats in such ways the cats seem to enjoy being in the spotlight.

It is mostly a show for children but adults and cat lovers are also welcome as there are various juggling acts as well.

10. Lenin’s Mausoleum

This one is more on the morbid side rather than the bright one but still, has to be mentioned. Located in the center of the capital in the Red Square, stands Lenin’s Mausoleum or else known Lenin’s Tomb.

Inside lies the real body of the Russian communist revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, embalmed of course, in order to preserve it as much as possible. Many million dollars are spent each year to keep it preserved but they are well spent as the building is one of the main places both tourists and locals like to visit to pay their respects to the late leader.

Nevertheless, a big percentage of the population keep making complaints and insist that the government should bury his body to rest, but their tries are sadly in vain.

9. Bubble Baba Challenge

Do you like swimming? What about adult dolls? Now imagine the two of them combined to one magnificent event! Yes, they have been doing it for the last 14 years.

The bubble baba challenge is a swimming race that takes place in the Vuoksi River where contestants use adult dolls in order to float on the water. There are no gender restrictions but in order to compete, one should be 16 or older.

People love this event and that can be proven by the fact that over a thousand people have been taking part the last years. So if you are 16 years old at the minimum, grab an adult doll and welcome aboard the bubble baba challenge train.

8. Batagaika Crater

The Batagaika crater is a huge permafrosted area who is located in Siberia, near a confluence of the Yana river which is called Batagaika, hence the name.

Even though the locals call it “a doorway to the underworld”, a place of great scientific importance as it shows the result of the permafrosts effect that takes place each year when the temperatures go below waters freezing point (0- °C).

The crater is almost a kilometer long and 86 meters deep, but these numbers are rising by each year that passes. It originally started forming in the 1960s due to deforestation and thus faster rates of melting.

7. Lake Karachay

Everybody knows the feeling you get when you are in nature near a beautiful forest or lake and you just want to breathe in and let the fresh air fill your lungs. Well, if you did that near Lake Karachay you would get a significant amount of radiation.

Lake Karachay is Russia’s repository for industrial and nuclear waste making both the lake and the nearby area so much polluted that even standing near it for an hour could lead to death. It is located in central Russia near the Ural Mountains.

Even though scientist have started making attempts to clear away the radiation by removing the waste and trying to build over the lake, complete safety would take decades to achieve and in no case should civilians approach the site without special equipment.

6. Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov

The mystery of the Buddhist monk has been something that confused scientist over the years, as his dead body has decayed only a little and it still seems lifelike.

Since 1927, when the monk passed away while meditating his body has stayed in the same exact position and many of his followers believe that he hasn’t died but that he is still in a state of hibernation!

His body was moved to a museum in Siberia where tourists and fellow monks can visit and even shake his hand in some occasions, but for preservation matters, the body is guarded and constantly monitored by CCTV.

In 2016 the CCTV records showed that the figure has moved by its own but most people thought that this was just an image manipulation stunt and therefore did not believe that the dead Buddhist has awakened from his long sleep.

5. Children are the victims of adult vices

A different kind of sculptures is located in Bolotnaya Square, south of Moscow’s Kremlin. A couple of blindfolded kids, a male, and a female, while playing are being approached by 13 strange looking figures.

Each figure depicts one of the adult’s vices, like prostitution, drug and alcohol addiction and so on. What the creator wanted to show was that things like that many times affect little kids in very bad ways. In the center of the 13 figures stands “Indifference”, blindfolded and unable to listen or move, thus adding to the whole importance of the arrangement.

When first revealed, it was criticized by the public as everyone thought kids would be scared by its sight. But the creator clearly explained that he wanted to call out different vices in the world in order to protect the future generation, not scare them.

4. Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines

It all started back in 2007 when a bunch of graduates wanted to have a “Sea Battle” arcade machine, a game similar to the well-known “Battleship”, to play with and pass the time. But as they saw more people wanted to play it.

So they decided to gather a collection of arcade machines and open a museum at their university’s dorm basement that was used as a bomb shelter prior to that. Today, the museum has a collection of 40 arcade machines.

The first one is located in Moscow while the second department in St. Petersburg, featuring 50+ arcade machines, had a number of 23,000 total visitors in 2016.

3. Yakutsk – The coldest inhabited city on Earth

You know that time of the year when Winter is about to start and everybody just starts whining about how cold it is gonna be? If you ask the citizen of Yakutsk they will probably laugh at your face.

Yakutsk, except being mostly an industrial city due to the fact that almost a fifth of the world’s diamonds is coming from there, is also the coldest inhabited city on Earth with a whopping average climate of -34 °C during Winter, with an all time record low of -64.4 °C.

Nonetheless, the city is inhabited by an approximate of 270,000 people and doesn’t lack basic commodities such as means of public transportation and education institutes. Though one thing is for certain, if you want to visit I don’t encourage you to stay for long.

2. The Temple of all Religions

Are you a Christian, Muslim, Jewish or even an atheist? Then you will have absolutely no problem visiting that beautiful colorful temple as every religion is welcome.

Located in the heart of Kazan, this landmark’s construction started in 1992 and its architecture has elements from many religions, both exterior and interior wise. It is still getting expanded by every day that passes and by the time it’s finished, the architect, Ildar Khanov, hopes it will feature 16 cupolas (dome like structure), each representing one of the major 16 religions including some, that have stopped being practiced.

Khanov has over the years helped in treatments of drug addiction and alcoholism and wanted to build this temple as a place of culture and truth where all religions and people from any religious background can visit in peace.

1. Chess city

Even if, for some strange reason, you have a love for playing chess then Russia is the place for you. Located to the east of city Elista, chess city is a spacious complex of apartments where most of the tournaments and events surrounding chess take place.

The decision to build chess city was taken by the president of Kalmykia, the region where the city is located, who is also a chess enthusiast and president of the international chess organization.

The Republic of Kalmykia is fairly poor and has an approximate population of about 300,000 people, so when chess city was still on the makings it was greatly criticized by the public.