Discount Cruises

Once upon a time, some 5,000 to 40,000 years ago, a strip of land connected the American land masses to Asia. Known as the Bering Land Bridge, it guided animals and people into a new life as settlements sprang up around what we know today as Alaska. That bridge is long gone, but during winter, when the Bering Strait freezes over, it is still possible to walk across the Strait -- from Little Diomede Island in the US to Big Diomede Island in Russia.
Russia governed Alaska as a colony for nearly as long as the US has governed as a territory and state. This early Russian heritage is very much alive today, through quaint villages and historic architecture. Russian names dot the geographical landscape. But long before Russians arrived, Tlingit, Haida, and Tshimshian Indians thrived in southeast Alaska, a region of lush forests and a mild climate, with an abundance of fish, game, and edible plants. Inland tribes, such as the Athabascans, faced a harsher reality, with severe weather and famine more common occurrences...