If you haven’t been to Yelets, you haven’t seen one of Russia’s old treasures. There is a list of so-called historical towns and cities, comprising forty best (from historic viewpoint) Russian curiosities. Many of them are unknown even to the average Russian. My initial plan was to visit Kineshma and Ivanovo, but, due to an unexpected job, I decided to shorten the trip and go to Yelets instead. I spent three hours in Yelets, with about one and a half hours devoted to sightseeing. I took the train from Kursky Railway Station and arrived in Yelets at 8 in the morning. There were fellow passengers in the car, young men I guess from school, who disturbed my sleep a lot by their loud talking. I do hate such persons but I cannot point out to them ... read more

I got my passport with Finnish Schengen visa by courier from the Moscow Visa Centre. They were so generous as to give me a 90 days’ visa effective till January 2, 2015. It is both excellent and somewhat disappointing because one needs heaps of money to spend all 90 days in Europe. As for me, I will try to go on organized one- or two-day trips from St. Petersburg to Finland and Estonia or Latvia, time will tell. My all plans have been suddenly changed when I received a phone call from an acquaintance of mine, a translator, telling me about a three months’ business trip to Moscow to an aviation enterprise. I am supposed to be on the premises five days a week with Sunday and Saturday for rest, and I will certainly explore the ... read more

Luda suggested our going for a one-day weekend excursion because she had more time for leisure (she does French lessons on Sunday). Without thinking too long, I proposed a trip to Konevets Isle. The proposal having been accepted, I bought two ‘tickets’ from the already known Pervye Linii Company. As I have already mention, I gradually visit all more or less worth-while places in the vicinity of St. Petersburg (for me ‘vicinity’ applies if a place is located not father than about 10-12 hours of drive by train or bus; however, I may extend the notion to 20-hour train journeys as well – to Kola Peninsula, for instance). Konevets Isle is located in the west of Ladoga Lake, seven kilometers from Vladimirskaya Bay, 170 kilometers from Petersburg (by water). The bus took us from Petersburg to ... read more

I had booked a tour of the Tersky Coast of the Kola Peninsula, where the starting point was the town of Kandalaksha. Since the Russian Railways have altered the previous schedule (the group was to meet early in the morning, the train would arrive only by noon), I was advised either to come to Kandalaksha one day in advance (and book a hotel) or to change trains somewhere, e.g. in Petrozavodsk. I checked up the schedules and booked two convenient trains with a 6-hour period between them. I have long ago planned to visit the city, but I was compelled to cancel those attempts. I arrived in Petrozavodsk at six-forty in the morning and, having left the luggage, went for a walk. I walked energetically though feeling almost none of the former enthusiasm like in Perm ... read more

In the Ural Region one of the popular destinations is the Kapova Cave (Shulgan-Tash) with its prehistoric wall paintings. I’ve decided to visit the cave, but, given the lack of public transport on the final short 30 km section to the cave, I decided to join a guided tour, and a real success it was, but, damn it, I saw no interiors of the cave. I’ll try to make the story as long as possible, including every major or minor detail. This entry adds to the previous pictures of the Urals drawn in “Iremel Twice” and “Abzakovo”. I found a three-day bus tour with Tengri Company, offering a visit to three Ural nature reserve, with a comprehensive visit to the cave and its area. I paid the price in advance by a card transfer (very convenient, ... read more