Blogs from Siberia, Russia, Europe - page 8

This is embarrassing. The Lake Baikal trip was a big failure and I did not see a Baikal seal! Also this is a very long post because I've been writing it day by day, so before you start reading go get some slippers, a packet of biscuits and a cup of coffee (or a pot of tea if you're that way inclined). Lake Baikal has a lot of superlatives attached to it. It is the deepest lake in the world at 1642 metres (and apparently there is 7000 metres of sediment below that to the actual floor of the lake!). It is 636km long and 79km wide and thus has the largest surface area of any body of freshwater in Asia (31,722 km2). In terms of volume it is the largest freshwater lake in the world, ... read more

When boarding the ferry to go to Olkhon island I was among the dozen or so cars that obviously weren’t going to fit on the boat, meaning another hour to wait. But at the last minute the official pointed at me and I jumped the queue. I thought that perhaps he gave preference to Russian cars, but it turned out that Agatha’s slimness was her advantage in this case. I spent a couple of days on Olkhon Island, the largest island in Baikal and a popular destination for tourists. My accommodation here chose itself: investigating whether it was worth camping on the beach, Agatha showed herself unequal to driving across sand. There wasn’t time to look for help that evening, so I resigned myself to staying in my tent. By the next day I’d befriended my ... read more

One of the results of the breadth of state control in the Soviet Union was that it encouraged the attitude that ‘The State will look after everything’. Perhaps this is one factor that contributes to widespread littering in Russia: a lack of personal responsibility for the consequences of individual actions. Another result was the almost complete lack of civil initiatives. Seen as a threat to the power of the Communist Party and the stability of society, non-government organizations in any form (political, religious, even recreational) were forcibly opposed by the state. Although there were many opportunities for worthy civil activities (such as cleaning up rubbish, planting trees and helping pensioners or disabled war veterans), these were always organized and controlled by organs of the state. Consequently, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, such ... read more

Sitting in an Internet café in Novosibirsk I noticed that there were 2,400km between me and Severobaikalsk and only four days remained until the start of the volunteer project I had signed up to. I realized that I had a lot of driving ahead of me. I’ve always enjoyed long journeys for the meditative experience of sitting patiently, waiting and observing the scenery changing. I’ve had a fair amount of experience on Russian trains, which offer an almost unique experience of enforced inactivity. I can’t think of any other time my life where I’ve been offered such a slim variety of activities as sitting (or lying) on a train for days on end. The only wise option is to take a good book, sleep lots and slow down both mental processes and physical movements (there’s a ... read more

There is a saying that Russia has two problems: ‘fools and roads’. The poor condition of many roads and causes thereof (including, prominently, corruption), is frequently a topic of conversation here. However, Russia has a couple of advantages regarding roads: it’s a rather flat country and it has lots of space to build them. I’ve been impressed by the number of new roads under construction and have enjoyed whizzing along long, wide, straight, recently build roads. What make driving here difficult are the sudden changes of road quality. A smooth new road will suddenly transform into a gravel track or battered tarmac surface with more hole than pot. I’ve also, since driving in Russia, become a huge fan of road markings. It’s unexpectedly difficult to drive without road markings, especially on a wide road with an ... read more