Blogs from Volga, Russia, Europe - page 3

Russia really is a land of contrasts. A few weeks ago we were inside temples in the Buddhist Republic of Kalmykia, a few days ago we couldn't move for onion domed churches in Suzdal and now here we are in the Republic of Tatarstan, home to 5 million Tatars, where mosques are more common than churches and signs are in Tatar and Russian. The capital, Kazan, is a great place to wander round – it doesn't feel Russian, it has a very free and easy feel, more relaxed than other cities. There are some amazing buildings around, very flamboyant and colourful not at all grey and concrete like my image of Russia. And so much history - established around 700AD by Bulgar Tatars (of Turkic & Slavic origin), it was conquered by the Mongol Golden Horde, ... read more

Volgograd-Saratov-Samara Nasi dalsi zastavkou je misto zvane " Utes Stepena Razina". Sjizdime z hlavni silnice mezi Vogogradem a Saratovem a po 8km po prasnych cestach prijizdime na brehy Volhy. Krajina je zvlnena, porostla brizami a krizovana stovkami vyjetych cest. Ve vesnici se ptame kudy jet a pak uz zvesela projizdime krajinou az na misto, kde je sezeni, zeleny travnik a uzasny vyhled dolu na reku Volhu. Bile utesy lemuji tmave modrou az cernou hladinu reky po ktere pluji lode. Pote zajizdime dolu az na samy breh , kde si macime nohy ve studene vode s jeste plavoucim ledem. Z teto prirodni oazy klidu a zelene se vydavame do mesta Saratov, oazy prachu a ruchu. Krasny vyhled na mesto z Parku Pobedy a prochazka nocnim centrem nam trochu vylepsuji dojem. Hlavnim zazitkem jsou ovsem zlate natrene lampy, ... read more

They call it Instanbul of the Wolga – the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan – where Muslim and Christians, Tatar and Russian meet. During the Soviet times Kazan was the capital of the Tatar Autonomous Republic and enjoyed also after the breakup of the Soviet Union certain sovereignty from Moscow. Micha picked me up from the train station at 6.20 am – unfortunately the 20min ride to his place was the only time I saw him during the coming 3 days. Consequently, the deep dive into the Tatar culture which I was hoping for didn’t happen. Micha had another CS staying over – Felix, a German guy hitchhiking his way to Siberia – he tried to convince me to come along with him for a while... yeah, not really :) However, Felix and I gave ... read more

After a night spent in the train – without any special events probably due to the average age of the passengers in my ‘wagon’ – I was looking forward to a shower in Olga’s apartment. In her apartment this meant, putting water to boil, pour the hot water into a big pot, mix it with cold water from the tap, take a hug cup and off you go pouring the water over your body. In summer in Russia the government usually turns off the hot water for about two weeks by district or street in order to fix the pipes . I told Olga not to worry – the first time I went to Russia/St.Petersburg I stayed two weeks with a host family – guess which two weeks the hot water was turned off in their ... read more

I visited Kazan many times and had many walks there. I usually go to St. Petersburg via Kazan by train. I like this city, because I feel comfortable there. I mean, in the centre, I haven’t been in other areas. My first visit there was in May 2009, when I was going to Kursk, and on my way I had two stops in Kazan and Moscow. It was extremely fine to start walking at 6 o’clock in the morning, with almost no people in the streets and lovely atmosphere, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. I did not use any transport for moving in the city, because the train station is in the centre and major attractions are also there. But I did go by metro one time and by bus, only because ... read more