Mandrogi

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Still sailing for the island of Mandrogi on the Svir river. A number of locks to negotiate including one very large one. Mandrogi was occupied by the Finns in WWII and the villagers were expelled. In the 1990s Russian businessman Gutzeit constructed a replica village in the old Russian style which is visited by both Russian and international tourists. Today it is a living museum. There are demonstrations of old crafts such as doll painting, jewellery making, wood carving and pottery. There is also a vodka museum which contains 2800 brands.

For lunch we had a traditional Russian BBQ of shashlick, vegetables and salads . A traditional band of musicians played for us for over an hour. There was a female singer and two males who played the balalaika and accordion. They played traditional music and sang and then played some modern songs. The balalaika sounded at times like a violin and then like a piano. He was very, very skilled and passionate. The thunderstorm that arrived added to the atmosphere. Thankfully we were under shelter for our lunch.

Back to the boat, but we had to wait as one of the boats had not left. As we were the boat triple parked we had to wait for them to leave and then for our boat to move back in with the Viking boat.

Rain continues as we sail towards Kizhi island.

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