Russia's big lady
25 JulWe woke up in the Russian couples house at 8 instead of 7, as I had forgotten to adjust the time on my phone when we crossed the Russian border. I took another shower (never know when the next opportunity might be), but this didn’t seem to go down very well, so Tim gave it a miss, and Stephen used the outdoor gravity shower. The lady made us coffee (no offer of milk) and offered us some big biscuity things that sat in the middle of the table. They had flys all over them, they’d been out all night, and seemed to have some cream in them, so we all gave them a miss (remember we’d eaten in this guys café the night before!). The house is quite basic by our standards, especially the kitchen and the bathroom, but they have a big TV and stereo.
As we loaded the car it was obvious they were keen for us to go, so we said our goodbyes, paid the bill, and got in the car. However the man wanted to show us the way to the main road (and I suspect take us to his café for breakfast), so we followed him to the main junction, and said goodbye again. This time we took a photo:
These people were very nice to us, and helped us out of yet another late night squeeze.
We continued into Volgograd, where we went to a massive memorial for Russian troops. We have no guide book for Russia, so we couldn’t be sure exactly what wars it was for. The memorial included a massive statue of a lady, taller than the Statue of Liberty. The Statue sat on top of a big hill. A wide path led down the hill, decorated on either side with images from the war, which were carved in brown cement. In some places the sounds of war were broadcast from hidden speakers. At the bottom of the steps was a huge underground room. It was guarded by 3 sets of 2 military guards. Inside on the walls was the names of Russians killed in action, and an eternal flame. Russians were queuing up to have there picture taken with the torch, but no one smiled in their photos, and the mood was somber.
We walked back up to the top of the hill where we ate a very expensive meal at a restaurant. The main expense was the baked salmon which Tim ordered (we couldn’t read the menu at all). The problem was the price listed turned out to be per 100g of salmon, rather than for the entire meal, so instead of being 250 Rubles, it was 700. This is about US$35 alone. It also took forever to bake the salmon!
Next job was to find some internet. Our phrase book is from 1992 (bought from the 2nd hand bookstore), so it doesn’t provide too many clues as to asking for the web. After three stops asking for directions, we ended up at a computer store. The people inside took pity on us and let us use their internet. We had a good discussion about the cost of living in Russia compared to Australia and England, as they spoke some quite good English. A special thanks to these guys for helping us out, and also taking the time to have a read of our website.
As we left Volgograd we were hoping to make it to Astrakhan, a nice city next to the Caspian Sea. However it proved too far, and just before night fall with 100km to go we drove off the main road and set up camp. There had been a sudden degradation in the quality and frequency of petrol stations, and weren’t even able to buy some cold beers prior to stopping! The campsite was under some high voltage power lines, and on top of some really spikey plants. Lucky we brought a shovel, Tim was right at home clearing the plants so that they didn’t pierce our air mattresses. The air was dry so we forgot about tents and slept on the tarp.
Tim trys to buy a watermelon from a roadside store
Sundown at our campsite
