2. RUSSIA.

So on 06 July in the afternoon, we stood at the border Latvia/Russia. In 2:00 hrs we cleared immigration and customs on both sides. The procedure for both sides is as follows: you drive till the white line, walk to the booth and hand over the requested document (passports or car identification or both). There you get a stamp or signature, the barrier will open and the traffic light will turn green. You drive till the next white line, walk to the booth and hand over …

Do not cross the white line when you still have to hand over your documents. We and others had to back up because a very slender Russian young lady with long blond hair on very high heels and Gucci sunglases on top of her head dared to stop her BMW, smack at the barrier. The female officer in the booth had probably a less rewarding job, a moustache and therefore we had to bleed.

We did not purchase a Russian third party car insurance at this border. As a matter of fact, we did not spot a booth or office selling this insurances. We heard from other travellers, passing the border with St-Petersburg, that notwithstanding they had a valid third party for Russia (purchased in their country of origin) they still had to purchase a Russian third party. We double checked with Alessie and they confirmed we did not need a Russian third party.

So we drove along the M9 in Russia till the first city with a hotel sign along this road and slept for one night at Hotel Harmony in Velikiye Luki to register our visa. 2.000 Roubles (50 €) for both of us for one night, including wifi and visa registration. Another very important fact: Russian lager tastes sweeter than Belgian lager (and that is by far the best beer in the world).

First days in mother Russia with part of the Golden Ring (Rostov (C) - Yaroslavl (D) - Kostroma (E)).

The second day on the M9 it became obvious: mother Russia is one big mother of a country. The vast waste lands and woods, the distances between the villages along the road, road works for 30 to 50 km and not 2 km as in NW-Europe, insects the size of a small bird.

Russia is also a country of extremes: 16% of the landmass of the globe, 11 time zones, more than 100 languages, min recorded temperature in winter -70°C, ...

Due to the loss of time with the visa, we changed also our itinerary in European Russia. Volgograd (ex-Stalingrad) was deleted from the list and also part of the Golden Ring.

Our first stop on the Golden Ring was a small town on the P153, about 20 km west from Rostov. The monastery is still in an early stage of restoration and one can see the result of decades of neglect under the Soviet era. After the Revolution, the monasteries were closed and some of them used as a depot. There was no maintenance and wind and weather did what they had to do.

20 clicks west of Rostov. 

Still a lot to be restored.

The second town was Rostov. Rostov is a quiet little town with 30 to 40.000 souls and no buildings higher than 3 floors. We checked in at the Lion Hotel, close to the Kremlin, and booked a standard room. For an unknown reason we got an upgrade to a big room with air-co and bed sheets with «love» printed all over... Probably the nuptial suite, … I hope?

Next morning we went to visit the Kremlin. Nothing prepares you for the visual overflow you experience when visiting the Kremlin and the Assumption Cathedral. And as this is not enough, a choir with a bass, a tenor and a soprano nailed us to the ground. It was breath taking. The ancient religious songs fitted the surroundings like a glove to a hand. We were back somewhere in the 16^th century and were part of the nobles. Upon our request the choir performed a second time and this time only for us!  The price was a CD with their songs which we bought without hesitation.

Rostov Kremlin.

All saints you can imagine.

Walls with covered galleries for the soldiers, to guard the wealth?

Some struggle.

Still some work ahead (outside the walls of the Kremlin).

Others do better.

The next city was Yaroslavl, 1 million souls and situated at the confluence of the Volga and the Kostroma. We had dinner in the centre of the city, where all beautiful people gather after work. It was a show. Very high heels, very short skirts and very long hair. Muscular men in tight T-shirts. iPhone's by the dozens. A lot of bling-bling. We lived for 8 years in Italy. This reminded us of Rome?

The Kremlin was not as spectacular as the one in Rostov, but the city has numerous churches. These churches make up for what the Kremlin is missing and on the Volga bank all mansions are restored or under restoration. Yaroslavl has been rich and is rich again.
We met 3 expat ladies (2 Scottish and 1 Austrian) on a restaurant terrace. The husband of one of them was constructing a factory for Velux. They had been in Yaroslavl for 3 years and signed for another 3 years.

Yaroslavl: walking from the Kremlin to the Volga. 

The mighty Volga.

Mansions on the banks of the Volga.

Yaroslavl Kremlin.

The last in the row was Kostroma. We booked a room in the wooden guest house, close to the Monastery of Ipaty. The planks of the wooden floors were squeaking with every step and the neighbours were having their drama at the end of our bed... We had potato soup with meat and cream in a restaurant with a low ceiling next to the guest house.

The Cathedral of Ipaty in the Monastery is overwhelming (again) and the buildings surrounding the courtyard are housing a collection of icons.

We met a French guy, living half the year in Paris and the other half in Koksijde. He spoke with us in French, but also in Flemish. Who said that French speaking people were not able to learn Flemish?

Kostroma: in the courtyard of the wooden guest house.

Walking to the open air museum of wooden buildings.

In the front: a house of a reasonable standard and in the back:
a wealthy wood traders two levels house.

Part of the building is the Isba: the living quarters.
Entering the Isba, on the left is the stove with one bunk on top
and on the open sealing: two or more additional bunks. 

A sitting bench goes around the Isba and in a corner always an Icon.

After four days of visiting Kremlin's, Monasteries, Cathedrals, … the horizon was calling again. We left on 11 July Kostroma and were heading for Yekaterinburg via Kirov and Perm. Yekaterinburg, the gate to Asia.

In F we slept next to cultivated fields and were woken up by tractors and trucks harvesting the crops.
Ekaterinburg: frontier between Europe and Asia.

Perm, like Yaroslavl: 1 million inhabitants. A vibrant city and two hours time difference with Moscow. We visited the Archaeological Collection of the Ethnological Museum. Different fossils found in the Urals in the Perm area are on display together with some fossils from other regions, like the baby mammoth (reconstruction) from Magadan. The time frame «Permian Era» (300 – 250 million years ago) is derived from the name of the city.  Small but well presented exhibition with English captions!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian

Dear, are we in Cuba?

Recreation of the baby Mammoth found in the Magadan region (yes, already dead).
6-12 months old, 90 kg, 104 cm, lived 40.000 - 13.000 yrs ago. 

Mammy Mammoth in the back, a wee bit skinny
and scared stiff by the predator in the front.

PERM-36: labour camp (gulag), near Chusovoy. Our Garmin Zumo found a dirt road, straight from Perm to Chusovoy. Our Russian atlas did not show this road, which was not a dirt road but a fine asphalt road through the beautiful scenery of the Urals. By the time we arrived, the camp closed. So we had to wait till next day.  http://www.gulagmuseum.ru/eng/museum/history/

PERM-36: one of the many labour camps (gulag) created under Stalin.
Main entrance and guard living quarters.

Cell "Special Regime".

Four in one cell with the sink.  All concrete except for the bunk.

Sleeping quarters for the labour inmates.  Two planks to lay on.

The temperature was lower than the days before, probably also because we were on a higher altitude? Less mozzies too, ... we thought.  In the evening we were looking to make camp and found a suitable depression out of sight when horseflies came out of nothing with the hundreds.  We just had the time to roll up the windows before they got to us.  Like in a horror movie they stuck to the windows with dozens while others were relentlessly bumping into the windows.  So back to higher land and in the breeze, ... and to a motel we spotted before.

On Sunday 14/07 we met Ivan at the water pump of Kundur. A young man of 14 - 15 years old and studying German at school. We had a short conversation in German while he was filling his 50 litre milk-can. He helped us with our jerry-can. Afterwards we wondered: German and not English? Had he a plan?

On 15/07/13 - 12:30 hrs, 17 km west of Yekaterinburg, we crossed the border between Europe and Asia. An Eiffel Tower-ish construction on the opposite side of the road marked the spot.  With the dense traffic and the fact that the construction was only on the other side of the road, we did not stop for pics.  Bummer!

Internet pictures.