RUSSIA and MONGOLIA OVERLAND #6
North Cape 16-August-2004
After having travelled over 17,000km we have finally exited Russia and are
now in Norway. What an adventure it has been. Our last newsletter was from Kazan,
1000km east of Moscow.
From
Kazan we drove on the M7 highway to Nizhny Novgorod. This is a sprawling city of
over 2
million people, the third largest city in Russia. We drove into the city and stayed at the Voltsky
Ohsk
Hotel
which overlooks the Volga
River, the longest river in Europe with a length of
3,700km. This is a busy river with barges, ships and passenger ferries plying up
and down the river. In the past this was a closed
city due to the presence of many industries related to the Soviet Military. In
fact this city builds many of the Russian submarines.
The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin
is today a tourist attraction with
beautiful
parks, a collection of military hardware on display and a lovely
cathedral. There is also a concert hall but unfortunately there were no
performances on
the nights we were in town. We really enjoyed strolling through the
pedestrian
mall which is over 1km in length. The buildings have all been restored
and the
shops are all up market. We had a lovely Georgian meal at the
Café Bochka.
Our
next destination was Suzdal. This city itself is a museum piece. This
small
historic town has well preserved monasteries, convents and churches
dotted
throughout the town. There are many wooden cottages with intricately
carved
designs. We visited the Monastery of Saint Euthymius which housed a
number of
different museums. It was interesting to see old art works being
restored. While we were there the monks
played a
concert of bells from the bell tower. There was also an exhibition of
12th to
20th century Russian art work.
On
our way to Moscow we stopped at
Arkhangelskoe,
an estate just west of Moscow,
labelled as one of the grandest in the region. This estate was
developed by
Prince Nikolai Yusupov who filled the palace with his private art
collection.
The grounds and gardens are quite extensive with 18th century classical
stone
statues. Running through the estate is the Moscow River.
Unfortunately the palace was closed for renovations but we were able to
see a
lovely collection of stained glass art works in another building. While
we were
there, a nasty thunderstorm developed sending everyone running for
cover. It
was the heaviest rain we had seen in Russia. When the rain
finally eased
we were able to make a quick dash back to the car. Just down the road
we saw
the aftermath of the thunderstorm. For a few kilometres there was a
scene of
destruction with trees uprooted, cracked in half and branches
everywhere. The
road had obviously been closed but had been cleared by the time we
passed
through. This is the first night that we had problems finding a camp
site off
the side of the road. Being only 22km from Moscow there were new housing estates
everywhere. We eventually found what we thought was a quiet place to
camp.
During the middle of the night, many cars kept coming and going. We
think we
camped in lovers’ lane. Fortunately, they weren’t too interested in us
and we
were left alone.
The
next morning we drove into downtown Moscow.
Once again the GPS was invaluable in helping us navigate this city of 9
million
people. Having camped for most of the trip Geoff had surprised Kienny
by
booking a few nights at the Sheraton Hotel. In actual fact, Geoff had
used a
couple of Sheraton vouchers so these nights were free. Kienny
really enjoyed the hot shower and comfortable bed. What a contrast
between Moscow
and the other
Russian cities we have visited. Moscow
has smooth bitumen roads, six lane highways and even the man holes had
covers
over them. This city is a hive of
traffic, people, tourists, wealth, McDonalds and expensive top model
luxury
cars. We used the very efficient subway to get around. This is the
first city
where we have seen lots of western tourists. We strolled around Red Square, walked past Lenin’s tomb, looked
inside Saint
Basil’s Cathedral and wandered through the very trendy GUM Store. We
took a
tour of The Kremlin, visited the excellent Pushkin Fine Arts Museum and
went on
a boat tour of the Moscow
River. Kienny also enjoyed the craft market
at Ismaylovsky
Park.
On one evening while we were walking in the gardens outside the
Kremlin
we were entertained by a Military Brass Band playing favourite western
hits of
the sixties. In front of the band, people in their 50’s and 60’s danced
to the
tunes of Hello Dolly, Tie a Yellow Ribbon and La Cucaracha. It was a
very jolly
atmosphere. Who would have thought we were in Russia!
We tried to book a show at
the Bolshoi Theatre but it was closed for the summer. However the
National
Youth Theatre next door had a summer season of ballet. We enjoyed
watching Swan
Lake
so much the first night that we went back a second time to the
Nutcracker
Ballet.
After
five delightful days in Moscow we
headed north
to Rostov
which
is a small town of around 40,000 people. The Monastery of St. Jacobs is
in a
quiet rural setting with beautiful country gardens. We also visited the
Kremlin
which is home to a few cathedrals. Once again, as was the case in Moscow,
foreigners pay up
to 20 times more than Russian citizens for tourist attractions. The cathedral is home to many frescoes, murals and
paintings of Russia Orthodox icons. There are also exhibits
of
Russian art works, ceramics, beads, embroidery and monastic robes.
Having
seen enough “Onion-Domed” Cathedrals, we back tracked a little and
headed for St. Petersburg.
Along the
way we went through Klin. This was where Tchaikovsky lived for eight
years
before he died in 1893. It was here that he wrote The Nutcracker Suite,
Sleeping Beauty and the Pathetique Sixth Symphony.
We
thought Moscow was a great city but we
were even
more impressed when we got to St.
Petersburg! This city of 4.6 million people was
established by Peter the Great and was once the cultural and economic
capital
of Russia.
Again we drove into the heart of the city and stayed in an apartment
just off Netsky Avenue,
the
main street of St. Petersburg.
What a great place this was. It was very comfortably furnished right
down to a
washing machine which we had not seen for the last two months. It even
had
secure parking and from here we were able to walk to many of the
tourist
attractions. Alex and Okhsana (http://www.spbapt.com)
manage 32 rental apartments, all centrally located in down town St. Petersburg
and are
very friendly and helpful people and speak very good English.
St.
Petersburg
is a city of canals.
It
is hard to imagine that St. Petersburg was a giant swamp less than 300 years
ago. Peter the Great is credited to have transformed this insignificant
swamp land into a charming and glorious city in the early 1700's. The ensuing
years saw St. Petersburg rivalling Moscow as the capital city of Russia.
Succeeding monarchs followed in Peter the Great's footsteps, continuing to build
many grand palaces, government buildings and cathedrals with architects and
skilled craftsman from all over Europe. Hence today, we are privileged to behold
the beautiful architecture and sculpture of the Hermitage, Peterhof, St. Isaacs
Cathedral, the Church on Spilled Blood, the Russian Museum, and Peter and Paul
Fortress along with the pristine canal waterways and other historical buildings.
Water ways take up 10% of the city which has 40 rivers and 20 canals,
with a
total of 42 islands on the eastern edge of the Gulf
of Finland. We could not stop admiring the beautiful
buildings and
historical palaces and churches. St. Petersburg
is home to the world renowned Hermitage Museum. This is one of the
world's most
monumental arts collection housing around three million pieces of treasure. The
arts
collection spans five buildings. The buildings themselves are a museum
piece.
Each room is lavishly and ornately decorated from floor to ceiling with
chandeliers, gold trimmings, angelic wall friezes and parquetry floors.
When
one gets tired of looking at the Rembrandts and Picassos, one can
always look
up and admire the room itself.
One’s
visit to St. Petersburg
would not be complete
without
going to see the Opera or Ballet at the world famous Mariinsky Theatre.
It is
one of the world’s oldest theatres, a symbol of Russian culture and is
home to
a number of opera and ballet stars. There we enjoyed an opera called
the Golden
Cockerel which is a colourful comic folk opera based on one of
Pushkin’s fairy
tales. We bought one of their cheapest tickets for AUD$15 each. We were
seated
five floors up and had a grand view of the chandelier and the theatre
itself. The opera was sung in the Russian language but the
tourists in the audience were able to follow the storyline with the
help of English subtitles hung high up above the stage. The downside
was that when the cockerel was perched on its stand at the
back of
the stage, we could only see its legs. Apart from this, the opera was
magnificent. We enjoyed it so much that
we went back on our last night and saw the Manon, a ballet by Jules
Massenet.
This is a more contemporary ballet charged with emotion and drama. We
particularly enjoyed the music. Since our apartment was right behind
the
Pushkin Theatre, we also decided to go and see the ballet, Sleeping
Beauty. Once
again another excellent performance! The Russians certainly know how to
put on
a good show.
On
a lovely sunny day, we took the hydrofoil to the Peterhof Estate. This
estate
contains a number of palaces and parks of architectural importance and
is world
renowned as the capital of fountains. There are a total of three
cascades and
144 fountains. Most impressive and most opulent is the group of
fountains and
golden statues and cascade at Peter’s Palace. No words could adequately
describe the splendour of this fountain! Peterhof was destroyed in
World War II
by Stalin to prevent the Germans celebrating their victory there. It
was
reconstructed from photographs and maps in the 1950’s. Today it is very
popular
with both local and overseas tourists.
We
also really enjoyed visiting Saint Isaac’s Cathedral. Saint Isaac’s
Cathedral
is the world’s third largest domed church after St. Peter’s in Rome
and St. Paul’s in London. Its interior is decorated
with
columns of marble, malachite, lapis lazuli, porphyry, jasper and other
granites. It is very grand and very impressive with beautiful mosaics
and
paintings finished off with lots of gold trimmings.
Another St.
Petersburg attraction is the Church of the
Saviour on
the Spilt Blood. This church apparently got its name because it was
built on
the spot where Tsar Alexander II was murdered in 1881. During Soviet
times, it
was used to store potatoes. It was renovated in the 1990’s and was
re-opened as
a museum in 1987. The exterior of the building is ornately decorated
with multi
coloured Onion Shaped Domes with gold-coloured frescoes on the sides of
the
building.
Our
last day in St. Petersburg saw us
taking in
another museum, the Russian
State Museum.
This museum houses a large collection of artwork by Russian artists,
past
and
present. Fortunately, there are many comfortable cushioned seats for
one to sit
and contemplate the story behind the picture. Kienny thinks it’s a
great
opportunity to rest one’s weary legs! Visiting museums can be hard work!
Despite
St. Petersburg
having the reputation of being pick pocket capital, we did not encounter any
problems. We read in the English newspaper that the police have increased their
presence on the streets in an attempt to reduce petty crime, so hopefully this
is paying off. There is certainly a
lot of
wealth in these two cities. One of things that struck us
the most was the disparity in wealth between
European Russia and Eastern Russia.
In the Siberian
East, the atmosphere feels more rural. The infrastructure is far less developed
due in part to the harsh Siberian winter and impenetrable forests,
swamps and rivers.
Residents in rural Siberia do not have the luxury of running water. They draw
water from communal taps or wells. Many are subsistence farmers, a few work the
cafe's, Magazines and garages. People in the rural East live simple lives and
are warm, friendly and very giving despite having very little. As wild as it is,
Siberia has quite an attractive charm to it. By contrast, there is a vast amount
of wealth concentrated in Western European Russia. The big cities with millions
of people are abuzz with commerce, up market hotels and restaurants. The
infrastructure, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, is well developed and extensive. There are many entrepreneurial
city folk and yuppies who drive Volvos, Mercedes, Audi and BMW's. McDonalds and
other up market department stores occupy prime real estate in the business centre,
while the humble Magazines are relegated to the city outskirts. Life seems much
more sophisticated. As tourists, we are no longer a novelty. Gone are the bear
hugs and gifts of watermelons and chocolates. Instead we have to keep an eye out
for pick-pockets and thugs.
In
Russia
there are regular police
check points on the outskirts of most towns. We had heard from other
travellers
that the police check points are more aggressive in the Moscow,
St. Petersburg
area. Fortunately we did not have any problems. In fact after leaving Moscow we were
only
stopped once by the police. The young police man was just inquisitive
about our
travels and did not even ask to see our passports or vehicle papers.
From
St. Petersburg we headed north to Murmansk
which is a sea port on the Barent Sea.
This 1300km stretch
of road was the best we have travelled on in Russia.
I guess our expectations
have changed. By Western standards the road was not good, but
considering the
roads that we have driven through in Russia, this road was a
super
highway. There were the usual police check points but as has been the
case
since leaving Moscow
we were not stopped. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside
parking bay which had a tall vehicle ramp. Geoff took the opportunity
to remove the grass that had collected between the fuel tank and bash
plate. This had to be done before customs would allow Troopy to be
brought back into Australia. The countryside to Murmansk was one lake
or river after the
next. It
was here that we crossed into the Artic Circle for the very first
time. We passed through
the town of Moncherovsk
which looked like a disaster zone. There was hardly a living thing to be
seen. The
trees that once covered the area were nothing but small stumps and
there was
not even a blade of grass to be seen. At first we thought there must
have been
a massive bush fire. We asked the locals what had happened and they
pointed to
the factories with tall chimneys. We have since read that the
destruction is
due to environmental pollution from the plant that makes materials for
catalytic converters which ironically reduces pollution from western cars!
Later we saw another similar environmental disaster at Nikel, just near
the Russian/Norwegian border.
After
a two day drive,
we reached Murmansk which is situated
mid- way
between Moscow
and
the North Pole and is the largest city in the world north of the Artic Circle.
We
visited the Museum of the North Fleet. We had an interesting time
looking at
the history of the Russian Navy. We saw exhibits of old naval uniforms,
naval
hardware, rations, maps, metal detectors, leaflets, posters, flags and
medals
of decorated navy officers. Many of the
displays were focused on WWII however there was also an exhibit in
memory of
the recent sinking of the Kursk
submarine which was based here. The port of Murmansk
is a very hilly
city with lots of high rise apartment blocks, many painted in bright colours to
contrast the bleak chilly weather. We
started our journey through Russia
in Vladivostok, home of the Russian
Pacific
Fleet, and have finished our travels through Russia
in Murmansk,
home of the Russian North Fleet.
From
here it was a
short drive to the Russian border town of Borisoglebsk
where we crossed into Norway. Border formalities at this
small but modern border crossing are
straightforward and friendly. It took us around 30 minutes to exit Russia and about 5 minutes to enter Norway.
Having
been through a country where the seal of a rubber stamp was all
important, we
were somewhat surprised when the Norwegian immigration official asked
if we
would like an entry stamp in our passport as a souvenir of our visit! A short drive from the border, we stopped in
Kirkenes to get money from an ATM. We went to cross the road at a
pedestrian
crossing and were shocked when the cars stopped. In Russia
cars never give way to
pedestrians even at pedestrian crossings. So for a short time nothing
moved
until we realized what was happening. The cars had stopped to let us
cross the
road. We felt silly but this illustrates how accustomed we had
become
to Russian ways. Diesel in Russia
cost us around AUD$0.60 while diesel in Norway costs AUD$1.86 cents
per
litre, three times more! Fortunately we had filled up on the Russian
side with
330 litres of diesel so this should last us over 2600km. We are
dreading the
cost of filling Troopy up in Europe.
Everything is Norway
is VERY expensive.
Another
thing that
struck us in Norway
was how clean and tidy everything is. The roads are unbelievably smooth
and
there are road side stops with public toilets, picnic tables and chairs
and
rubbish bins everywhere. Norway
is very picturesque. Our destination is North Cape, the most northerly
point
in Europe, is 300km further north than Murmansk
in Russia and 100km further north than Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. The
road takes us through a
number
of tunnels, the longest being 7km under the sea linking the mainland to
the island
of Mageroya. This
crossing cost us an
amazing AUD$80 for the return trip. The entrance to North Cape cost us an additional AUD$80. North Cape
sits at Latitude 71°10.2". One of the first things
we
noticed as we look north towards the North Pole was that we could see
the
distinctive curvature of the earth. Having paid so much in entrance
fees we
decided we may as well camp on top of the world. Troopy certainly
looked out of
place dwarfed by over 50 other luxury campervans. It was interesting
that here
in Northern Norway, we have not seen
a dark
sky at “night”. One would wake up during the “night” thinking that it
was
daytime and should be getting out of bed. In reality, it was only 3 am
in the
morning.
On
leaving North Cape, we came to a stop
because a stretch of the
road had been blocked by a land slide. This had only recently happened
but yet
there were already over 20 cars, 4wd’s and campervans stopped ahead of
us. Some
people were on their mobile phones trying to call for help. We walked
to have a
look at the land slide and decided that the road conditions were much
better
than many of the roads in Russia
and Mongolia.
So, much to the amazement of everyone Troopy took the challenge in its
stride
and climbed over the land slide. We had to laugh as here were all these
expensive 4wd’s waiting for the road to be cleared. With care, they
could have
easily climbed over the land slide just like us.
We
have had an amazing journey travelling through Russia and Mongolia. We
have driven through some really spectacular countryside. We learnt a lot and
experienced much. The thing we will remember the most is the
friendliness, generosity, warmth and hospitality of the people. We have
achieved everything we set out to do. From here, we plan to see friends
in Norway, the Netherlands, Austria and the UK before putting Troopy on
a ship and flying home to Australia.
For
those people who are interested in the nuts and
bolts of
the trip we will add a ‘How To’ practicalities page to our WEB site
when we get
home. We hope you have enjoyed reading about our travels. I guess it is
now
time for us to go back to work and dream about our next adventure.
You can see
pictures for
this part of our journey by clicking here.
Our WEB site containing our travels in Africa and Russia is http://overland.dreamers1.com.
Best
wishes,
Geoff and Kienny Kingsmill
Email:
gkingsmill@yahoo.com
WEB:
http://overland.dreamers1.com
