Hello All,
I suppose everyone thought I would never write again. I have been camped out on the west bank of the Volga River in the back yard of a building being remodeled that belongs to the city of Tutaev, since 1 September. I have traveled about 5000 kms. since leaving Krasnoyarsk on 10 August. I will pick up the story on arrival in Ekaterinburg on 18 August.
Saturday, 19 August, was my lucky day. The banks were open, we caught a ride with a man going to the same bank and I was able to replenish my supply of Rubles at last. The exchange rate on this day was 4670 Rubles to the dollar. I felt safe again with money in my pocket. We walked around a while, but it had started raining and neither one of us had an umbrella. My last one was stolen in Vladivostok. I just haven't bought another one, much to my dismay and probably due to laziness trying to find a shop that has one.
We returned to the hotel. I spent the rest of the afternoon and part of Sunday working on the last report I sent. Sunday we went back to the center of the city to try to find a museum. We rode the bus and I discovered we had missed a large city celebration on Saturday. Sunday there were very few people in the city just the massive mess from the day before. Shortly after getting off the bus the rain started again and we spent about an hour in a coffee shop waiting for it to stop. No shops were open to buy an umbrella. We found the museum and spent several hours there. Then we went back to the main square where a large statue of Lenin dominates the area. In the background was a massive unfinished concrete TV tower, that will never be finished, overshadowing everything.
I think the vast number of unfinished buildings and projects is something that is tragic about what is happening here at the present time. I am not being critical I am just trying to report objectively. Ekaterinburg is the city where the Tsar and his family were executed in 1918. The city's name was changed to Sverdlovsk in 1924 and then changed back to Ekaterinburg in 1991. The city is the center of large mining and semi-precious stone industry. It is also, a center for heavy machinery manufacturing. Boris Yeltsin was born here.
My contacts with schools are minimal at this time as everyone is still on Summer vacation and even though I have called people, no one seems to be around. I was able to connect with MCIMail in Moscow twice from the hotel phone then for some unknown reason could not make contact again. I will try again when I reach Cheboksary. Nina must leave Moscow by 29 August to return to Krasnoyarsk to resume her teaching job, so we have to keep on the move.
On Monday, 21 August, we packed up and got on the road mid-day for the trip to Perm. This will be a short day, then the trip to Kazan will take 12 or 13 hours on the road. I had expected to have problems crossing the Ural Mountains. Due to my ignorance of the geography of this region, I expected a large mountain range with steep grades. The drive to Perm was through very moderate hills without any hard grades to pull. The area is heavily forested with cultivated areas and large herds of dairy cattle. We arrived in Perm in late afternoon, did some grocery shopping and then found a secure parking area. After fixing dinner we went to bed early, expecting that Tuesday would be a long day traveling the 750 kms. to Kazan.
We left early in the morning in the rain and drove through what reminds me of the high country of Idaho. There are many alpine lakes, heavy forest, and many small villages. By the time we arrived in Kazan in late afternoon Bubba was black. I think I have carried much of the soil from the Ural Mountains with me on the truck. Kazan is on the east bank of the Volga and I was looking forward to seeing this famous river. We found a secure parking area and were happy to go to bed this night. I tried calling one of the contacts in Kazan but got no answer, so we decided to continue on to Cheboksary.
On the outskirts of Kazan we were stopped at a railroad crossing for over an hour. Many trains were being shuttled back and forth. The barricade was not working and only one lane of traffic could cross at a time. We finally got across and head for the Volga only to come to a ferry landing. We were informed the bridge was under repair and we would cross the river on a ferry. It was a little amazing to me, the only road from Moscow to Kazan and cities to the East was via a ferry that could only carry about 20 cars. Most of the load was large trucks. We were lucky to be near the head of the line. After waiting an hour, we were loaded on the ferry crossing the Volga and headed for Cheboksary, only 170 kms. West. It took until about 14:30 to travel this distance. We found the hotel, got checked in, called our contact and arranged a meeting for late that afternoon.
Ludmila Sidorovo is head of the foreign language program for the Chuvashia region. She was holding the summer seminar for teachers of the region and asked me if I would like to visit the seminar. We arrived about 17:30 and much to my chagrin she asked me to speak to 50 English Language teachers. Public speaking is not one of my favorite pursuits, especially to such an educated group of people. I somehow muddled through and answered some rather difficult questions. Afterward we retired to the dining area for a late meal. It is my hope that some of these teachers will have access to email and we will hear from them in the months to come.
We returned to the Hotel with plans to give Bubba a good cleaning on Thursday, if it didn't rain. We also must return to the Seminar in the afternoon for the closing ceremony. Thursday, 24 August, was a beautiful day and we spent 2 hours washing about 200 pounds of dirt off Bubba and getting the inside clean again. It was nice to see a white truck again. We were off to the Seminar again and spent most of the afternoon there. After the ceremonies we had many interested visitors look at the truck. Late in the afternoon we went in vain to search for propane. Another wild goose chase, we found no place to fill the tanks. I just hope I don't run out of gas before I find somewhere to fill the tanks or it will be cold meals and cold baths until I can fill them.
Ludmila said she would make a phone call for me to check on getting my Visa extended. On Friday morning she called to say we had a meeting with an official who would take a look at my documents and decide if the Visa could be extended. After a crowded bus ride to the center of the city we met with Ludmila and the official. He agreed to extend my Visa for an additional month.
We then walked around the central part of the city for a little sight seeing. Cheboksary is a beautiful city on the banks of the Volga River. There are many beautiful old buildings, many trees and flowers.
I am badly in need of an adapter for the Russian telephone system for the modem on my computer. We stopped at several electronic shops only to be told none was available. One person finally gave us a phone number of a small shop in an apartment house somewhere near the hotel and we got a cab. We went about 5 blocks and the cab ran out of gas. We were fortunate enough to get another cab. After about 20 minutes of searching we found the apartment house and the small shop. I got the last adapter they had, lucky again.
We dropped Ludmila off at a large sports stadium that is used for an outdoor market that sells almost anything you can imagine. We said good-bye as we planned to leave for Moscow early Saturday morning for the 700 km. drive. Let me make a comment about the taxi system in most of the cities. I have seen very few official taxis. There are many men driving around the cities in their own cars and all one has to do is stand on the curb with your hand out. Eventually someone will come along, you negotiate the price and they take you to your destination. I have yet to determine whether they have to have a license or it is just a free for all business. I guess you could say this is Capitalism at work on a good level.
I took my telephone adapter back to the hotel with great expectations of being able to connect to Moscow MCI, got all set up and had another little disappointment. There was so much noise on the line the modem would not hook up. I tried many times throughout the evening but no luck, OH WELL!!
We decided to leave early Saturday morning for the trip into Moscow. Iwanted to arrive before dark as I just do not like to drive at night anymore. In the first 30 kms. we were stopped by police 6 times. Everyone was just interested in the truck, but it was slowing our progress towards Moscow. The highway at times was a divided four lane highway, other times it became a narrow two lane road. The closer we got to Moscow the better the road became, until we were on a very wide highway with no lane markings. Sometime there would be 4 or 5 cars abreast headed in one direction. I am having a hard time adjusting to this, I just try to stay in what I think is a lane, do not move in either direction and let the traffic flow around me.
We arrived on the outskirts of Moscow about 18:30 and stopped at a police check point to get directions to the highway that circles the city. We got to it, made the wrong turn, got back off it and finally headed in the right direction. The sun was rapidly fading in the West and we got to our turn off with no more problems. Then the hunt for the hotel began. Just as dark was settling in we arrived, and checked in after a long day of fighting traffic.
26 August, I reached Moscow exactly 55 days from the time I arrived in Vladivostok. I am a little amazed I have made it this far without any major difficulties or breakdowns.
I am in good physical condition, I have lost about 20 pounds. My belt is getting too big for me, as are all my pants. It's better for the heart not to be so heavy.
I will stop here, send this off and try to finish up to the present date next week.
Everyone take care of yourselves and do the right thing.
As Always,
Bubba and Roger