Russia Entries
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The Way to Mongolia
Friday, August 27th, 2010As Tyler journaled this morning, I began doing some research about the next phase of our road trip: the Altay region of Siberia. As I did so, I noticed that Chuisky Trakt, billed as one of the most ...
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Stuck in the Woods
Thursday, August 26th, 2010Tyler: We'll, it was bound to happen eventually. Off-roading through the forests and fields of Russia in a tiny hatchback isn't exactly the most prudent plan (but it sure is fun). While piloting ou...
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Morning Chai
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010It is a chilly grey morning. Heavy clouds hang overhead, threatening rain. Even so, we pack our camp at a leisurely pace, paying no mind to the potential deluge. Once everything is in order, I dir...
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Off the Beaten Path
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010Our last adventure in the Siberian countryside left us feeling like it might be a good idea to stick to the highway for at least a few days. Though off-roading in our LRC is exciting, we want to be ...
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In Search of Rest
Saturday, August 21st, 2010Tyler: Our goal this morning is simple: get to Omsk and check into a hotel. We've had enough excitement in the last 24 hours to last a month (okay, not a month, but at least a few days!). It has be...
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Fire on the Border
Friday, August 20th, 2010I messed up when publishing our previous entry, Racing Through Russia's Heartland. It is fixed now! Tyler: While making our way back to the highway leading into Omsk, we spot a grey plume of smok...
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Racing Through Russia's Heartland
Friday, August 20th, 2010It is a sleepy day in Siberia. A recent series of several time-zone crossings have disoriented me a bit, and I find myself battling odd patterns of sleep and wakefulness. This, combined with a quie...
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Are We There Yet?
Thursday, August 19th, 2010Last night, another pesky cop pulled us over. During the time we'd normally spend searching for a safe place to sleep, we were patiently doling out our paperwork, tapping our feet surreptitiously, a...
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Yekaterinburg
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010We're on a major road in the outskirts of Yekaterinburg. The main highway has morphed into speeding city traffic – Tara is navigating as we make our way to the city center. "Okay," she instructs,...
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We're In ASIA!
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010I'm driving to Yekaterinburg while Tara sits in the passenger's seat, reading to me about the busy city from our Trans-Siberian Railway guide. Even though we aren't on the train, we're inordinately ...
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Home in the Woods
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010Yesterday, we left the Kungur Ice Cave and headed eastwards, driving until dusk. When we spied what looked like a tractor's path snaking into the hills nearby, we pulled off the main road with high ...
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Kungur Ice Cave
Monday, August 16th, 2010Destination: Kungur Ice Cave. With an epic-sounding name, and the mystique of being located in what one would think is the middle of nowhere, we spent the morning entertaining fantasies of arriving ...
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Distractions
Sunday, August 15th, 2010Tyler: I possess a strange affinity for taking unassuming vehicles to places where they might not belong. For reasons I can't really articulate, I was ecstatic about driving off-road in our trusty l...
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Friendly Russia
Saturday, August 14th, 2010It seems that anyone who has traveled far and wide eventually comes to the conclusion that no matter where you roam, people are very much the same. Having heard variations of this idea my entire lif...
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VIGILANCE!
Friday, August 13th, 2010We milked our expensive hotel stay for all it was worth, working in the lobby on their wireless internet connection for most of the morning. After we published a few entries, we struck up conversati...
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A Brief Walk in Kazan
Friday, August 13th, 2010We woke early today, and headed into the city for some sight-seeing. Off to the Kremlin we walked, along a canal and past several churches. Tyler was excited when we saw an onion dome which was on...
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Into Kazan
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010More and more, Russia is reminding me of Romania. In both countries, back-aching manual labor in the fields is the norm, and yet old and young alike seem to spend much of their days quietly resting ...
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Down for the Count
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010When I am writing, I sometimes imagine that we are talking to our families, to our friends, or maybe even to ourselves in twenty years. Occasionally, I like to pretend that our future offspring will...
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Russia's Golden Ring: Suzdal
Monday, August 9th, 2010The tiny town of Suzdal is purportedly the home of more than one hundred architectural monuments (and fifteen monasteries too). We're still a little unclear on what actually constitutes a monument, ...
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To the Swimming Hole
Sunday, August 8th, 2010We start our morning by returning to Hundertwasser: Coffee & Blah Blah Blah to enjoy a few more cappuccinos. Not exactly eager leave our climate controlled surroundings, we procrastinate, putting of...
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Russia's Beautiful Homes
Saturday, August 7th, 2010Before coming to Russia, I really had no idea what to expect outside of some vague notions of Soviet apartment buildings, lots of blocky concrete structures and the endless steppe of Siberia. I was ...
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Russia's Golden Ring: Yaroslavl
Friday, August 6th, 2010We leave the Kremlin of Rostov, and hop in our LRC for some more driving. The next stop in our Golden Ring tour, turns out to be too big a city for our tastes. To do it justice, we'll have to spend...
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Russia's Golden Ring: Rostov
Friday, August 6th, 2010The cities on our Golden Ring tour are teeming with ancient architecture, including loads of Russia's iconic onion domes. Leaving Petroslavl-Zalessky, Tara read from a website I'd saved about our ne...
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Russia's Golden Ring: Pereslavl-Zalessky
Friday, August 6th, 2010In spite of the difficulty, getting out of Moscow last night was an excellent plan. We're told the smoke, smog and heat (caused by the forest fires covering Western Russia) escalated to new levels o...
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Absurd
Thursday, August 5th, 2010We dismiss Evgeniy's wise warning about traffic, and our own rule about not rushing, and leave Moscow at precisely the wrong time. We've stayed in the city until five o'clock, and are now running ar...
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This is Elizabeth
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010When Tyler and Tara pulled up in their red Corolla, I was glad to see them, and impressed that they'd navigated their way through crazy Moscow traffic to my husband and my apartment. I didn't know T...
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A Day in Moscow
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010This morning, Elizabeth taught me how to make syrniki, or sweet cheese fritters, for breakfast. She learned the recipe from her Russian in-laws, and as a fellow cooking lover, she was excited to sha...
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Americans in Russia
Monday, August 2nd, 2010Tyler's cousin, an ex-pat working as a journalist and English teacher in Moscow, lives less than a kilometer from Evgeniy. They haven't seen each other since they were twelve, and we're all going to...
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Objectification 101
Monday, August 2nd, 2010This morning, while Tyler showers, our host Evgeniy begins earnestly instructing me on the merits of various breast shapes and sizes. As he scrolls through an online forum where Russian women regula...
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TGI Friday's on Sunday
Sunday, August 1st, 2010This morning, Evgeniy came up with a brilliant idea. He suggested we buy a fishing pole to take advantage of all the lakes and rivers in Siberia! He and his wife Svetlana were planning on going sho...
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Special Day
Saturday, July 31st, 2010Here we are, in Red Square, in Moscow. We can hardly believe it! The first thing we notice is not the giant statue of Lenin or the colorful oniony domes of St. Basil's Cathedral, however, but some ...
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Driving With Evgeniy
Saturday, July 31st, 2010We're in the back seat of Evgeniy's car; he is giving us a ride to Moscow's Red Square, a straight shot, ten kilometers from his apartment. His wife, or as Evgeniy prefers, "pussycat", Svetlana, is ...
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Crazy Russians
Friday, July 30th, 2010Traffic into Moscow is a non-event this afternoon. So is finding the home of our Russian contact, Evgeniy. What a relief! We've just pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex; Tara is s...
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Wild West: Moscow Bound, Part Three
Thursday, July 29th, 2010We're on the M10, the only major thoroughfare between St. Petersburg and Moscow. Night is slowly descending. We've decided to cover another hundred kilometers or so before stopping to find our first...
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Breaking the Law: Moscow Bound, Part Two
Thursday, July 29th, 2010Back at the car, a crushing front of heat pours from either side when we open its doors. Cringing a bit, we roll down the driver and passenger windows, crank open the moon roof, and crack the rear w...
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Palaces and Kremlins: Moscow Bound, Part One
Thursday, July 29th, 2010It is another sunny, smoggy day in Russia. We pack up and leave Aleksandr's apartment in the morning as he's heading out for work. We shake hands and thank him for having us, and he wishes us all t...
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Morbid Curiosity
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010Just a few days ago while staying with our friend Mia in Finland, she mentioned that someone she knew had seen a gruesome collection of dead babies in jars while on a trip to St. Petersburg. This se...
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Photos from St. Petersburg
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010Tara and I are both grappling with a bit of Russian culture shock at the moment. Figuring out the most healthy manner in which to approach the shockingly overt misogyny and racism we've encountered ...
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Heat Wave
Monday, July 26th, 2010St. Petersburg is currently setting all-time records for heat. We're not enthusiastic about going out this morning, but we need to get our visas registered. Though we have three business days to co...
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Into Saint Petersburg
Sunday, July 25th, 2010Tyler: We've just crossed the Russian border, and are now driving towards St Petersburg. As we cruise through the familiar scenery of birch and pine forests, I flip on the radio. A crackly voice co...
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Russian Border Crossing
Sunday, July 25th, 2010I had butterflies in my stomach as we left our free camp this morning. As Tyler drove, I made doubly sure that we had every thing in order. Passports, drivers licenses (international and US), car r...
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Russian Logistics
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010A few months ago, Tara's brother Lian jokingly mentioned we should drive across Russia. His idea was in response to a logistical problem we've known about for some time: we don't have the six months...