2012-05-02 A Siberian Prerequisite
A Brief Introduction
This particular long weekend I went to my friend Tyoma’s dacha (summer house) in the Oblast of Karelia (a state bordering the north of Leningrad Oblast). This northern wilderness is practically a smaller version of Siberia, though to be fair it is petite, less dangerous and more populated. This certain town I stayed in is named Tervu and on the coast of Lake Ladoga (the largest lake in Europe). Here we go; in a small novel style blog.
A Spy’s Bolt to the Border
Halfway through our wildly uncomfortable minibus we were stopped in normal Russian police fashion in a standard routine check. As per Russian regulations we had our American passports, however our host lacked his own Russian passport and thus developed an issue between us and the authorities. Even from my minimal understanding I heard them call me a spy… it has been a while since someone has accused me again of being a Chinese-Russian-American agent. After the necessary interrogation we thoroughly convinced them that we were poor simple students, which was obviously not difficult, and that we had no intention of making a go at the nearby Finnish border. Upon release, apologies were issued to the rest of the bus as we continued on our journey.
A 3 Hour Midnight Trek
Arrival at our bus stop happened at about 23:00, yet despite being less than one hour from midnight we found that the sun had just finished setting and there was still light highlighting our dirt path to Tervu. We arrived at around 2:30 in the morning, according to our estimates, since due to our vacation pact we had decided to rid ourselves of all watches, cell phones, iPods, electronics or 18th century pocket watches to spend the weekend no longer influenced by numerical time. The walk was a bit over 10 kilometers or about seven miles for those few Americans who still happen to read my blog. Much of the journey was moonlit and we did not pass a single soul or car on the dirt highway that was masquerading as a dusty path cleared of trees.
A Karelian Bear Dog
With tired legs we collapsed inside Artyom’s much nicer than advertised summer home. Yet the lack of running water made it awkward to bunker down for the night, so we quickly headed off to go fill large bottles with as much water as we could all carry. Getting to the nearby well was more difficult as the light had severely faded by this point. God graced us with help in the form of Vasilliy. Identified as a Karelian Bear Dog by our random animal classification expert, Angela. Vasilliy led us to and from the well safely and quickly, and was rewarded with a cold hot dog. He would return several times throughout the weekend to enjoy my very rudimentary impromptu guitar songs, our awkward cookouts and chill out sessions in the yard.
A Karelian Boondock
The word Karelia and it’s adjective form Karelian is sincerely… awe-inspiring. Simply as a word; that is all I am referencing. Things that are Karelian just sound intrepid, heroic, daunting, and bad-#&@. I guess I should sensor this blog, who knows who could be reading it? When we woke up in the morning, we all slowly rolled out of bed, ate our oatmeal (after this feast I gladly took charge of arranging our meals). We went on a multi-hour hike seeing the surrounding areas… pictures can be found on Facebook… to summarize… many roads that were basically marked by tire tracks that were at one point driven through. We stumbled upon a burnt out school, a demolished Soviet farmhouse, an old mill, ancient foundations of stone buildings and nature. My readers… why should I babble about this? Learn to use multiple platforms and visit my Facebook page for the accompanying pictures. Thank you.
A River Dive
A self-explanatory title. We were on a bridge. The river water looked nice. We stripped. We jumped in. It was cold. The current was strong. We swam hard. Our goal was the shore. We nearly lost a man. But we dragged ourselves out of the icy snow runoff.
A Baffling BBQ
I attempted to assert my dominance as the cook but I lost the privilege to my friend, who was excited about making the fire. Long story short, she burnt the deliciously marinated shashlik that we had prepared, and it tasted like simple normal beef which was disappointing. However my potatoes were the savior of the meal, though our Russian host claimed it had too much oil in it… I retorted it was American style.
A Tenacious Town Drunk
A man named Rafis stumbled upon our late night dinner and drinking session. After saying hello he was stunned by my presence and begged me not to fight him. I assured him I wouldn’t unless he gave me cause to. Apparently he was unbelievably sure that my ‘kind’ were excellent fighters. I enjoyed his fear, which was likely derived from his very apparent drunkenness. He asked if I was Russian, which pleased me, but I of course had to deny and went with Uzbek instead. Though he claimed I was a Tartar, which I guess is close enough. He invited me over to his house in the morning, which I clearly remember as the second house down the road.
A Birch Banya
My fourth time in a Russian banya but first in a private one led to a very memorable experience. After hiking all day and eating all night, we decided what better way to relax and experience the dacha than a true Russian Banya. All day Tyoma had collected birch branches to create the… well whip I suppose is the best word? After probably an hour of, how our Russian friend eloquently said, our skin crying, we moved on to the beatings. I will note that it should not be described as much as painful as it was unbearably hot. When the branches start smacking and smothering your face it does not feel to pleasant, but afterwards I must say I did feel quite relaxed. So relaxed in fact that we all just barreled into the bedroom and promptly fell asleep.
A Sunrise Run
As per usual on my vacations I went for a run and it was lovely. The sunrise pictures on Facebook barely do it justice, it was beautiful.
A Hidden Frozen Lake
Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe had a shore near the town which was completely frozen. It was beautiful and I couldn’t help but think of Alexander Nevsky’s conquests over the Germans and Swedes over this type of terrain.
A Consistent Siesta
On this break we did practically only three things. We hiked, then ate, and then followed it up with a nap. These naps stretched far longer than they should have and we struggled to stay on a schedule. Especially without timepieces we found ourselves lost due to the sun’s long existence in the far north. It rose at probably 5ish and set at around 11. Trying to judge the time based off its direction was not very successful since it seemed to just always be angled. One day we woke up at dawn and ate breakfast. Then hiked until we decided it was time for lunch. We napped until around midnight, when we rose again for dinner. Only to subsequently fall asleep in the early morning once again.
A Badly Tuned Guitar and Similar Voice
We found a guitar, we tuned it and started playing tunes. Tyoma was thrilled to use the verb 'jamming’ to describe my playing. I always enjoy a simple chord progression and making up the rhyming lyrics as I go. New goal… try and be able to do that in Russian.
A Provincial Path
On the trip back to Saint Petersburg we were required to walk 12 kilometers to the nearest major road where we spent half an hour trying to flag down a car to take us the the nearest train station about 75 kilometers away. Exhausted and frustrated at the slow progression of our travel we still managed to arrive in a tiny rural town. I quickly established I was a city fool when I walked into some tree branches to the delight of some locals.
A Surprise Upon Return
I have been ecstatic about the price of transportation in Russia. This 300 kilometer train brought us all the way to our home city for about $3. Have I mentioned that a metro ride is less than a dollar? Take that London. However the real purpose of this stub is to mention that the McDonalds near my home has finally opened, after months of construction it has opened joyously, and I cannot wait to take advantage.