Lose the map

Welcome to LoseTheMap, former diary of travels around Asia, then account of everyday life in Moscow, and now with my family in Berlin - VERSIONE ITALIANA

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Russia Part 2

Shots: http://picasaweb.com/lostconversation/Russia


Ladies and Gentlemen i'm writing the second Russian blog from an internet cafe in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia's Capital city!

Just arrived today, at sunrise of my 26th Birthday, and waking up in oceanic Mongolian steppa has been the best gift to me!
Crossing the Mongolian border signed, sadly, the end of my Russian experience, here's a short resume:

I left you at Urals: Ekaterinburg is the first city of asian Russia (ah, Asia...) where i entertained myself with nice Russian meals and wodka standard! I fed my well-known passion for geology in a guided tour in French discovering Ural's geologic beauty with a power stone gifted to me by
the nice French-Russian guide; on that train i made acquaintance with a 40 years old lady photograper, who insisted to show me her 300 or so pictures printed out in huge format on north Urals, nice eh... the first 10 of them!
DA DA DA photographisky, harasho harasho!


2 days on a train and i got to Novosibirsk, biggest city in Siberia, where i stopped longer than planned: i found myself together with other 15 couchsurfers from west-east Europe, Russia and Australia waiting for the life-event: total sun eclipse!
Much more than harasho: incredible! In the sky there was no sun, but a ring of fire and for 2
minutes the whole world stopped, breath-taking in this amazing atmosphere: the sky painted with stunning darking colours, animals and human beings going crazy and screaming out of joy or fear, just like apocalipse! Many pictures shooted, none of them give back the idea...
Afterwards a bit of a nice rest and then on the road again...


After 2 more trainy days and 8 hours on this crappy bus i got to Baikal lake, where i spent 2 days on Olhkon island hiking and looking at amazing landscapes, where Sciamans use to call for spirits with throat singing and some drug abuse (real punk-rock mood!)
Just beautiful, the view of the lake was like a goal after those 6000km on a train, freedoooom!


Other funny and crazy events brought me to Ulan Ude (still Russia) where Buriat people live and the world's biggest Lenin head stand-up gloomily; there i caught a minibus heading to the mongolian border, crossing small russian villages hidden behind steppland hills and dust.
At the border i got a lift with 3 Spanish guys to enter Mongolia, where i already have too many friends: some foreigners moved to Mongolia and some Mongolian guys willing to practise a rusty English.
I still have a bit of technology in my blood, and then i keep uploading pictures and writing stuff, don't know what will happen after Mongolia!

This is a very short resume of my Russian experience, i'm trying to write down all the details of everydaylifeontheroad in my diary, but i think too fast and i forget things!

Russia gave me a lot, in every sense, and i'll have wonderful memories of this funny and paradoxical country!

Harasho and stay rebel!
Ske

Shots: http://picasaweb.com/lostconversation/Russia

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