World's Most Traveled Man: Bill's Travel Advice

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2010-05-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Visit http://expeditionphototravel.net/ for some more about me, information about tours, and some great photographs I took!

Cindy Laverty Show

2010-05-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Check out my interview with talk show host, Cindy Laverty. Go to http://rcpt.yousendit.com/877700695/4d8269c62f980fb6741b7a7bb0ef58d6 and down load the file. Guaranteed virus free!

From the Death of the Czar to Stalin’s Bunker by Bill Altaffer, Mammoth Lakes, California©

2010-05-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

In our continuing quest to visit every oblast (region) of Russia, our group of seven arrived in Moscow by various flights from every direction within the continental United States. We spent one night in Moscow, then flew on to Ekaterinburg where we would be joined by Paul Schwartz, our MIR tour manager, and would begin our adventure in earnest.

Overweight Scam?

As an experienced group leader, I felt prepared to deal with overweight charges at any airport. In Swaziland 25 years ago, I had done a group check-in. When boarding the plane, I was given a $250 bill for overweight baggage. At the time, knowing that the bags had already been loaded on the plane, I said that my group would gladly pay their dues, but that we would have to weigh each bag individually to fairly determine each person’s bill. This was more than the Swaziland officials wanted to deal with. I stood my ground and they blinked, telling me to “Just get on the plane.” Thus, as I checked the group in at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport for our flight to the Urals, I presented all our passports and tickets at once to expedite the process. After sending our bags off on the conveyor belt, the airline representative, a stern, no-nonsense woman, led us over to the overweight counter to pay a hefty fee. Remembering my experience in Swaziland, I raised my shoulders in “ignorance,” explaining to her that each person would have to pay his or her own charges. Plainly irate, she left us to wait there, and for the next half hour, we could see her, apparently running around in circles, striding purposefully here and there through the terminal. Eventually, she gathered us up and took us where no passenger has been before: the restricted baggage area. As we approached the huge pile of luggage on our cart and the baggage handler began to pull bags off, I knew my bluff had been called. We hauled our luggage back to the check-in counter for individual weighings, only to find that the only bag actually overweight was mine, by only one kilo and apparently not worth a charge. Suddenly all the bags were rapidly re-tagged without a word of explanation or apology and we were sent off without a return to the overweight counter. It had been an ordeal, but we had held our ground and won!

Ekaterinberg is clean, modern and full of life. It is most known as the place where the last czar, Nicholas II, and his family were imprisoned and executed by the Bolsheviks, but is also the city where Boris Yeltsin began his political career. As with most Russian cities, it has many monuments and statues. The most dramatic and moving of these is the Black Tulip, a bronze of an exhausted, traumatized soldier sitting on the ground holding his gun. It captures the frustration, suffering and hopelessness suffered by the troops sent to Afghanistan in the last years of Soviet power. Just west of the city, we visited the monument on the border of Asia and Europe, straddling the line so that we stood on both continents simultaneously. Worth seeing was the Church of the Blood, built over the spot where the Romanoff family had been executed in July, 1918. We also visited the monastery complex standing on the site of the mineshaft where their bodies had been burned and dumped. The site contains seven beautiful chapels constructed of logs in the traditional Russian style, each representing one royal family member. The area is famous for its mineral wealth. We enjoyed seeing the 2,000-plus minerals on exhibit in the Urals Mineralogical Museum, including alexandrite, which had been discovered there and named for Czar Alexander II.

For the next few days, we covered about 1,500 miles, traveling in a comfortable Mercedes van. We developed a real appreciation for a territory rarely visited by outsiders. Most of the cities we visited had been closed to foreigners until the Soviet breakup. Our first day, our drive to Tyumen took us by the field where Gary Powers had landed after his U2 was shot down during the Cold War. Soon after, we passed a large concrete monument marking our arrival into Siberia. Tyumen is a prosperous city, the capital of the Tyumen Oblast, which contains more than 90% of the country’s oil and gas. It is also the oldest Russian city in Siberia. Our afternoon was spent on a city tour. That night, we had the first of our visits to a family home for dinner. It was one of the highlights of our trip. The entire family spoke English to some degree. Besides providing a delicious dinner, they had prepared entertainment and games for us. Their warm hospitality and sincere interest in us made for an unforgettable evening.

The next morning, we drove to the tiny village of Pokrovskoye to visit the Rasputin Museum. Rasputin’s home was torn down long ago, but the museum, in an old log cabin, recreates it and contains many of the Mad Monk’s personal belongings. Other items of interest were a book on Rasputin edited by Saddam Hussein and numerous commercial items, from soap to beer, branded with the Rasputin name. A Rasputin look-alike made an appearance, posing for photos with the men of our group as they sat in Rasputin’s “Viagra chair.”

After, we continued our drive to Kurgan, notable because it is not mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide book. It is one of the oldest settlements in Siberia, founded in 1553, and has a pre-Scythian history. It is a stop on the Trans-Siberian Rail Road and had been a key city in the Soviet scientific and industrial communities. As was the case everywhere except Moscow, the only English TV channel available in our hotel was BBC News. In Kurgan, we were surprised to find a hard-core, unrestricted X-rated channel available on our TVs. The next morning, we took a city tour which included a very nice, informative museum, concluding our visit with lunch.

During the afternoon, we drove through the countryside to our next stop, Chelyabinsk, a large industrial city on the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains. Since it had begun as a stop on the Silk Road, its symbol is the camel. It was the home of the Soviet Katyusha rockets and T-34 tanks during WWII, earning it the nickname “Tankograd.” As in all the cities we visited, traffic was extremely heavy, the current affluence of the society reflected in the numbers of new, luxury cars packing the streets, including Hummer stretch limos. This city, as most we visited, boasted international ethnic restaurants and modern malls with up-scale shopping. Prices seemed to be comparable to what we would pay at home.

After a full day in Chelyabinsk, we took an overnight train on a spur of the Trans-Siberian Rail Road to Ufa, crossing the Urals back into Europe. We occupied a new, very comfortable, first-class car, arriving early in the morning. Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan and is a major industrial center. It was founded in 1574 by Ivan the Terrible, but had been occupied by Turkic-speaking Bashkirs and Tatars before that. Currently, of the million people living there, 36% are Russian, 30% Bashkir and 24% Tatar. Here we saw the first of many mosques we would see in the following days. We enjoyed our tour of the city, experiencing our first light snowfall and clean, invigorating air.

Our drive the next day was another highlight for most of us. Crossing the midlands of Russia, we were impressed by its vastness as well as the richness of its farmland. For most of the morning, we went through breathtaking scenery. This area has extensive oil deposits, and thus we saw countless “nodding donkey” pump jacks in fields, working continuously but not detracting from the beauty of the countryside. More eye-catching were the many thick forests, their trees in the fullness of fall colors, vibrant yellows interspersed with oranges and reds. We noted many signs indicating that the forests were protected and urging care for the animals and the environment. Where the trees had been cleared for farming, the soil was black and rich. Our drive was a continuous panorama of brilliantly painted trees and fields, interspersed with lovely, colorful villages characterized by their old Russian wooden architecture and minarets, the “lighthouses” of mosques. The houses were brightly painted in vivid colors, most commonly mustard yellow, burnt orange and green, with shutters and intricately carved trim painted royal or sky blue. Each village felt timeless, as if it had existed quaintly forever, a little treasure nestled in the rolling hills of this very beautiful region.

After a night in Naberezhnye Chelny, the second largest city in Tatarstan, we proceeded to Kazan, the capital of the region and another city with a very old history. It is the farthest point west that Genghis Khan’s Golden Horde conquered. Ivan the Terrible defeated the Mongol Tatars there in 1552 and built a beautiful cathedral that is now the oldest building in the Kazan Kremlin (fortress), a UNESCO site. Both Russian Orthodox Christians and Muslims have lived together peacefully in Kazan for over 500 years. It is now a vibrant, prosperous city. Students at Kazan University gather under a statue of a young Lenin in a location called “the frying pan,” where they wait to hear their test results. Pushkin and Tolstoy were among those who failed exams there. Our evening meal in a family home was another highlight. These home visits, where we met and interacted with average citizens, provided insight into Russian home life far beyond what we could experience in our casual encounters with hotel and restaurant personnel as well as vivid memories to be cherished for years to come.

The following day, we boarded the MS Sholokhov for a pleasant six-day cruise down the lower Volga River. The cruise took us to five Russian cities and through beautiful countryside. Between the cities, the banks of the river were often covered with forests in the fullness of their fall colors. Fishermen in small boats contributed to the idyllic, peaceful scenery. Up to this point, the weather had been overcast and cold. Once on the river, an Indian Summer gave us warm, sunny days. Our first stop was in the mid-sized city of Ulyanovosk, the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin. His childhood home is now a museum. It was obvious from its many rooms and furnishings that his had been a wealthy family. The following day, we toured Samara, another prosperous city and home of the Samara car and many other manufactured goods. Stylish boutiques line the main shopping street. This is the city where Lenin practiced his entire, unsuccessful law career, chiefly notable because he never won a case. It is also the home of Zhigulovskoe Beer, a chocolate factory, and boasts Russia’s oldest permanent circus. We took an optional, fascinating tour to Stalin’s secret bunker, only discovered in 1990. He never occupied it and there is no evidence that he even visited it, but we felt it was well worth seeing. It descends 35 meters underground and would have been his refuge if necessary. That evening, as the sun set and we continued our cruise down the Volga, we were treated to a piano concert of classics played by a prize-winning pianist, a fitting ending for another fulfilling, pleasant day.

Our next stop was Saratov, another city founded originally as a fort by Ivan the Terrible in 1590. Yuri Gagarin had studied there and his capsule had landed in a nearby field after he made history as the first man in outer space. The following day was spent in Volgograd, our first Hero City and formerly Stalingrad, the site of the turning point of WWII. Hitler had lost no major battles before his defeat there and won none thereafter. The battle virtually destroyed the city, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. Not surprisingly, the city commemorates this battle with innumerable statues and monuments. The War is not something from the distant past here, but a presence and memory that still touch its citizen’s lives. We visited the Mamaev Kurgan, a dominant view overlooking the city. Defense of this hill exacted extremely high casualties from the Soviets. Even today, fragments of bone can still be discovered on the site. At its summit is an enormous, dramatic statue of the Motherland with upheld sword. When it was built in 1967, it was the largest free-standing sculpture in the world and must be seen to be appreciated. Below it, built into the hill, is a rotunda where a giant hand holds a torch with an eternal flame guarded by somber soldiers. Later we visited another must-see location, the city’s war museum, where the reality of war and its devastation were portrayed. Our group was quiet and subdued after our city tour due to the seriousness of the sites we had visited. Our local guide had lived through the battle. Her simple words, without any drama, self-pity or rancor, made a huge impact on us. We felt a tremendous gratitude that we have never had to deal with such a thing on our own soil. As is so often true with travel, what we experienced that day gave us a renewed appreciation for our own lives, our own country and the times we live in. Our impression was that, in spite of the modernity seen in its many trendy shops and restaurants, the entire city of Volgograd is a poignant memorial to the War and the countless lives lost as it raged.

After a day cruising down the river, we arrived at Astrakhan, the center of the chess board where the Great Game (the Anglo-Russo “war” for control of the Orient) was played out. From this base, Russia launched many expeditions into the Caucuses and beyond. Tamerlane burned the city in 1395 and it was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1556. We saw many centuries-old buildings during our city tour, including the beautiful Ascension Cathedral, built in the early 1700s, in Astrakhan’s kremlin. In the afternoon, we drove out of the city to a hunting and fishing camp where the Volga splits into many smaller branches to form its delta on the Caspian Sea. We loaded into three small fishing boats and spent the next two hours speeding to the Sea and back. The banks on either side were brilliant with fall colors. We saw huge stands of lotus, no longer in bloom, and many birds, including gulls and groups of white swans. After returning to the fishing camp, we were treated to an incredible feast to cap another highlight of our trip. The following day, we flew back to Moscow before returning home.

All the cities we visited contained a pleasant mixture of old and new. Very old buildings housed new internet cafes. Signs in English competed with those in Cyrillic Russian. On park benches, elderly Babushkas bundled in scarves, heavy cloth coats and thick socks watched as myriads of fashionable young women in spike heels, tight jeans and trendy jackets hastened by. How much longer these cities will keep their old charm is anyone’s guess. As we saw, bustling traffic and cell phones were everywhere. McDonalds and Baskin-Robbins were only two of the American franchises that have become common. Twenty-four-hour, modern grocery stores were also abundant. Modern freeways and luxury car dealerships have sprouted up like mushrooms. To all appearances, capitalism is alive and well in Russia, and it has dramatically improved the standard of living of the average citizen.

I had planned our itinerary in conjunction with MIR Corporation in Seattle, who had made all the arrangements. As usual, they did an outstanding job with our accommodations, local guides, family visits, sites, and restaurants. The trip was a perfect mix of history, architecture, scenery, culture, people, activities and leisure time. Paul (in our opinion the best tour manager ever) took excellent care of each of us and our individual needs while helping us experience Russia and the Russian people in a way that few Americans ever do. Many travelers take the Trans-Siberian Rail Road from Moscow to Vladivostok and think that they “know” Russia. Perhaps they do, in the same superficial way that a person would “know” the USA after taking the Amtrak from San Francisco to Chicago. What a difference it made when we visited little-known cities, drove through the vast, beautiful countryside and had meals in people’s homes. We are grateful to MIR and Paul for helping us to experience more of Russia and its people in such a meaningful, memorable way and look forward to the next time we travel with them.©

Men's Journal Article

2010-05-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

If you would like a copy of my recent Men's Journal Article, please email me at worldsmosttraveledman@gmail.com I would be happy to send you a copy! Or visit Men's Journal.com, Bill Altaffer.

2010-05-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, I did not look forward to going to Soviet Russia. It was difficult traveling there. The hotels and restaurants were uncomfortable and inhospitable. Destinations were highly controlled. It was an ordeal rather than a pleasure. Today I can’t get enough of Russia. I look forward with great anticipation to warm service and fine dining in creative, original boutique restaurants. The thread count of designer sheets in hotels is complemented by the marble décor and modern fixtures in the bathrooms. On this latest trip, our hotel in Moscow was the newly renovated Peter I in walking distance of Red Square. Its indoor swimming pool and spa rival the best anywhere else. More importantly, though still controlled to some extent, travel to most locations is possible with advance preparation.

Monino Aviation Museum

Because our small group of 7, plus tour manager extraordinaire Paul Schwartz, are all veterans of Russian travel, our organized excursions in Moscow avoided the obvious sites. Instead, we visited the Monino Aviation Museum (advance permission and permits required), a prime stop for anyone interested in airplanes and air flight history, though rarely included in tour itineraries. Located at a former Soviet Air Force base, the museum (mostly open air, with hangers housing very old and unique aircraft), is the largest in Russia. It includes the famous Tupelov Tu-95, a huge Cold War bomber called “The Bear,” plenty of MiGs and Yaks as well as the world’s largest helicopter, the MIL-12. Also featured is a multitude of experimental aircraft with unique designs as well as the plane that carried Khrushchev to America, a monster of an aircraft. Even the members of our group who had little knowledge of or interest in airplanes were fascinated with what we saw and appreciated the diversity and variety of aircraft on exhibit.

Cold War Command Post

As a contrast to our warm, sunny morning at Monino, we spent the evening 200 feet below Moscow in the secret secured command post Tagansky, an abandoned relic of the Cold War, originally built to withstand nuclear attack. The 75,000 square-foot space could have sustained 5,000 people for 3 months. Ordered by Stalin in 1951, it took 5 years to build. An interesting film on the Cold War from the Red perspective was shown by a guide dressed in period army uniform. Then following a quite realistic simulated attack by the Imperialistic West, our dinner was served in the bunker.

Perm

The next day, we flew to Perm Krai, an area larger than Great Britain and somewhat autonomous. (You may be aware of the Permian Period, the last part of the Paleozoic Era. Its name came from this region.) The entire area and capital city, Perm, were not included in my old 1990 USSR edition of the Lonely Planet. In fact, most of our journey, eventually reaching deep into the Arctic Circle, was off limits to any foreigner until recently and still requires advance special permission. Like so many of the positive changes one sees in Russia today, our aircraft from Moscow to Perm was new and modern. The 2-hour flight (including a 2-hour time change) was on a private Sibir Airlines S7 301 rather than on a government-owned airline. Perm is known as the Gateway to Siberia. It is located in the western foothills of the Ural Mountains on the Kama River. Technically, due to higher volume of water and more tributaries, the Kama is a larger river than the Volga, a fact not commonly known. Founded in 1723, Perm has been an important industrial and trading city and a major supplier of salt. Dockworkers carried bags of salt on their shoulders, giving rise to the nickname "salty ears" for Perm residents. As we found everywhere else, the people of Perm were very friendly and helpful. Our local guide, Ekaterina, did an outstanding job with her excellent command of the English language. Boris Pasternak lived in Perm when he wrote Dr. Zhivago, using it as his model for the novel’s country town. One of the interesting sites on our city tour was the house that was the inspiration for the location in the novel where Laura first met the doctor.

The countryside of Perm Krai is idyllic. Rolling hills, fields and trees are dotted with small villages. We drove through it on bumpy roads for about 60 miles to Gulag Perm 36. This is the only intact gulag facility left in Russia. Now a small museum, it is a powerful reminder of a dark period in Russia’s history and is being preserved and restored by people dedicated to keeping this history alive so that it will not be repeated. At one time, there were more gulags in Russia than villages, something over 40,000. The inhumane living conditions, starvation and torture in the gulags were horrific beyond our comprehension. After touring the facilities, we watched a well-done, informative documentary in English that detailed some of the awful conditions of Perm 36. Following this sobering experience, we drove another 60 miles or so to the village of Kungur on the banks of the Sylva River for something completely different, the Kungur Ice Caves. They are estimated to be over 10,000 years old and are a giant complex of underground lakes, frozen waterfalls and colonies of huge ice crystals. We bundled up in our warmest gear and spent nearly 2 hours enthralled by the many caverns and beautiful ice formations of this unique cave system.

At the end of the day, we returned to Perm in time for dinner in the home of a local resident. Our tour company, MIR Corporation, provides home dining as a feature of most of their tours. These often are the most memorable experiences of MIR’s trips, where we meet real, ordinary people in their own homes, see how they really live, eat the foods they eat, communicate and share ideas with them. We end up with a completely different and more in-depth understanding of Russia than we could ever have otherwise. We always feel that we have made real friends with our hosts. Our hostess in Perm spoke excellent English, besides being an outstanding cook. It was, as usual, a highlight of the trip.

Khokhlovka Village

The next day, we visited the Khokhlovka Village, home of an open-air Museum of Wooden Architecture outside the city. It includes numerous houses, barns, a church, a salt works and other wooden structures from the 17th century that have been collected from all over the Perm area and reconstructed. We spent several hours exploring the large grounds on a warm, beautiful day. We had views of the Kama River and ate our picnic lunch on the shore of a lovely bay. Eventually, we headed back into Perm for a few hours of free time, which we used to explore a neighborhood grocery store and a chocolate shop and to use the Internet before dinner in a local restaurant. That evening, we boarded our superior sleeping car on the train for our first train journey of the trip. During the night, we crossed over the Ural Mountains into Siberia. We relaxed on the train the whole next day as we sped through the Siberian countryside, arriving at Omsk in the evening.

Omsk

Omsk was founded by the Cossacks in 1716. It is a pleasant city, nestled between the Om and Irtysh rivers. It is best known as the place Dostoevsky spent his 4-year exile after his mock execution in St. Petersburg in 1849. During Russia’s Civil War, it was where the White forces, led by Admiral Kolchak, were based. We enjoyed a city tour of beautiful renovated churches, a theater and museums, ending the afternoon on a river boat ride with a huge crowd of locals enjoying the beautiful Sunday weather. Our local guide told us that we were the first American tourists she had ever had, something that we heard often during the rest of our trip.

Novosibirsk

The entire next day, we spent driving 400 miles to Novosibirsk. Only when one travels by road and train across Siberia can you begin to appreciate the massiveness of this land. Most of the countryside that day was relatively flat, with some woods and uncounted acreages of fields of rich black earth planted thickly with grain, rapeseed and sunflowers. The road was in very good shape. Though it was heavy with traffic, we were able to make very good time for most of the drive. Along this inter-oblast highway, our driver pointed out a recurring individual, a “lady of the night” dressed in pink. She was successfully seeking lifts from truckers and seemed to make better time on the road than we did. We stopped throughout the day at a number of gas stations, many of US quality with all the amenities. We had a delicious, inexpensive lunch mid-day. At one of our stops, our guide pointed out an overgrown area that turned out to be wild hemp. It grows profusely in the area. After we knew what to look for, we saw it all over Siberia, popping up in the middle of fields of grain and even in city lots.

Since studying Russian geography in college, I have had a fascination with Novosibirsk (New Siberia). It was the fulfillment of a long-held dream to finally arrive there. I was not disappointed. The development of Siberia parallels that of the American West in many ways. Rivers and railroads were an integral part of both chronologies. Novosibirsk is a very modern city, newly created after the Trans-Siberian Railroad was built and with all the amenities of Moscow. Its beautiful train station, from the “constructionist” era of Soviet architecture, contrasts with gleaming, almost futuristic, skyscrapers. A large statue of Lenin is surrounded by capitalistic enterprises (a coffee shop, a fitness gym, trendy clothing stores), with a huge billboard advertising Nokia in the background. Its Red Street (at 6 miles long, the longest in Siberia), is named after the color, not the Communist party. The city also boasts a monument marking what was, at one time, the geographic center of old imperialistic Russia. Triple entrance doors in many buildings are a testament to the extreme winters in the area, when temperatures commonly reach -60 F. They can range up to +115 F in summer. Our hotel in the city was an old Intourist 3-star hotel, the Sibir. It was very comfortable with international TV, air conditioning, a pool and of course a sauna.

Our city tour included a visit to the world’s only birch bark museum. We have seen birch bark crafts all over Russia, but nothing to compare to the amazingly creative items on exhibit there, objects both useful and strictly artistic. This was followed by a drive out of Novosibirsk to Akademgorodok, the Academic City commissioned by Khrushchev as a place dedicated to scientific research. It is now a desirable place to live and the home of Novosibirsk State University. As we sat down to lunch at one of the university’s restaurants, we noticed a banquet table and music. Shortly after, we were surprised to hear the wedding march, then witness the entrance of a bride and groom. It was a special treat to watch the celebrations of the wedding party. There were lively toasts and speeches against a background of American music, including songs from Uma Thurman’s movie, Kill Bill. We hated to tear ourselves away from the festivities, but were rewarded by a very interesting visit to the Geological and Mineralogical Museum. A woman scientist who had collected many of the items on exhibit led us through the museum with rapid, very entertaining commentary. We learned a lot and enjoyed doing so. Later, we visited the open-air Trans-Siberian Museum, where over 80 old steam and diesel engines and rail cars are on exhibit. Our very full day ended with dinner at the home of another local family, an extremely enjoyable experience. This dinner was an unforgettable feast of several courses hosted by truly welcoming, friendly people who kept the vodka flowing. It was a lot of fun, another highlight we will never forget.

Tomsk

The following morning, we loaded into a van for our 5-hour drive through flat, green land to Tomsk, founded in 1604 and one of the oldest cities in Siberia. We arrived in time for lunch in a charmingly decorated restaurant that has been in operation for 120 years. The fact that Anton Chekhov had eaten there was commemorated by a whimsical bronze statue of the man in front of the restaurant, his nose shining brightly due to years of polishing by countless hands superstitiously seeking good luck. The food was so good there that we chose to return for lunch the following day. We enjoyed the afternoon and the next day in Tomsk, a very pleasant city. We saw the largest bell in Siberia, went into a beautiful Russian Orthodox church where several babies were being baptized, visited numerous neighborhoods packed with many examples of traditional Siberian wooden architecture, and climbed to the top of an old fire watchtower for a scenic view of the entire city. Tomsk is known as the Athens of Siberia. It was bypassed by the Trans-Siberian Railroad, resulting in less western contact and a sense of remoteness from the rest of Russia. It boasts over 60 universities with a combined total of over 110,000 students. One of every three people in Tomsk is involved in education in some way. We visited the campus of Tomsk State University, the oldest university in Siberia, where one of the academics spoke to us about its history and programs.

In the afternoon of our second day in Tomsk, we caught a commuter train to connect to the Trans-Sib. Our commuter train ride, lasting about 2 ½ hours, stopped at all the small villages up to the end of the line, delivering students and workers home after their day in Tomsk. We were an unusual experience for the commuters. One man insisted on sharing his beer with us, thrilled to be meeting his very first Americans. For our part, we enjoyed seeing the farms and villages we passed and visiting with some of the locals on the train. We eventually boarded our sleeper car on the Trans-Sib for our overnight trip to Krasnoyarsk, arriving there in the morning where we were joined by our local guide, Olga, and transferred directly to the airport. Olga, who did not speak English, was intense and efficient, facilitating all our experiences over the next few days. Olga’s mission was to inform, entertain and educate us, which she did in daily lectures and informal discussions, assisted by Paul’s helpful translations. Her first duty was to deal with airport officials. We jumped through several bureaucratic hoops before being allowed to fly on a government jet to Norilsk, high above the Arctic Circle. Though we had all the requisite paperwork giving us permission to visit this semi-closed city, we were not allowed through security until it had been closely examined by several different airport officials. Norilsk, as was true for most of the cities on our trip, was not even noted on old Soviet maps or mentioned in older guidebooks.

Norilsk

Our arrival at the airport outside of Norilsk was marked by additional security and screening. Long after we had dealt with that red tape, we were still waiting for our luggage as it was x-rayed and examined before finally being released to the waiting crowd. As we drove toward the city, the landscape became bleaker and grimmer with each passing minute. Norilsk has been called the most polluted city on the planet. It was built on permafrost for the single purpose of exploiting the rich deposits of nickel, copper and other precious metals that lie under the frozen ground. These ores are mined and processed in huge factories whose smokestacks billow clouds of toxic particles into the air 24 hours a day. There is talk about eventually making these factories more environmentally responsible, but that will not happen any time soon. In the meantime, the air stinks and the acid rain kills all trees and other vegetation in the area. Wildlife, of course, is non-existent. We could not get over the fact that people actually live in such a poisonous environment. The factories spew out over 2 million tons (that’s over 4 billion pounds!) of sulfur dioxide each year, contributing to the astonishing fact that Norilsk, though only a tiny spot with a relatively miniscule population in a huge nation, is responsible for 2% of Russia’s annual GNP. By the time we arrived at our hotel in the city, we were already convinced that Norilsk is the worst possible place on Earth for people to live. You might expect that statement to be followed by "but other than that…" But there is no "other than that!" We never changed our minds. There can be no city on this planet worse than Norilsk.

Norilsk is located on the 69th parallel. For three months during the winter, it receives no sunlight. Its buildings crumble and sidewalks and streets buckle in their constant battle against the extreme Siberian cold. Even in the summer, it is dreary and unwelcoming due the clouds of pollution that always hover thickly over the city. It was depressing in every way. Don Parrish, a member of our group, said, "Now I know where to come to get volunteers to go to Mars." Olga, who had already brought 8 groups there this year, said that she often returns to her office in Krasnoyarsk asking why they don’t issue gas masks for the trip. It is a new benchmark for ugliness and miserable quality of life in a city. We are also sure that our exposure to its environment, even as brief as it was, caused the loss of a large number of our brain cells. We could not understand why people live there until we were told that they are paid considerably better than anywhere else in Russia. I was also told that there is a good thing that there are people living there: others don’t have to!

The original inhabitants of Norilsk were prisoners. Some were actual criminals, some were political prisoners, but many were arrested on trumped-up charges in order to provide a workforce for the factories. There are no roads or railroads connecting this area to the rest of Russia. The prisoners were brought up the river in barges, 2,000 people at a time, crammed inhumanely in the holds, standing-room-only, for the 5-day voyage. At arrival, if 500 people had survived the voyage, it was considered successful. When those workers died from exposure, disease, lack of adequate food and shelter, not to mention pollution-caused illnesses, more were hauled in. Many never lived out their sentences. Most that did were forced to stay in Norilsk to continue working in the factories. They had nowhere to go and no way to get there anyway. Even now, when workers retire, they are rarely able to leave. If they do, their pension is cut severely. That and other considerations keep the population stable. Presently, 68% of the population is male. The women we saw, in contrast to all the stylish beauties further south, fit well in their colorless, drab setting. No one in our group ever wants to return to Norilsk, but none of us are sorry we went there. Sometimes there are prices to pay for going where few dare to visit. We feel we experienced something completely unique and will never forget it. But we were very, very happy that we only spent 24 hours there.

Dudinka

As we left Norilsk and drove on one of the few local roads in the area to the town of Dudinka, the countryside gradually became less damaged by pollution. Vegetation grew on the tundra and birds flew in the air. We stopped at one point at a spring to perform a local ritual, making wishes that are guaranteed to come true. Further along, we stopped to take a short walk out onto the tundra. That allowed us to see up close all the many types of plants, tiny flowers and little berries growing there.

Yenisei River Cruise

After a couple of hours on the road, we arrived at Dudinka, where we boarded our Spartan vessel, the Valery Chkalov, for our 5-day cruise south and up the Yenisei River. The Yenisei, like many Siberian rivers, flows from southern regions to empty into the Arctic Ocean. Having originated in Mongolia, it is the world’s 5th longest river, something over 2,550 miles long (sources vary). The Valery Chkalov was built over 60 years ago, when no doubt it was a first-class ship. Today, it is not a tourist vessel. It is owned by the Norilsk Nickel factory. It and a sister ship make regular round-trips during ice-free months between Krasnoyarsk and Dikson on the Arctic Ocean, providing the only affordable transport for factory workers as well as the inhabitants of the small villages located on the river. At most of these villages, the ship did not stop. Rather, it slowed down so that small motorboats could pull up to deliver or retrieve passengers. The ship boasts four levels of service. We were in the first-class cabins, which were very tiny and basic. Our toilet facilities were down the hall and showers (private for our group) were on the deck below. Olga had the key to a lounge area that was for our exclusive use. There, we could relax, read, listen to Olga’s lectures and watch videos of the area. Since there were no electrical outlets in the cabins, this room was where we recharged all our batteries. Fourth-class passengers did not have cabins. They slept wherever they could, on deck or on the two small couches at Reception. Very few of the ship’s passengers are able to afford the meals in the dining room, which we usually had to ourselves. The food on board was excellent, well prepared, varied and tasty.

Permafrost Museum

We only made two stops where we were able to disembark briefly. The first was at the town of Igarka, known as the “Continental Gate to the Arctic Ocean,” where we made a quick dash to see the only permafrost museum in the world. It was very well-done and fascinating. Considering its remote location, we were surprised to find that it had beaten London’s National Portrait Gallery, among others, for commendation in 2002 by the European Museum of the Year Award. The average year-round temperature in Igarka is +15 F. Summer lasts only two to three weeks, creating ideal conditions for a unique permafrost research station and laboratory under 20 feet of frozen ground. Our second stop was even shorter, at a small village where most passengers disembarked in a rush to hurriedly buy assorted foods and goods at tables set up by local entrepreneurs on the shore. Items for sale included buckets of berries, cedar nuts, homemade jams and hot sauces.

During one of Olga’s twice-daily lectures and meetings, she informed us that the river was at that point over 6 miles wide (its maximum width is 30 miles). We also passed through its most narrow point, a mere 600 yards wide, where it flows through a deep canyon. On our last full day, Olga took us to the ship’s bridge where we were given champagne and certificates as we crossed the Arctic Circle. We also saw the remains of Stalin’s hut of exile on the shore. At another point, Olga told us that we were at the closest accessible spot to the 1908 Tunguska Explosion. Scientists and other interested parties could disembark there, then take a 500-mile helicopter ride to the site. Throughout our cruise up the river, we enjoyed spending our free time watching the thickly wooded riverbanks slide by. It was heartening to see so much unexploited wilderness.

Krasnoyarsk

After our 5-day cruise covering nearly 1,000 miles, we arrived back in Krasnoyarsk. It was founded by the Cossacks and has a very rich history. We spent one night there in an ultra-modern hotel, notable because all the mini-bar items were free of charge. The following day, we enjoyed a leisurely, very interesting tour of this pleasant city. One of the sites we visited was a monument with connections to California. It marked the spot where Nicholai Pavlovich Rezanov, a handsome Russian captain had drowned when his horse fell through ice on the river. He was on his way from California to plead with the Russian Orthodox Church to allow him to marry his sweetheart, the 16-year-old daughter of the commandant of a fort in San Francisco. She, in turn, was soliciting the Pope for permission to marry him. With the difficulties of travel and communication in those days, she waited for him for 35 years before learning of his death, at which time she joined a convent. Other locations in the city did not have such tragic stories. The city was charming, with new and modern features alongside older, traditional architecture. We took a twenty-minute drive out of town to a state-of-the-art ski resort, complete with Doppelmeyer high-speed quad ski lifts that race up the mountain slopes all year round. The latest snow-making equipment lines the sides of the slopes. That, plus temperatures as low as minus 50, assure a good skiing season. Skiing at 50 degrees below zero? Yesssss!

That night, we flew back to Moscow, gaining four hours and arriving at the Vnukovo Airport at 9:00 PM. The drive from this airport to downtown Moscow is incredible at night. The city appears magically enchanted, very much like a fairy tale, with picturesque buildings and onion-domed churches lit up colorfully and beautifully. It was a truly incredible sight, almost dream-like, and a fitting way to end our trip together.

Evaluation

Russia remains a fascinating place to me. It is has such a long, sad, hard history. Its people have suffered through incredibly difficult times, yet they remain warm, welcoming and strong. We all feel a real kinship with the Russian people, a feeling that is only reinforced with each visit. After 12 trips to Russia, starting in 1964, I think that I am finally beginning to understand this multi-faceted nation. It still has closed cities, 236 of them to be exact. It also has very open and engaging people, beautiful countryside, unique architecture in historical cities, excellent food and plenty of attractions to appeal to all tastes and interests. It is changing rapidly in many ways as it joins the modern world. We saw many differences between this visit and what we experienced just a year ago. For example, the women in our group noted that almost all the public toilets now carry toilet paper and have soap and running water. Even a mere year ago, very few of them did.

Everywhere, in all cities, there are monuments and fountains that work. Public places are always accented by large plantings of colorful flowers. The people have great pride in their country and their cities, and it shows. As for the people, they are as fashionable and trendy as anywhere else in the world.

So, why would an American want to visit Russia? What seems to age us is our routine. We go to the same places, eat the same foods, think the same thoughts. We tend to become stuck in ruts, going to places that feel familiar and do not threaten us.

Russia is invigorating. It is rich in history and is now amplified by a free market. Things are happening there at a very fast pace. You can see it reflected in the people you meet. Now, Russians travel the world and are knowledgeable and informed about events outside of their borders. Cities and towns across the vast landscape host excellent hotels, restaurants and resorts, all with the most modern amenities. Only by going will you know the excitement of experiencing Russia today. You ask, "But is it safe?" Oh, please!

Whether you are making your first visit to Russia and want a “normal” itinerary to the obligatory spots or want to explore some of the innumerable, rarely visited, remote areas of the country, I highly recommend MIR Corporation in Seattle. They know Russia. After traveling there many times, I am finally beginning to know it, too.©

2010-05-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, I did not look forward to going to Soviet Russia. It was difficult traveling there. The hotels and restaurants were uncomfortable and inhospitable. Destinations were highly controlled. It was an ordeal rather than a pleasure. Today I can’t get enough of Russia. I look forward with great anticipation to warm service and fine dining in creative, original boutique restaurants. The thread count of designer sheets in hotels is complemented by the marble décor and modern fixtures in the bathrooms. On this latest trip, our hotel in Moscow was the newly renovated Peter I in walking distance of Red Square. Its indoor swimming pool and spa rival the best anywhere else. More importantly, though still controlled to some extent, travel to most locations is possible with advance preparation.

Because our small group of 7, plus tour manager extraordinaire Paul Schwartz, are all veterans of Russian travel, our organized excursions in Moscow avoided the obvious sites. Instead, we visited the Monino Aviation Museum (advance permission and permits required), a prime stop for anyone interested in airplanes and air flight history, though rarely included in tour itineraries. Located at a former Soviet Air Force base, the museum (mostly open air, with hangers housing very old and unique aircraft), is the largest in Russia. It includes the famous Tupelov TV-95, a huge Cold War bomber called “The Bear,” plenty of MiGs and Yaks as well as the world’s largest helicopter, the MIL-12. Also featured is a multitude of experimental aircraft with unique designs as well as the plane that carried Khrushchev to America, a monster of an aircraft. Even the members of our group who had little knowledge of or interest in airplanes were fascinated with what we saw and appreciated the diversity and variety of aircraft on exhibit.

As a contrast to our warm, sunny morning at Monino, we spent the evening 200 feet below Moscow in the secret secured command post “Tagansky,” an abandoned relic of the Cold War, originally built to withstand nuclear attack. The 75,000 square-foot space could have sustained 5,000 people for 3 months. Ordered by Stalin in 1951, it took 5 years to build. An interesting film on the Cold War from the Red perspective was shown by a guide dressed in period army uniform. Then following a quite realistic simulated attack by the Imperialistic West, our dinner was served in the bunker.

The next day, we flew to Perm Krai, an area larger than Great Britain and somewhat autonomous. (You may be aware of the Permian Period, the last part of the Paleozoic Era. Its name came from this region.) The entire area and capital city, Perm, were not included in my old 1990 USSR edition of the Lonely Planet. In fact, most of our journey, eventually reaching deep into the Arctic Circle, was off limits to any foreigner until recently and still requires advance special permission. Like so many of the positive changes one sees in Russia today, our aircraft from Moscow to Perm was new and modern. The 2-hour flight (including a 2-hour time change) was on a private Sibir Airlines S7 301 rather than on a government-owned airline. Perm is known as the Gateway to Siberia. It is located in the western foothills of the Ural Mountains on the Kama River. Technically, due to higher volume of water and more tributaries, the Kama is a larger river than the Volga, a fact not commonly known. Founded in 1723, Perm has been an important industrial and trading city and a major supplier of salt. Dockworkers carried bags of salt on their shoulders, giving rise to the nickname “salty ears” for Perm residents. As we found everywhere else, the people of Perm were very friendly and helpful. Our local guide, Ekaterina, did an outstanding job with her excellent command of the English language. Boris Pasternak lived in Perm when he wrote Dr. Zhivago, using it as his model for the novel’s country town. One of the interesting sites on our city tour was the house that was the inspiration for the location in the novel where Laura first met the doctor.

The countryside of Perm Krai is idyllic. Rolling hills, fields and trees are dotted with small villages. We drove through it on bumpy roads for about 60 miles to Gulag Perm 36. This is the only intact gulag facility left in Russia. Now a small museum, it is a powerful reminder of a dark period in Russia’s history and is being preserved and restored by people dedicated to keeping this history alive so that it will not be repeated. At one time, there were more gulags in Russia than villages, something over 40,000. The inhumane living conditions, starvation and torture in the gulags were horrific beyond our comprehension. After touring the facilities, we watched a well-done, informative documentary in English that detailed some of the awful conditions of Perm 36. Following this sobering experience, we drove another 60 miles or so to the village of Kungur on the banks of the Sylva River for something completely different, the Kungur Ice Caves. They are estimated to be over 10,000 years old and are a giant complex of underground lakes, frozen waterfalls and colonies of huge ice crystals. We bundled up in our warmest gear and spent nearly 2 hours enthralled by the many caverns and beautiful ice formations of this unique cave system.

At the end of the day, we returned to Perm in time for dinner in the home of a local resident. Our tour company, MIR Corporation, provides home dining as a feature of most of their tours. These often are the most memorable experiences of MIR’s trips, where we meet real, ordinary people in their own homes, see how they really live, eat the foods they eat, communicate and share ideas with them. We end up with a completely different and more in-depth understanding of Russia than we could ever have otherwise. We always feel that we have made real friends with our hosts. Our hostess in Perm spoke excellent English, besides being an outstanding cook. It was, as usual, a highlight of the trip.

The next day, we visited the Khokhlovka Village, home of an open-air Museum of Wooden Architecture outside the city. It includes numerous houses, barns, a church, a salt works and other wooden structures from the 17th century that have been collected from all over the Perm area and reconstructed. We spent several hours exploring the large grounds on a warm, beautiful day. We had views of the Kama River and ate our picnic lunch on the shore of a lovely bay. Eventually, we headed back into Perm for a few hours of free time, which we used to explore a neighborhood grocery store and a chocolate shop and to use the Internet before dinner in a local restaurant. That evening, we boarded our superior sleeping car on the train for our first train journey of the trip. During the night, we crossed over the Ural Mountains into Siberia. We relaxed on the train the whole next day as we sped through the Siberian countryside, arriving at Omsk in the evening.

Omsk was founded by the Cossacks in 1716. It is a pleasant city, nestled between the Om and Irtysh rivers. It is best known as the place Dostoevsky spent his 4-year exile after his mock execution in St. Petersburg in 1849. During Russia’s Civil War, it was where the White forces, led by Admiral Kolchak, were based. We enjoyed a city tour of beautiful renovated churches, a theater and museums, ending the afternoon on a river boat ride with a huge crowd of locals enjoying the beautiful Sunday weather. Our local guide told us that we were the first American tourists she had ever had, something that we heard often during the rest of our trip.

The entire next day, we spent driving 400 miles to Novosibirsk. Only when one travels by road and train across Siberia can you begin to appreciate the massiveness of this land. Most of the countryside that day was relatively flat, with some woods and uncounted acreages of fields of rich black earth planted thickly with grain, rape seed and sunflowers. The road was in very good shape. Though it was heavy with traffic, we were able to make very good time for most of the drive. Along this inter-oblast highway, our driver pointed out a recurring individual, a “lady of the night” dressed in pink. She was successfully seeking lifts from truckers and seemed to make better time on the road than we did. We stopped throughout the day at a number of gas stations, many of US quality with all the amenities. We had a delicious, inexpensive lunch mid-day. At one of our stops, our guide pointed out an overgrown area that turned out to be wild hemp. It grows profusely in the area. After we knew what to look for, we saw it all over Siberia, popping up in the middle of fields of grain and even in city lots.

Since studying Russian geography in college, I have had a fascination with Novosibirsk (New Siberia). It was the fulfillment of a long-held dream to finally arrive there. I was not disappointed. The development of Siberia parallels that of the American West in many ways. Rivers and railroads were an integral part of both chronologies. Novosibirsk is a very modern city, newly created after the Trans-Siberian Railroad was built and with all the amenities of Moscow. Its beautiful train station, from the “constructionist” era of Soviet architecture, contrasts with gleaming, almost futuristic, skyscrapers. A large statue of Lenin is surrounded by capitalistic enterprises (a coffee shop, a fitness gym, trendy clothing stores), with a huge billboard advertising Nokia in the background. Its Red Street (at 6 miles long, the longest in Siberia), is named after the color, not the Communist party. The city also boasts a monument marking what was, at one time, the geographic center of old imperialistic Russia. Triple entrance doors in many buildings are a testament to the extreme winters in the area, when temperatures commonly reach -60 F. They can range up to +115 F in summer. Our hotel in the city was an old Intourist 3-star hotel, the Sibir. It was very comfortable with international TV, air conditioning, a pool and of course a sauna.

Our city tour included a visit to the world’s only birch bark museum. We have seen birch bark crafts all over Russia, but nothing to compare to the amazingly creative items on exhibit there, objects both useful and strictly artistic. This was followed by a drive out of Novosibirsk to Akademgorodok, the Academic City commissioned by Khrushchev as a place dedicated to scientific research. It is now a desirable place to live and the home of Novosibirsk State University. As we sat down to lunch at one of the university’s restaurants, we noticed a banquet table and music. Shortly after, we were surprised to hear the wedding march, then witness the entrance of a bride and groom. It was a special treat to watch the celebrations of the wedding party. There were lively toasts and speeches against a background of American music, including songs from Uma Thurman’s movie, Kill Bill. We hated to tear ourselves away from the festivities, but were rewarded by a very interesting visit to the Geological and Mineralogical Museum. A woman scientist who had collected many of the items on exhibit led us through the museum with rapid, very entertaining commentary. We learned a lot and enjoyed doing so. Later, we visited the open-air Trans-Siberian Museum, where over 80 old steam and diesel engines and rail cars are on exhibit. Our very full day ended with dinner at the home of another local family, an extremely enjoyable experience. This dinner was an unforgettable feast of several courses hosted by truly welcoming, friendly people who kept the vodka flowing. It was a lot of fun, another highlight we will never forget.

The following morning, we loaded into a van for our 5-hour drive through flat, green land to Tomsk, founded in 1604 and one of the oldest cities in Siberia. We arrived in time for lunch in a charmingly decorated restaurant that has been in operation for 120 years. The fact that Anton Chekhov had eaten there was commemorated by a whimsical bronze statue of the man in front of the restaurant, his nose shining brightly due to years of polishing by countless hands superstitiously seeking good luck. The food was so good there that we chose to return for lunch the following day. We enjoyed the afternoon and the next day in Tomsk, a very pleasant city. We saw the largest bell in Siberia, went into a beautiful Russian Orthodox church where several babies were being baptized, visited numerous neighborhoods packed with many examples of traditional Siberian wooden architecture, and climbed to the top of an old fire watchtower for a scenic view of the entire city. Tomsk is known as the Athens of Siberia. It was bypassed by the Trans-Siberian Railroad, resulting in less western contact and a sense of remoteness from the rest of Russia. It boasts over 60 universities with a combined total of over 110,000 students. One of every three people in Tomsk is involved in education in some way. We visited the campus of Tomsk State University, the oldest university in Siberia, where one of the academics spoke to us about its history and programs.

In the afternoon of our second day in Tomsk, we caught a commuter train to connect to the Trans-Sib. Our commuter train ride, lasting about 2 ½ hours, stopped at all the small villages up to the end of the line, delivering students and workers home after their day in Tomsk. We were an unusual experience for the commuters. One man insisted on sharing his beer with us, thrilled to be meeting his very first Americans. For our part, we enjoyed seeing the farms and villages we passed and visiting with some of the locals on the train. We eventually boarded our sleeper car on the Trans-Sib for our overnight trip to Krasnoyarsk, arriving there in the morning where we were joined by our local guide, Olga, and transferred directly to the airport. Olga, who did not speak English, was intense and efficient, facilitating all our experiences over the next few days. Olga’s mission was to inform, entertain and educate us, which she did in daily lectures and informal discussions, assisted by Paul’s helpful translations. Her first duty was to deal with airport officials. We jumped through several bureaucratic hoops before being allowed to fly on a government jet to Norilsk, high above the Arctic Circle. Though we had all the requisite paperwork giving us permission to visit this semi-closed city, we were not allowed through security until it had been closely examined by several different airport officials. Norilsk, as was true for most of the cities on our trip, was not even noted on old Soviet maps or mentioned in older guidebooks.

Our arrival at the airport outside of Norilsk was marked by additional security and screening. Long after we had dealt with that red tape, we were still waiting for our luggage as it was x-rayed and examined before finally being released to the waiting crowd. As we drove toward the city, the landscape became bleaker and grimmer with each passing minute. Norilsk has been called the most polluted city on the planet. It was built on permafrost for the single purpose of exploiting the rich deposits of nickel, copper and other precious metals that lie under the frozen ground. These ores are mined and processed in huge factories whose smokestacks billow clouds of toxic particles into the air 24 hours a day. There is talk about eventually making these factories more environmentally responsible, but that will not happen any time soon. In the meantime, the air stinks and the acid rain kills all trees and other vegetation in the area. Wildlife, of course, is non-existent. We could not get over the fact that people actually live in such a poisonous environment. The factories spew out over 2 million tons (that’s over 4 billion pounds!) of sulfur dioxide each year, contributing to the astonishing fact that Norilsk, though only a tiny spot with a relatively miniscule population in a huge nation, is responsible for 2% of Russia’s annual GNP. By the time we arrived at our hotel in the city, we were already convinced that Norilsk is the worst possible place on Earth for people to live. You might expect that statement to be followed by “but other than that…” But there is no ”other than that!” We never changed our minds. There can be no city on this planet worse than Norilsk.

Norilsk is located on the 69th parallel. For three months during the winter, it receives no sunlight. Its buildings crumble and sidewalks and streets buckle in their constant battle against the extreme Siberian cold. Even in the summer, it is dreary and unwelcoming due the clouds of pollution that always hover thickly over the city. It was depressing in every way. Don Parrish, a member of our group, said, “Now I know where to come to get volunteers to go to Mars.” Olga, who had already brought 8 groups there this year, said that she often returns to her office in Krasnoyarsk asking why they don’t issue gas masks for the trip. It is a new benchmark for ugliness and miserable quality of life in a city. We are also sure that our exposure to its environment, even as brief as it was, caused the loss of a large number of our brain cells. We could not understand why people live there until we were told that they are paid considerably better than anywhere else in Russia. I was also told that there is a good thing that there are people living there: others don’t have to!

The original inhabitants of Norilsk were prisoners. Some were actual criminals, some were political prisoners, but many were arrested on trumped-up charges in order to provide a workforce for the factories. There are no roads or railroads connecting this area to the rest of Russia. The prisoners were brought up the river in barges, 2,000 people at a time, crammed inhumanely in the holds, standing-room-only, for the 5-day voyage. At arrival, if 500 people had survived the voyage, it was considered successful. When those workers died from exposure, disease, lack of adequate food and shelter, not to mention pollution-caused illnesses, more were hauled in. Many never lived out their sentences. Most that did were forced to stay in Norilsk to continue working in the factories. They had nowhere to go and no way to get there anyway. Even now, when workers retire, they are rarely able to leave. If they do, their pension is cut severely. That and other considerations keep the population stable. Presently, 68% of the population is male. The women we saw, in contrast to all the stylish beauties further south, fit well in their colorless, drab setting. No one in our group ever wants to return to Norilsk, but none of us are sorry we went there. Sometimes there are prices to pay for going where few dare to visit. We feel we experienced something completely unique and will never forget it. But we were very, very happy that we only spent 24 hours there.

As we left Norilsk and drove on one of the few local roads in the area to the town of Dudinka, the countryside gradually became less damaged by pollution. Vegetation grew on the tundra and birds flew in the air. We stopped at one point at a spring to perform a local ritual, making wishes that are guaranteed to come true. Further along, we stopped to take a short walk out onto the tundra. That allowed us to see up close all the many types of plants, tiny flowers and little berries growing there.

After a couple of hours on the road, we arrived at Dudinka,where we boarded our Spartan vessel, the Valery Chkalov, for our 5-day cruise south and up the Yenisei River. The Yenisei, like many Siberian rivers, flows from southern regions to empty into the Arctic Ocean. Having originated in Mongolia, it is the world’s 5th longest river, something over 2,550 miles long (sources vary). The Valery Chkalov was built over 60 years ago, when no doubt it was a first-class ship. Today, it is not a tourist vessel. It is owned by the Norilsk Nickel factory. It and a sister ship make regular round-trips during ice-free months between Krasnoyarsk and Dikson on the Arctic Ocean, providing the only affordable transport for factory workers as well as the inhabitants of the small villages located on the river. At most of these villages, the ship did not stop. Rather, it slowed down so that small motorboats could pull up to deliver or retrieve passengers. The ship boasts four levels of service. We were in the first-class cabins, which were very tiny and basic. Our toilet facilities were down the hall and showers (private for our group) were on the deck below. Olga had the key to a lounge area that was for our exclusive use. There, we could relax, read, listen to Olga’s lectures and watch videos of the area. Since there were no electrical outlets in the cabins, this room was where we recharged all our batteries. Fourth-class passengers did not have cabins. They slept wherever they could, on deck or on the two small couches at Reception. Very few of the ship’s passengers are able to afford the meals in the dining room, which we usually had to ourselves. The food on board was excellent, well prepared, varied and tasty.

We only made two stops where we were able to disembark briefly. The first was at the town of Igarka, known as the “Continental Gate to the Arctic Ocean,” where we made a quick dash to see the only permafrost museum in the world. It was very well-done and fascinating. Considering its remote location, we were surprised to find that it had beaten London’s National Portrait Gallery, among others, for commendation in 2002 by the European Museum of the Year Award. The average year-round temperature in Igarka is +15 F. Summer lasts only two to three weeks, creating ideal conditions for a unique permafrost research station and laboratory under 20 feet of frozen ground. Our second stop was even shorter, at a small village where most passengers disembarked in a rush to hurriedly buy assorted foods and goods at tables set up by local entrepreneurs on the shore. Items for sale included buckets of berries, cedar nuts, homemade jams and hot sauces.

During one of Olga’s twice-daily lectures and meetings, she informed us that the river was at that point over 6 miles wide (its maximum width is 30 miles). We also passed through its most narrow point, a mere 600 yards wide, where it flows through a deep canyon. On our last full day, Olga took us to the ship’s bridge where we were given champagne and certificates as we crossed the Arctic Circle. We also saw the remains of Stalin’s hut of exile on the shore. At another point, Olga told us that we were at the closest accessible spot to the 1908 Tunguska Explosion. Scientists and other interested parties could disembark there, then take a 500-mile helicopter ride to the site. Throughout our cruise up the river, we enjoyed spending our free time watching the thickly wooded riverbanks slide by. It was heartening to see so much unexploited wilderness.

After our 5-day cruise covering nearly 1,000 miles, we arrived back in Krasnoyarsk. It was founded by the Cossacks and has a very rich history. We spent one night there in an ultra-modern hotel, notable because all the mini-bar items were free of charge. The following day, we enjoyed a leisurely, very interesting tour of this pleasant city. One of the sites we visited was a monument with connections to California. It marked the spot where a handsome Russian captain had drowned when his horse fell through ice on the river. He was on his way from California to plead with the Russian Orthodox Church to allow him to marry his sweetheart, the 16-year-old daughter of the commandant of a fort in San Francisco. She, in turn, was soliciting the Pope for permission to marry him. With the difficulties of travel and communication in those days, she waited for him for 35 years before learning of his death, at which time she joined a convent. Other locations in the city did not have such tragic stories. The city was charming, with new and modern features alongside older, traditional architecture. We took a twenty-minute drive out of town to a state-of-the-art ski resort, complete with Doppelmeyer high-speed quad ski lifts that race up the mountain slopes all year round. The latest snow-making equipment lines the sides of the slopes. That, plus temperatures as low as minus 50, assure a good skiing season. Skiing at 50 degrees below zero? Yesssss!

That night, we flew back to Moscow, gaining four hours and arriving at the Vnukovo Airport at 9:00 PM. The drive from this airport to downtown Moscow is incredible at night. The city appears magically enchanted, very much like a fairy tale, with picturesque buildings and onion-domed churches lit up colorfully and beautifully. It was a truly incredible sight, almost dream-like, and a fitting way to end our trip together.

Russia remains a fascinating place to me. It is has such a long, sad, hard history. Its people have suffered through incredibly difficult times, yet they remain warm, welcoming and strong. We all feel a real kinship with the Russian people, a feeling that is only reinforced with each visit. After 12 trips to Russia, starting in 1964, I think that I am finally beginning to understand this multi-faceted nation. It still has closed cities, 236 of them to be exact. It also has very open and engaging people, beautiful countryside, unique architecture in historical cities, excellent food and plenty of attractions to appeal to all tastes and interests. It is changing rapidly in many ways as it joins the modern world. We saw many differences between this visit and what we experienced just a year ago. For example, the women in our group noted that almost all the public toilets now carry toilet paper and have soap and running water. Even a mere year ago, very few of them did.

Everywhere, in all cities, there are monuments and fountains that work. Public places are always accented by large plantings of colorful flowers. The people have great pride in their country and their cities, and it shows. As for the people, they are as fashionable and trendy as anywhere else in the world.

So, why would an American want to visit Russia? What seems to age us is our routine. We go to the same places, eat the same foods, think the same thoughts. We tend to become stuck in ruts, going to places that feel familiar and do not threaten us.

Russia is invigorating. It is rich in history and is now amplified by a free market. Things are happening there at a very fast pace. You can see it reflected in the people you meet. Now, Russians travel the world and are knowledgeable and informed about events outside of their borders. Cities and towns across the vast landscape host excellent hotels, restaurants and resorts, all with the most modern amenities. Only by going will you know the excitement of experiencing Russia today. You ask, “But is it safe?” Oh, please!

Whether you are making your first visit to Russia and want a “normal” itinerary to the obligatory spots or want to explore some of the innumerable, rarely visited, remote areas of the country, I highly recommend MIR Corporation in Seattle. They know Russia. After traveling there many times, I am finally beginning to know it, too.©

2010-05-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Wake, the Alamo of the Pacific
by Bill Altaffer, San Diego

Since 1988, for those not in the US military, it has been virtually impossible to visit Wake Island. Many have tried numerous times over the years. I was one of those hopeful and frequently disappointed travelers. After several failed attempts, I had almost given up. Finally, in commemoration of the 68th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, permission was granted to Valor Tours and Historic Military Tours to bring a group of 141 “country baggers” and military buffs to this most difficult destination. This group represented over a dozen nations and included many individuals both well-known and well-regarded in traveling circles, all who had been trying to get to Wake for years. Rather than mention any names, partly for fear of leaving anyone out, I won’t. Many others in the group were “war buffs,” people who travel the world to see battle sites and other militarily significant locations. For the most part, we all had some historical interest in the area.

Wake is comprised of three atolls totaling six square miles in area and located in the North Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands. Its highest elevation is 18 feet above sea level. It was discovered in the 1500s by the Spanish and renamed two hundred years later by the master of a British trading schooner, Captain Wake. During the 1930s, Pan American Clipper sea planes used it as a refueling stop. Eventually, the US Navy realized its strategic importance and began to use it as a base.

After Pearl Harbor, on December 8, 9 and 10 of 1941, Japanese air raids “softened” the island. Flying from their airfields in the Marshall Islands, thirty-six Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers destroyed much of Wake’s airfield and supply depots. On December 11, there was more naval shelling and an attempted Japanese landing that was repulsed by valiant resistance from US forces. Two Japanese destroyers were sunk and the remainder retreated to Kwajalein. On December 21, facing the reality of the situation, the last US military float planes (the PBYs) departed from the island. Two days later, the remaining military personnel and civilian contractors on Wake surrendered to invading Japanese soldiers, the first time in history that US Marines had ever surrendered. A relief task force that had been on its way from Hawaii was recalled when only 425 miles away, leaving the island in control of the Japanese.

The military personnel on Wake were eventually sent to concentration camps in China for the duration of the war. The civilian contractors on the island were detained to build fortifications and defenses for the Japanese. On October 7, 1943, the remaining civilians were brutally executed in response to a carrier strike and an expected invasion by US forces. After the US invasion succeeded, the two top Japanese officers there were hung for this and other war crimes.

Today, Wake is used by the Strategic Air Command as a base for tracking missile launches. It is home to approximately 300 military and non-military support personnel. Other than military use, its airfield has occasionally served as an emergency stop for trans-Pacific flights.

Our tour began in Hawaii where we boarded Continental’s Air Micronesia (Air Mic) flight to Guam. Ironically, we flew over Wake on this flight, crossing the International Date Line and losing one day and 4 hours. A day later, our charter flight from Guam would take us back to Wake, regaining that lost day and returning us to Honolulu time even though we would still be two thirds of the way from Hawaii to the Northern Marianas. The night before our flight to Wake, we attended a banquet at the Outrigger Hotel in Guam. Also in attendance were current admirals and generals as well as survivors of the 1941 invasion of the island. Opening remarks were made by Warren Wiedhan, USMC Colonel (Ret) and by Guam’s Governor Camacho. Rear Admiral Biesel, Brigadier General Broadmeadow and Brigadier General Ruhlman also spoke to us.

On December 12, we departed on our chartered Air Mic flight from Guam at 5:00 AM. Continental’s top management was also on board, along with a hand-picked crew. They were as excited as we all were. Several of the Wake survivors on board were accompanied by their families. Before landing, the plane circled the atoll several times, allowing passengers seated on both sides of the plane good views of this top-secret missile defense station. Upon deplaning, most of us immediately photographed the Wake Air Station sign at the entrance to the airport lounge. Inside were a small museum, a shop with the usual T-shirts, hats and other souvenirs, all free of tax, and a post office where mail is collected once a week, on Fridays. Our passports were rewarded with a large Wake Island stamp, something I have long coveted. We were then given maps and programs for our 12-hour stay. There are no accommodations for visitors on Wake, so we arrived at sunrise and left at sunset. Box lunches were supplied by the airline.

Our group was divided onto two buses which went off in opposite directions and eventually covered all the sites of the island. One bus started with Prisoner’s Rock where we saw a commemorative plaque marking the location of McArthur’s meeting with Truman in 1950. The other bus started with a visit to the Drifter’s Reef Bar & Grill, passing stores, housing and a church. A tiki statue guarded the entrance to the bar, where we were interested to find that premium beers cost only $2. Outside the bar, we saw a Japanese bunker that had been uprooted and moved by the last major hurricane to hit Wake.

After our bus tours, we had free time to walk around. Some of our group swam in the lagoon. Wake also boasts excellent fishing and scuba diving. As we were exploring, Wake Islanders frequently stopped to offer us a ride. They were extremely helpful and very interested in our tour. They treated us like important dignitaries. Of its approximately 300 inhabitants, about half a dozen are female. Most of the civilian workers are from Thailand. Signs were usually written in both English and Thai. Some of the sites we saw included the remains of the Pan American Hotel and a ramp into the ocean for seaplanes. Large jet fuel storage tanks were scattered about the island, which also boasts a nine-hole golf course. Remnants of a previous Brunswick bowling alley have become decorations in front of many people’s apartments.

Towards the end of the day, Brigadier General Broadmeadow spoke in true military form as John Dale, a 90-year-old survivor of Wake, laid a wreath at the Marine Memorial honoring the past heroes of the battles and the Japanese occupation of the island. We then boarded our flight back to Guam, full of positive memories of the experiences of our short stay. Was the trip worth $1,000 a day? You betcha! Though from start to finish, it lasted less than a week, it was the best short trip I can imagine. It was very special for all involved: Valor Tours, Historic Military Tours, the US military, the Air Mic crew, the honored veterans, and all the rest of us.

I am grateful for the perseverance of Valor Tours and Historic Military Tours in arranging this trip. It took extensive work, including many visits by HMT personnel to Hawaii and the Pentagon, to put it together and get the necessary permission. There is discussion that this tour may be repeated next year. These two organizations also conduct many other tours to historic and military locations. Contact Vicky at Valor Tours in Sausalito, California for more information.

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