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Archive for January, 2010

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The Eye of Siberia

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

When doing some research for our Baikal excursion this gem was found; “under Russian conditions nothing is easier than getting to Olkhon Island.” Once a price for the ride had been negotiated and the other passengers had shown up this proved accurate.  For the next seven hours we watched as the scenery changed from city to industry and finally to beautiful taiga countryside.

There is a paradox in Siberia that nature is so overwhelming and extensive that the industry using these resources is very dirty.  As though to make itself known in a setting that would otherwise be uninterested.  A particularly striking image was an actual river of smoke from a single factory.  Perfectly clear sky marred by a brown line twisting away to where the blue was met by the grassland. [read on]

I got visas on the brain

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

There are those that say that you travel to discover the truth about yourself.  If that is the case then it is probably time to accept that getting to departure points on time, if that time is early in the morning, is a major weakness.  With each breath showing prominently in the frozen morning air we are running down ul. Timiryazeva with about two minutes to cover the final couple of kilometres to the bus station.  It seems unlikely we will make it.

A good portion of the blame for this can be attributed to one of the most ridiculous traffic jams I have ever seen.  All the trolley bus had to accomplish was a left turn off ul. Lenina and we would be in plenty of time to find the correct shuttle to Olkhon.  But trying to get across Dzerzhinskogo everything ground to a halt.  With traffic from every direction somehow all in the intersection at once there was suddenly nowhere for anyone to go.  This Gordian knot only pulled tighter as any time an inch of space appeared those nearest would rush to fill it instead of being patient and letting the one or two vehicles out that would unravel the whole mess. [read on]