Click here to view larger pictures

As we approached the Russian border, a huge summer thunderstorm descended and water poured off the roofs and over the gutters. We had a lengthy (sheltered) delay while a customs officer sat in an office and processed a Belgium driver who obviously didn’t have the right paperwork. The official was in no rush and had barked at us when we walked into the office while the Belgium sat there. We waited so long that minibus drivers would appear, get their passengers to disembark with their luggage so that a dog could sniff everything, then rush up to the hut, get processed and get their passengers on board, so the Belgium took even longer. Eventually, after probably 30 minutes, with other drivers lining up behind us, we got into his office, waited while he tried to help a colleague find something and then get processed. I had all the documentation he needed and we were out within 10 minutes. It was a shame he was such a twat and thought he had so much authority.

Once we got away from the border, we had an excellent road (E40). We decided to drive as far as we could before we were forced to stop. We were stopped at a railway crossing that had no barriers but up pop up ‘you ain’t crossing this’ metal flaps. The sky darkened as if another huge thunderstorm would erupt, but it held off. We passed an impressive memorial to World War Two – it looked like a tank had been attached to a massive strip of concrete angled at 30 degrees but was obviously a sculpture that looked like nothing I had seen before. We occasionally saw an old fighter plane on the end of a metal strip. We passed endless wheat fields which had already been harvested with piles of straw ready to be bailed.

After an impressive sunset, we started to look for somewhere to stay. We had seen a motel around 6pm which was too early to stop but nothing since. After 9pm, darkness had fallen and we were driving at night again. Pulling into a roadhouse, I asked someone ‘Hotel?’ and made a sleeping gesture. They pointed down the road and said something in Russian. Less than 30 minutes later, we pulled into a motel by the side of the road – with lines of wooden triangular roofed chalets. At the ‘reception’, I was told they had a room, but I couldn’t pay in US Dollars (we hadn’t bothered to change any money into Rubles because we had food and could use a credit card for fuel). I asked where there was another hotel. Then she had a change of heart and told me to wait, while she went to ask someone. She returned and said ‘Sixty Dollars’. Since it was after 10.30pm, we weren’t going to argue or try and find somewhere cheaper.

She took us to a separate brick building and unlocked the door. Inside we found a very worn but cosy setup. Two narrow beds, a black & white TV with about 3 channels, two armchairs, a fan, draped curtains blocking all light, and a small en suite bathroom – just big enough for a toilet, sink and shower that would flood the floor. It had been another long day and we were glad to have found somewhere. Feasting on road food and beer, we knew we were close to Volgograd.

Thursday August 18th

Russian Background: Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynasty continued this policy of expansion across Siberia to the Pacific. Under Peter I (ruled 1682-1725), hegemony was extended to the Baltic Sea and the country was renamed the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, more territorial acquisitions were made in Europe and Asia. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 contributed to the Revolution of 1905, which resulted in the formation of a parliament and other reforms.

Repeated devastating defeats of the Russian army in World War I led to widespread rioting in the major cities of the Russian Empire and to the overthrow in 1917 of the imperial household. The Communists under Vladimir Lenin seized power soon after and formed the USSR. The brutal rule of Joseph Stalin (1928-53) strengthened Communist rule and Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives.

The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into Russia and 14 other independent republics. Since then, Russia has shifted its post-Soviet democratic ambitions in favour of a centralized semi-authoritarian state whose legitimacy is buttressed, in part, by carefully managed national elections, former President Putin’s genuine popularity, and the prudent management of Russia's windfall energy wealth.

With 17 million square kilometres, it is the largest country in the world (1.8 times the size of USA) with 139 million people earning an annual average salary of $15,900, 20% of who are Russian Orthodox. Economically, Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a globally-isolated, centrally-planned economy to a more market-based and globally-integrated economy. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy and defence-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak and the private sector remains subject to heavy state interference. Russian industry is primarily split between globally-competitive commodity producers - in 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest exporter of oil, and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminium - and other less competitive heavy industries that remain dependent on the Russian domestic market. This reliance on commodity exports makes Russia vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the highly volatile swings in global commodity prices. Agriculturally they grow grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk. There is a complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defence industries including radar, missile production, and advanced electronic components, shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs and handicrafts

The Volga region is the heartland of Russia and was the site of one of World War Two’s fiercest battles. Volgograd (population 1 million) which sits at the convergence of the Volga and Don rivers was originally called Stalingrad after Uncle Joe Stalin but renamed in 1961 after the river that dominates its geography, economy and culture. The Volga is Europe’s longest river of 3700km.

(Paraphrased from LP) “From July 1942, when the German army besieged the city on its thrust to the oil-rich Caucasus region, until Feb 1943, when the Soviet army captured the remaining German soldiers, both sides fought a battle to the death. The Soviets shot 13,500 of their OWN troops for cowardice or self inflicted wounds. The Germans captured 60,000 Stalingrad locals and shipped them back to Germany to work and die as slaves. At least 600,000 German troops died in battle with a further 180,000 captured by the soviets, of whom, only 6000 survived the Siberian prisoner of war camps”

Hitler was determined that no-one should surrender even though the harsh winter left the German army/equipment unprepared and frozen. Stalin, though slow off the mark eventually ordered everyone to die to defend the city. “It is estimated that at least 600,000 Soviet soldiers died. It was often the tactic of Russian generals to send in swarms of soldiers to get mowed down and shield the waves of troops behind”. Often, houses were fought over, room by room and it is seen as the deadliest battle during the war. Nothing of the original city survived the battle and the Soviets started from scratch to redesign new city.

It was a lovely sunny morning. Our car was parked right outside the room, so it was easy to pack. We left the roadside motel in time to reach Volgograd during the morning rush hour. It seemed a huge spread out city and I followed my nose into the centre with no directions. Mostly through luck we found ourselves on a massive multi-laned road called Prospekt Lenina which took us north through the centre of the city to Mamaev Kurgan (Mamai Mound). This was known as hill 102 during the Battle of Stalingrad and was the site of four months of fierce fighting. It now has ‘Memorial Park’ which spreads out around the hill, dominated by an evocative 72m statue of Mother Russia wielding a sword extending another 11m above her head. The area is covered with statues, memorials and ruined fortifications. The Pantheon is inscribed with the names of the 7200 soldiers who died here which are meant to represent the 600,000 Russian soldiers killed in this battle. The fact that two soldiers stood motionless on either side of a ‘flame’ memorial did not stop Russians dressed in T-shirts and long shorts or families from doing ‘prat shots’ in front of the soldiers It was an impressive memorial that attracted plenty of Russian tourists and is one of the best things I have seen in Russia. Like a beacon, we had seen Mother Russia from the centre. Recommended.

With nothing else that we wanted to see in Volgograd, we made for Kazakhstan. There were two routes to Astrakhan – a main one south of the city and a B-road on the other side of the Volga River. I spotted a sign saying ‘Astrakhan’ and followed it. We weren’t sure which route we were on, until we started to cross the Volga River and ended up in Volzhskiy, which ironically, was where I had booked the hotel for the night previously. The route didn’t feel right and when we pulled into refuel, we asked for directions and were pointed back towards Volgograd where we found the unmarked B-road. It was flat and virtually empty and more importantly, lacking police check points and radar traps. We were able to keep up a good average speed and cover 450km relatively easily.

We bypassed Astrakhan (500,000 pop) which has always been a trading centre between Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus and now relies on its disputed access to the Caspian Sea for oil production. Thinking the border would be easy to find with something called ‘road signs’, we ended up in some river side town and came to a river with a ferry crossing, which was back to Astrakhan. There was just nothing to go on. I found a man and asked for ‘Kazakhstan’. He animatedly tried to use his hands to explain how to find the right roads out of town just to get us started, then asked for a pen and paper, drew roads and bridges and telegraph poles and then repeated it all by waving his arms. We thanked him and climbed back in the car ready to do a U-turn. He then franticly waved his arms around indicating we needed to do a U-turn. Thanks for that.

We were rather surprised when his directions made sense. The only problem was that they stopped on the edge of town and there was still no road sign. We followed our nose and drove along a road, passing our first camels and then doubled back. It didn’t feel right. I pulled into a deserted garage selling LPG gas and found an attendant. ‘Kazakhstan?’ I asked. He waved at the road across from the garage as if he had given the same directions a hundred times before. We followed this road, past more camels, small hamlets and farms. It seemed to go on an eternity and we started to wonder if we were just on another isolated rural road. But a few cars were coming the other way so it went somewhere.

Eventually the Russian border loomed. Unlike our entry border, this one was a simple case of getting our passports and vehicle documentation checked and a brief check of the car, No Belgium tourists. No jobs worth officials. Driving onto the Kazakhstan border, we knew we would find the real jobs worth’s here.

It had been the briefest of visits to Russia. Two days and one night. We had spent £120 getting visas and more expense on car insurance. But Volgograd had been a pleasant surprise. This was my 4th visit to Russia and I would be back again to chip off a bit more.

Russian Roadkill: Dogs x 2, bird. UFO x 3

Travel - £38
Accommodation - £37.60
Food - £0
Other - £47 (Green card - $75)
Total - £122.60