Mother Volga- Ural.

On our way across the Ural mountains, we discovered that this famous mountain range, isn´t actually a mountain range. It is rather what we call "hei" in norwegian, a big hill up, and then another one to get you down on the other side. However, there are other positive aspects to be considered. The area appears to be a Russian haven for fishing, swimming, hiking, birdwatching and you name it; anything to do with nature and recreation. There are loads of stalls selling air matresses and different water toys and inflatable animals along the road. As everywhere we`ve been in Russia, everyone seems to be selling exactly the same products within one area. So far we have passed "Onion and pumpkin land", "Blueberry and mushroom country", "Realm of smoked fresh water fish", "Appletown", "Honey district", "Stuffed animal road", and now; this "Ural republic of inflatable animals".

Another trademark of Russian commerce is that everything is open 24-7, even including such things as a huge fishmarket in the middle of the forest, located within the before mentioned "Realm of smoked fresh water fish". The fishmarked was part of the "nr. 1 truck stop ever", where we spent a very interesting night. All the fish was studied closely while drinking vodka and beer, and included bass and sturgeon, and loads of other variaties that we couldn`t translate the names of. We especially bonded with one of the tradesmen, Rain, who knew a small amount of German because he had been stationed in Germany as a young man. He also told us about his son Albert, who lived in Magdenburg, whom he hadn`t seen for 15 years, but was very proud of. We shared some beers with Rain, while talking about the military, his son, exchanging hats, and ended up armwresteling before we went to bed. He won, of course, beeing a lumberjack and a champion swimmer.

After the Ural mountains, we arrived at a remote lake where we made hot cheese sandwiches and salad for supper. This turned out to be the last time we used out paraphine oil cooking equipment, as the next morning, it was gone. We had placed it under the bus, naively assuming that we had parked in a remote area where noone would pass by. Unfortunately, we were wrong. After discovering that our kitchen was gone, we went for a comforting swim in the lake nearby. Afterwards, the people living in the house closest to where we parked the bus, came down and invited us for a cup of tea, feeling sorry for us loosing our kitchen. After cleaning up the bus, we went over to their house, and attempted to hold a conversation while the one guy, Slavo, prepared a salad for us to eat. Meanwhile, the other guy, Anatolja; another offiser in the Russian army, told us the story of his sevice in Afghanistan from 1980 to -82, where he had been shot. His war injury kept him from drinking the vodka that we were later offered, or rather given as an "entre" before the tea. According to our two new friends, tea was out of the question before we had downed three rounds of vodka. In Russia it`s rude to sip your vodka, you must wait until everyone is ready, then make a toast, and finally down the whole glas. As a result, we ended up quite cheerful from all the breakfast-vodka, exchanged gifts and photographs, before we left for Chelyabinsk, having temporarily forgotten about our stolen kitchen.

The day after tomorrow, we`ll be in Kazachstan.

From Russia with Love,
Ingrid

Russia, from a window perspective

We have two weeks to cross Russia, and it`s totally ridiculous. Way too little time! We have been driving almost every day so far, but today we have some time off in the capital of Tatarstan, Kazan (by the Volga river). Torkild and I have been trying to find traces of Lenin at the university, attempting to make a short radio report about it. Lenin was a student at the university here until he was expelled for "revolutionary tendencies". It was quite hard to find people who spoke English, or knew anything about the history of the place, but we managed to get a few quotes that will work. And we got to see lots of Lenin statues, and talk to loads of nice Tatars.

Friday between 4 and 5 pm, there will be short reports about our trip on P2 (Norwegian radio)

Kazan feels a bit like Asia, and reminds me of Istanbul in the way Christian and Muslim traditions mix here. The skyline features both numerous mosques as well as orthodox churches.

Tonight we continue and hope to reach Ufa tomorrow, before passing the Urals and Chelyabinsk on our way to the Kazan border.

From Russia with Love,
Ingrid

Russian Windows

Heisekraner i Yaroslavl

Ved en kjempestor insjø ved Yaroslavl. Til Stina!

Til Mormor

Short update-Petrozavodsk

So much happens so quickly, and internet access is scarse, so I'm finding it hard to keep the blog up to date. In short: We nearly didn't get in, but when we finally did, Mother Russia decided to show herself from her best side. Apart from the roads, everything is good, the people, the bus, the food, the kids, the vodka. The rumour that Russians are a bit cold is not true!

More updates as soon as possible.

Ingrid

Morning in Hammerfest

Or more correctly on the outskirts of Hammerfest. I didn`t get to see the town itself this time around. Leaving for Kirkenes after breakfast, and heading for Murmansk tomorrow morning. Am coughing a lot, but think i`m about to get better.

It´s cloudy out, but about to clear up. Looking forward to watching the Finnmark landscapes through the window. Man, this land is beautiful. I will definately try to follow up on my little tradition of going far north at least once a year.

Am realizing now that it`s a bit of a bummer that I couldn`t afford a nice digital camera before I left, it would have been very practical for blogging purposes. I might try drawing some stuff and scanning it instead.

Now, on to Russia!

Ingrid

Olderdalen

We are now in Olderdalen in Nord Troms in Northern Norway, after traveling through Norway from Telemark to Oslo, Trondheim, Lofoten, Tromsø and Karlsøya. At Karlsøya we held a pirateradio workshop for the kids at the Karlsøy festival. Ibrahim, a kid who`s joined the workshop for the last couple of years, had now become a professional and was king in the studio. Our programs entiteled "Lufta er fri for alle" (the air is free for all) were a great success!


Have to leave for Hammerfest now.

The image is taken by Cecilie B. Hansen. Left to right: Martin, Andreas, me, Ellinor, Thorkild, Fredrik.

Ingrid

On the Road

This blog is a temporary site for posting updates about what is going on on our travels. A good, old fashioned travelblog. The other blog (inthegrid.blogspot.com) will be used for posting documentation from art related projects etc. time will tell which of the blogs will grow largerst, so far there hasn`t been much time for artmaking, allthough i am not quite sure what to call our activities latelly.

Ingrid