Astrachan I.

Astrachan se nachází na deltě řeky Volhy. Škoda že jsem neměl kolo nebo motorku a nevyrazil prozkoumat víc deltu a její bohatou faunu a flóru. Většinu času jsem se potuloval po městě sám anebo s dalšími couchsurfery a objevoval kontrasty nových městských čtvrtí a doslova vesnických částí, tržiští a zákoutí, ve terých jsem se cítil spíše jako v Dagestánu anebo Turecku. Město je to velmi multikulturní. Potkáte zde muslimy, křesťany, budhisty, slovany, tatary, azery, kazachy, uzbeky atd. atd. I přes rozmanitost náboženskou a kulturní je to region stabilní a bezkonfliktní. Díky Volze je to na rozdíl od Kalmykie také region zemědělský a velká část ruských melounů se pěstuje právě zde.

Astrakhan is located in the delta of Volga river. I did not have any bike so I could not discover the nature of the delta that is very rich area for birds and mostly mosquitos I guess. The most of the time I was wandering around the city with other couchsurfers or alone. I was discovering contrasts of new parts of the city and literally rural like quarters, markets and places where I felt like if I was back in Dagestan or Turkey. Astrakhan is a very multicultural place. There are Muslims, Christians, Budhists, Slavics, Tatars, Azers, Kazaks, Uzbeks etc. etc. living together in one city. Despite the religious and cultural diversity the region of Astrakhan is quite stable. Thankfully to Volga river the region is also very agricultural in contrast to Kalmykia. Most of the Russian water melons come from there.

Kalmykia

Hitchhiking from Makchakchala was fine. While I was getting on the road in direction to Kalmykia I was checked by police. One car stopped by the road. As the driver told me later in his car he just wanted to see what the police is going to do with me. He drove me to a very good hitchhiking spot but first we went to swim in the Caspian sea. He had his break at work so instead of eating (it was the first day of Ramadan) he went to have a bath. It was a very hot day. He gave me a bag of apples from his garden and wished me good luck. Next hitch I got was a police officer in civil clothes. He was interested in psychology and we had an interesting talk but still there was something strange about this guy. We drove all the way in average speed of 150 km/h. At the end of our journey he invited me to drink some tea. I said yes as I got used to accept all the invitations since I had traveled in Turkey. I was surprised when we came to a house that turned out to be a police station and before the tea I was supposed to be interrogated by another police officer. It was at least one hour of stupid questions about such things like what is the subject of studies of my flatmate in Turkey. I had to show them photos in my cellphone that I have taken during my journey. At one moment I got scared. Are they trying to find out whether I am lost and without friends and family? I heard stories about kidnapping people in Dagestan and using them as slaves in some hidden factories. And police was supposed to be involved in some of such kidnappings. (Caucasian area is the most corrupted part of Russia). But these were just stories that I heard from locals in Caucasian area. At the “police station” there actually were no signs that it would really be a police station. No uniforms. But it could be just a camouflage because it is the police and army that is the common target of the terrorist attacks in Dagestan. In the end when I had answered all the detail questions and showed all the pictures the police officer bought me a bottle of mineral water and let me go to drink some tea with his colleague. Well, next time I would skip such a “tea”.

 

That day I got quite near to the border with Kalmykia. The last ride was also quite strange. The driver dropped me off somewhere in the middle of the steppe where he had a meeting with some guys from Kalmykia that I could see very easily because they are the ancestors of Cingischan. They drove off the road somewhere into the steppe. Maybe some vodka smugglers? The driver told me to wait for him that he would stop some car for me later but the whole situation remided me of the stories of Cormac McCarthy where people kill each other in the desert so I just disappeared to the other side of the steppe and searched for a place to sleep. As it was the first day of Ramadan I had the idea to try not to eat and drink water for the whole day. The temperature that day was reaching nearly 40 degrees. I could not understand how the Muslims can manage fasting for 30 days. With the first stars I thanked to the police officer that bought me the water and to the driver that gave me apples and drunk and ate my first dinner in the steppe.

Great breakfast after a day of fasting.

The next day prepared a big surprise for me. After one sailor dropped me off in some little town in the middle of nowhere I went to buy an ice cream and bananas. I was sitting under a tree in front of the shop and eating my snack when I saw a Czech rallye truck passing by. It stopped at a gas station nearby! I immediately run there. It is funny but one can often recognize Czechs just by the clothes and faces I realized again. I said "dobrý den" and was invited to a lunch by the surprised Czech group. I learned that they were a part of a rallye team and that there is a big rallye race called Silk way right now. After the lunch and some beer it was clear that I am going to continue with them. It was nice to communicate in my native language again. They drove me to a junction near Elista. We changed our phone numbers so we could arrange a meeting next day and go to Astrakchan together. At the junction I had to sing a song to a police officer and then he stopped a car for me that was going to Elista.

I have a whole collection of pictures like this from my Caucasian trip.

Sand dunes in the steppe.

The white thing is not snow but dry salt lakes.

A restroom by the road.

Kalmykia is the only republic in Europe with a Buddhist majority. It is actually hard to feel like in Europe when you arrive to Elista. The Asiatic look of locals and the Buddhist temple gives more Asian feelings. Also the steppe and the half wild camels that you can sometimes see by the road does not look like "Europe". But as I have already written in this blog it is hard to define where actually is the end or the begining of Asia and Europe.

The biggest Buddhist temple in Europe. They have a nice library with computers and internet inside:)

 

Very clever boy. I had a nice talk with him and his friends about the future plans in a park while eating a snack.

Elista is famous for chess. Men playing at the main square.

He could not understand that I don't want to give him my shoes.

One more Lenin to the collection.

I was almost hosted in Elista. One guy in the street invited me to stay at his and his wifes place. But his wife finally did not like this idea (perhaps when she saw my beard she got scared?) so I had to leave from his flat. I was going to get to an airport near Elista where my Czech friends were staying that night. How to get a ride in the middle of a city? Just sit in front of a Buddhist temple and play some songs and somebody will invite you to eat some traditional local food and if the person has a car he/she will drive you to the airport and maybe will play some mantras for you. That is how I got to the airport from where I was going to go to Astrakhan early the next morning.

Sunsets in the steppe are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Watch this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200807888859935&l=522634289063025241

Dagestán III. - Derbent II.

After the post-apocaliptic coast I went to discover the inner parts of the city and a castle. The city of Derbent charmed me by its original atmosphere. You can see a specific combination of orient and post-soviet visage  l. There can be a mosque and couple of steps further a statue of Lenin and in between of these two there is a churche that was rebuilt to a museum with a help from UNESCO. Yes, Derbent is covered by UNESCO as a cultural heritage. Derbent was one of the gates on the old Silk way because of its strategical position between the Caucasus mountains and the Caspian sea. There is a long wall still standing in the city that served to control the traffic between the Middle East and the Eurasian plains. It supposed to be the oldest Russian city with its 5000 years.

As you can see on the picture lower the dress code in Dagestan is not so strict for women.

What I really liked about the city of Derbent was that this place is not spoiled by the turism industry at all and keeps its atmosphere. The second thing that I liked was architecture, decaying buildings and somehow chaotic streets that reminded me of Moroccan medinas.

Recycling of garbage in Derbent is still a dream from the future. The only way of recycling that you can find there are cows wandering around the streets and eating whatever they find in dumpster. So probably you can drink a milk with the taste of carton paper later.

At the castle that oversees Derbent from the top of a hill I saw this wedding. It is actually very expensive event for the husband in Dagestan to get married in relation to their low salaries (if they are lucky and have some work).

After I got back to Makchakchala later that day I hanged around with a friend of my host in his brand new white Lada. Car tuning is very popular in Dagestan and there is a big tuning community. There used to be illegal races in the city of Makchakchala. Nowadays there are some legal races every week. That night we visited a view from which there is a magnificent view on Makchakchala. However it is not allowed to go there now because the youngsters used to drink alcohol there and make randez-vous with their girlfriends ther. We were let in by a police patrol that controlled the only road coming there because there was some friend of the friend of my host or something like that. Riding Makchakchala at night is nice. There are some lakes and swamps and different smells and sounds like grasshoppers or tuned engines. Accompanied by locals I did not feel any danger.