On the 4th of June, I take the train from London to Hamburg. I spend one week in Hoheluft West with Mini and I finish off a couple of projects. On Friday 11th we go to Berlin for the weekend. When we arrive, summer is in full force, everyone is out celebrating the good weather and we think we have found paradise! We stay with Katrin. She's Mini's friend's Julia's mum from Kiel. Katrin is originally from Berlin. Her parents lived in Latin America and her sister was born in Quito. From Berlin, Katrin moved to Kiel and returned to her birth place after retirement. She's now 70. Katrin lives in a community where only women are allowed to be proprietors. A small flat is available for the tenant's guests. There's a shared garden, a shared activities and exhibition room, a shared roof, a green rooftop and a bike shed. This is what I call enlightened living. Katrin lives in Kreutzberg, an alternative neighbourhood of Berlin where there's a very bohemian atmosphere and an open air colourful Turkish market. Berlin is a laid back city: ground zero for organic food, tree lined clean streets and a heaven for cyclists. It seems to be a very human-centric Metropolis. We have a wonderful time, Katrin treats us like monarchs, we see live comedy on the streets (including an Elvis Presley impersonator eating raw onion and interacting with the public and a flying man) and the World Cup is all around us. Big flat screen TVs seem to be on almost every corner.
On Sunday the 13th, I board the Belin to Moscow train. It takes 27 hours but it feels like 27 minutes. I share a comparment with two Russians, one of them, Musa, 30 years-old, is an interesting character. He lives in Berlin, speaks French, English, Russian and Chechnian and wants to learn Italian and Spanish. 10 years ago, his family came to the conclusion there was no future in Chechnia and decided to send him to Europe. Normally the elder son would be the chosen one, but he was already living in Moscow. Since the youngest son's duty is to look after the parents, it was Musa's destiny to live in Europe. This would cost Musa's family 5,000 dollars. Musa is by profession a journalist and a boxer! but he now sells German cars in Russia. He travels to Moscow on the train, shows pictures of the car for sale to a potential buyer and if there's a deal, he gets the money and returns to Berlin. Next, he drives the car to Moscow. Musa wants to be rich, have a yacht and loves beautiful girls. According to him, Moscow is where the money is and the girls are beautiful and easy.
The Russian train from Berlin is very pleasant. Every car has an attendant who can set up your bed or make you a cup of tea. We arrive in Moscow on a beautiful summer evening. Taking the bike and the luggage on the underground system is a bit of an ordeal. After 30 minutes I reach Krashirskaya station, where I wait for my host Stanislav for one hour. While I wait, a number of people approach me to ask questions about my bicycle. My recumbent bicycle gets a lot of attention and is very conducive to social interactions.
Stanislav is 32 and lives with his five-year old son Timur in a studio-flat from Stalin's time. He makes dinner consisting of buckwheat, gerkhins, tomatoes and cheese. All three of us sleep in the same room, the only one. I sleep on the floor, Timur sleeps in a cradle and Stanislav in a double bed. Stanislav works in IT and Timur spends the day at the kindergarten. Little Timur would like to join the army when he grows up. I ask Stanislav about recycling and he replies that in Russia recycling is not popular today but in Soviet times one could trade 20kgs of newspaper for a book.
On Tuesday I explore Moscow on my own. My natural tendency is to wander but because I'm here for only day, I make sure that I visit the obligatory landmarks first and I see the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil's cathedral. After ticking my boxes, I ramble and I stumble upon a small and charming icon museum. Wandering in Moscow is not easy. Many streets are of gargantuan proportions and crossing is to be done via undergound passages. Street traffic is dense and fast and getting across the other side of the road may take 15 minutes or longer and you have to run.
Moscow has a fascination for all things luxury. There are exclusive brands and shops everywhere. SUVs abound and most vehicles sport tinted glasses. I notice something I have not seen anywhere else before: flocks of posh young girls clad in famous brands, high heels and all sexed up. Moscow is not a love at first sight kind of place.
Cycling out of Moscow eastbound is no joy ride either. It's raining all day long, traffic is heavy and the truck fumes are black and smelly. After 104 kms, I decide to spend the night in an pleasant, clean and comfortable roadside hotel in Pakrov. Whenever I stop somewhere people are very curious about the bicycle and they want to know where I come from and where I'm going. So far, everybody I've encountered has been very friendly and helpful.
95 kms after Pakrov, I arrive in Vladimir, a historical city of the Golden Ring. I meet my host Gena outside of the Golden Gate in the centre of Vladimir. Gena lives with his brother and his uncle in a tiny flat. He has a fish tank in the bedroom and the walls are covered with pictures of tigers and wolves and posters of Vladimir Vysotsky, a Russian singer song-writer. We sleep in the same bed.
Gena is a programmer at a local hospital and a self taught and self made 30 year old man. He doesn't believe in politics, thinks that politicians are corrupt and if he wants something, he does it himself. Gena loves nature and would love to live in the forest but he's not interested in ecology. He's married but recently separated after his wife ran off with another man. He was initially sad but he now realises it's for the best as he understands what qualities to look out for in his next wife. He wants a woman who enjoys spending time in the village. Gena shows me all the sights in Vladimir and invites to spend the day in Koloksha, the village where his grandmother lives, 20kms from Vladimir. In the village, Gena raises rabbits, which he sells for meat in Moscow, keeps chickens for eggs and grows all sorts of vegetables. Gena's babushka Raia makes dinner: fried battered courgettes with dill, mashed potatoes with smitlana and a tomato, green onion and cucumber salad. For Gena, a big fat sausage too. Everything except the sausage is grown in the village.
The following day, I resume my riding in direction to Nizhny Novgorod. Gena has given me a Spirit of the Forest necklace, which I hope will protect me against the heavy traffic. I ride along a dual carriageway in good condition and the hard shoulder is mostly ample but not always. It's getting hotter and the first mosquitos and horseflies appear, a small sample of what's to come later on in Siberia, no doubt. I spend the night in a shabby, dirty and run-down roadside truck hotel 40kms before Nizhny.
On Monday, my ride is short: only 42 kms. I want to spend one day in Nizhny Novgorod, to rest, do laundry, plan the rest of my trip and send some bulky items back home. I will meet my host Liza at 7 in the evening. As I have plenty of time available, I stop at cozy little forest by the side of the road to cook pasta for lunch. I see a man on a bicycle carrying big containers of water and ask him if there's a place to swim nearby. It's very hot and I wouldn't mind a quick splash. He tells me there's a river 8 kms away and he offers me a drink of water and invites me to his dacha 150 meters away. There I meet his wife, who offers me hand picked strawberries and keeps telling me to eat. I can't stop drinking water. The thermometer indicates 36 degress and decide to take Alexander's offer of a rain-water shower. Alexander and his ladyfriend spend the summer in the dacha and winter in the city of Derzynsk. When I leave, my kind hosts give me green onions (because I'm vegetarian), a 1.5l bottle of a water and a pocket knife as a present. I'm touched by their kindness.
Nizhny is a huge city by the Volga river and it takes me 2 hours to reach the centre, Gorky Square. I meet Liza on Pokrovskaya street, a pedestrianised street in the center of Nizhny Novgorod.
Cycled so far: 438 kms.
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