Sorry for the delay, but here is a little (?) description of a bike trip in the northwestern corner of Russia in 1992, from the Norwegian Border to the mining town Nikel.Living in the Soviet Union for all my 30 years, I thought I would comment on this. Well, to be honest, I live in Kiev, nowadays the capital of Ukraine, but Russia and Ukraine are similar enough to justify my posting.
Ulf wrote:
It was a very exciting trip - a short bicycle trip (45 km) from one world to another !Glad you've liked it ;).
Ulf wrote:
Our luggage was not checked at all. They checked all luggage of motorists and bus passengers. The Russians thought really we were poor people using bikes, not cars. One of the KGB border officers smiled and said something like: NARVEZHKA (norwegians) VOLVO - MERCEDES - NJET VELOCIPED...Although biking is quite common in exSU and is considered normal for adults, seeing cycling foreigners is not an everyday experience even in large cities ;).
Ulf wrote:
Russian motorists were careful. They passed us slowly and allowed plenty of space. Some of them made a "honk" of the friendly type - not the stressed unfriendly variety. The only car which passed us very fast and with little space had Norwegian number plates.....It is a normal (common) behavior of our drivers - I'm cycling (non-professionally) for 15 years and have had no accidents because of drivers.
Ulf wrote:
Nikel is one of the most polluted areas in the world. Grey and brown smoke from 5-7 very high chimneys. In the city of Nikel (pop. 40.000) there was no greeen grass. The ground was black. Poor bare-footed children begged for money or would sell everything. A quite another world. We could see theWell, this is typical of the so-called "town-factories", that is, towns built only to serve large factories. What you get as a result is that the destiny of the factory determines the destiny of the town. On the other hand (and grimly enough) begging starts to be a profession now. On my way to work I pass the high-quality hotel and constantly see a women with husband and several children begging money from foreigners. I also often meet them in the nearby bar, drinking coffee for $0.25 per cup and some alcoholic drinks which are twice as expensive.
Ulf wrote:
toilets. Guess why ! What a night ! Sleeping at the black- and white chess-pattern stone floor, with 2 Norwegian newspapers as bed, and un-opened sleeping bags as pillows.Was not there a hotel in the town? Or have you not looked for one? ;)
Ulf wrote:
No other passengers - no railway staff. No food available in Nikel, unless 2 kilos of big tomatoes - and some boxes of Maryland Cookies bought in Norway. To drink: Russian mineral water on big green bottles without labels. And our last 2 bottles of Coke. What a dinner and supper ! We were not hungry after that meals.Shops are usually closed at 19:00-20:00 and the market even earlier ;)
Ulf wrote:
that the bikes were fastened to the wall with elastic strops. In addition the car attendant lady should have a fee NOK 50,00 (USD 7) for the inconvenience. No receipt - the money were "black" as we say in Norway. Officially granted corruption ! It is theoretically possible to send bikesWhy? Had you tried to get a receipt or to ask for some official rules?
Ulf wrote:
each ( USD 4). The same to lunch. We also god some Vodka. The 196 km trip takes 8 and a half hour through rather desolate areas. Many stops in theYou should have travelled by the so-called "passenger train" which really stops on every occasion. "Fast trains" are going much quicker, but I guess there were no such trains between Murmansk and Nikel as the traffic there is not particularly intense.
Ulf wrote:
wilderness outside stations for hunters and others. There were NO RESTRICTIONS for train photograping in 1992.So "perestrojka" was not completely in vain ;)
Ulf wrote:
After one day in Murmansk we went by train to St.Petersburg (28 hours - 1445 km) with the same arrangement with bikes in the aisle. We also hadAnd that should have been the "fast train".
Ulf wrote:
A very fascinating train trip thru very desolatew areas with small villages. Some of them not connected to the highway network. The only modeAnd some not connected to the electrical network, I guess ;)
Ulf wrote:
of tranport is by rail. We had a 4-bed sleeping compartment ("Hard class"). The conductor said to us in quite good English "If we pay 100 Norwegian Kroner (about USD 15) we would have the compartment alone. With no hesitation a 100 kr-bank note changed its owner. The conductor smiledThis is much cheaper then if you had payed for tickets. Especially because you (as foreigners) should have officially payed much more then me, for example. But such tricks of conductors are normal here (regretfully) and "black market of tickets" is quite strong.
Ulf wrote:
The russians had not seen offroad bikes before. Many people stopped us inWhat?! Sorry, but they had used them for many years, although _mountain_ bikes were not (and are not) widespread. May be you know that roads in Russia are one of it's traditional problems, so biking can often be qualified as off-road ;)
Ulf wrote:
the streets and wondering asked (some in English). They touched the tyres and said something like "MAPED" (Moped - "MC light").Yes, as I've said above, mountain bikes are not popular here (yet?). Basically, there are three varieties of bicycles in use (not counting children and proffessional sportsmen).
Ulf wrote:
If you want more information, please let me know.Yes I do. Are going to visit Russia and/or Ukraine once more? ;)
Igor Romanenko @..@
Office: igor@carrier.kiev.ua, +7-(044)-244-34-80 (----)
Home: igor@frog.kiev.ua ( | | )
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