MIR Corporation's Travel Log:
Russia's Southern Urals & Lower Volga
Follow along with Bill Altaffer and a group of travelers through the Urals and Lower Volga and into some of the lesser-known towns along the way.
Bill Altaffer, 64-year-old ski instructor, photographer and travel company owner from Mammoth, California, was declared the "World's Most Traveled Man" in 2005. This year he is in third place and running as fast as he can to catch up. Of the 757 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces counted by the MostTraveledPeople.com, Bill has been to 676 of them, with 81 to go. His favorites places are the obscure Russian oblasts that he writes about in this blog.
Days 6-8: Ufa, Naberezhnye Chelny
September 26-28, 2008
 | | A train set to travel along the Trans-Siberian Railway |
After a full day in Chelyabinsk, we took an overnight train on a spur of the Trans-Siberian Railway to Ufa, crossing the Urals back into Europe. We occupied a new, very comfortable, first-class car, arriving early in the morning. Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan and is a major industrial center. It was founded in 1574 by Ivan the Terrible, but had been occupied by Turkic-speaking Bashkirs and Tatars before that. Currently, of the million people living there, 36% are Russian, 30% Bashkir and 24% Tatar. Here we saw the first of many mosques we would see in the following days. We enjoyed our tour of the city, experiencing our first light snowfall and clean, invigorating air.
Our drive the next day was another highlight for most of us. Crossing the midlands of Russia, we were impressed by its vastness as well as the richness of its farmland. For most of the morning, we went through breathtaking scenery. This area has extensive oil deposits, and thus we saw countless "nodding donkey" pump jacks in fields, working continuously but not detracting from the beauty of the countryside. More eye-catching were the many thick forests, their trees in the fullness of fall colors, vibrant yellows interspersed with oranges and reds. We noted many signs indicating that the forests were protected and urging care for the animals and the environment. Where the trees had been cleared for farming, the soil was black and rich. Our drive was a continuous panorama of brilliantly painted trees and fields, interspersed with lovely, colorful villages characterized by their old Russian wooden architecture and minarets, the "lighthouses" of mosques. The houses were brightly painted in vivid colors, most commonly mustard yellow, burnt orange and green, with shutters and intricately carved trim painted royal or sky blue. Each village felt timeless, as if it had existed quaintly forever, a little treasure nestled in the rolling hills of this very beautiful region.
Click to read another travel log about the Trans-Siberian Railway
|
