From Moscow to Kazan (Part 2), and on to Ishevsk and Votkinsk

Now I am in Votkinsk which is the birth place of Tchaikovsky. Tomorrow I'll visit the museum. It is 300 m from here. "Here" is a little hotel right on the lake where I could park my 'Datcha' for the night.

I am reading what I wrote last night and here a clarification: Kazan is older than 1000 years and Moscow is less than 1000 years old (first reference 1147).

Now back to Nishny Nowgorod. As you might remember the Communists used to call it Gorki and it was a 'closed city' during the old times like most of the cities I am visiting as they all have military industries. I arrived in the evening of Friday and got a place on the parking lot of the bank. Alexandr Gritsay showed me the branch, took me for an evening tour of the city and then for a very nice dinner. I must say we had an immediate link due to the fact that we both like motorcycling and indeed on my way out of town on Sunday morning Alexandr wouldn't let me leave the city without escorting me on his heavy Harley like Suzuki all the way out of town.

On Saturday I met up with two young Germans who I had met the day before on the road between Wladimir and Nishny N. We walked through town together and had lunch. Like many of these cities it also has a Kremlin as all these towns had to be defendable against the various enemies attacking from time to time. What makes it more spectacular than the others is its location on a bluff above the Wolga. The Wolga is a very big river and it feels more like a lake also due to the various power stations that have meanwhile been built. I was on my bicycle and promptly got caught in a thunderstorm but soon that was over too and I could retreat to my 'home'.

A few words about the driving. The roads so far are generally better than feared. Lots has been re-covered with German equipment so those stretches are great. Other parts are either full of patches or have deep grooves which are caused by the heavy twin wheels of the trucks. The tricky bit comes when you see tractors going on a 4 lane highway and, of course, bicyclists. The worst I experienced yesterday and today in Ishevsk where on many streets I had to go with walking speed as the surface was that bad.

So last night I arrived in Ishevsk after 2100 and after some checks in the internet found a very decent hotel to service my toilet and get some laundry done as I was unwilling to pay EUR 50 for a 2.5 kg load in Kazan. The hotel charged about Eur 13...

In the morning I went to our branch and was received by its head Petr Sychugov who surprisingly spoke some German and Alexandr Baryshev his chief IT manager who speaks excellent English. They gave me a rundown on the business situation followed by a city tour including a highly interesting visit to the Kalashnikov Museum. Kalashnikov is still alive (93) and is the local hero. The museum's presentations are excellent and most of the exhibition has English labeling which is quite unusual. Interestingly, despite this locals and foreigners pay the same.

In Ishewsk also many of the churches were destroyed and the main cathedral was rebuilt between 2004 and 2007 exactly like the previous church. Even the interior and the Iconostasis was painstakingly reproduced. And it was largely financed by contributions of the public.

After an excellent lunch I had asked to be shown a car wash as during the previous days 'Datcha' got very muddy from the road construction. Promptly, less than 10 minutes after I left it started raining again... actually it was predictable, it always rains after washing the car....

But soon it stopped and I went on direction of Perm and the intention of visiting Tchaikovski's birthplace....

So that's it for today and again it's almost 1am again... so till next time...