Rivethnoexp. Part VII. Volgograd, Srednyaya Akhtuba, Znamensk, Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan
August It’s interesting how the Soviet regime populated the banks of the Volga so generously with important figures: Gorky, Ulyanov, Marx, Engels, Stalin. As though after death every national hero is entitled to a personal spot at the nation’s central watering hole. VolgogradMap
I was prepared to find nothing here beyond the Mother Russia monument and a couple of overblown war museums. ![]() So the first thing I did was go to Mamayev Kurgan. ![]() Souvenirs, drinks Mother Russia revealed an unexpected side of herself. ![]() She took me in. ![]() And showed me the city from her point of view (she has a hatch right at the top of her head). ![]() Volgograd turned out to be not entirely hopeless. Take this attempt to hang traffic lights directly over the roadway, for example. ![]() There’s even a metro here. ![]() Komsomolskaya Station A couple of young ladies sell you your ticket. ![]() Single ride 10 rub. Count your change before leaving the window! Then a couple of other young ladies punch your ticket by hand. ![]() No Entry And then a tram pulls into the station (just like in Kryvyi Rih). ![]() There were beautiful buildings here once. ![]() Almost none of them survived the war. New ones, also beautiful, were built. But the city’s current inhabitants have no appreciation for them. ![]() This has nothing to do with apartment prices. ![]() Mafia, Georgians, Jews. Hunting for apartments And everything to do with taste. ![]()
Master- | classes: Some more Soviet beauty. ![]() A lamppost like the ones in Makhachkala or Kostroma. ![]() The city is gradually falling into physical decline. ![]() Caution! Walking under the balconies is dangerous for your life! And spiritual decline. ![]() Prostitution is against the law! Russian citizen, uphold social mores! There’s an incredible number of alarm sensors on the buildings, almost like in Ireland. ![]() There are also some surprisingly progressive developments. Like this paper recycling container, for instance. ![]() 60 kg of paper can save 1 tree. Paper recycling container. Save the forest! Green Leaf Or public transport SMS-schedules: you send a text with your stop number and receive a reply with the route numbers and arrival times of the next trolleybuses. ![]() Alley of Heroes. SMS-Transport. Stop #32. Route number, service start time, service frequency, service end time And yet Philipp Kozlov, an artist who created an anamorphic projection drawing of Esmeraldoussique on the waterfront (you can see the image only from one angle, from all other perspectives it just looks like random squiggles), got detained by the police, and his drawing was painted over by waterfront maintenance workers. ![]() Volgograd is very spread out, about a hundred kilometers or so in length (like Sochi or the aforementioned Kryvyi Rih). We had been traveling down the river for a full hour before we reached the blood brother of the Lenin in Dubna and found out we were still in Volgograd. ![]() Srednyaya AkhtubaMapThis town might not have even made it into this account were it not for these original trash cans, which are ubiquitous here. ![]() ZnamenskMapThis is yet another closed administrative-territorial formation,” or ZATO (after the Russian acronym). Like Seversk, Sarov, Zheleznogorsk and Zvezdny. Out of all the ZATOs Ive visited, this one is the saddest—even worse than Zvezdny (not to be confused with Zvezdny Gorodok), which is pretty much just a big village. The entire city consists of gas and other pipes hanging over your head. ![]() A Lenin with a heel-sized hand. ![]() Dreary concrete panel buildings. ![]() Dreary five-story apartment blocks with special detached areas for trash disposal. ![]() A kiosk. ![]() Kiosk. Opening hours 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Lunch break 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. 7 days a week A little market. ![]() “Green Rows” Mini-Market. Russian Kvas. Standard-issue demagogy about the greatness of our great country. ![]() Rosenergobank, 52B Lenin St. The great victory of a great country. Driver! Be careful, children forget about traffic rules. A fire-fighting squad with an insane abbreviation. ![]() 80VKPPZ&SR Znamensk The local souvenir shop has gifts for any rank—the town is full of military personnel, after all. ![]() You take one look at the locals and ask yourself: why on earth is a special permit required to visit this place? ![]() AkhtubinskMapThere’s nowhere to dock here. We were lucky to come across some maintenance boats which let us moor to them until morning. ![]() A bus stop with a nautical theme. ![]() A dashboard with a religious theme. ![]() Volga Nomad A trash can with an original design and a fighter jet in the background. ![]() Another equally original trash can design. ![]() No one takes the alabaster planters seriously as flowerpots in Akhtubinsk anyway. The garbage bag legitimizes everyone’s habit of tossing garbage into them. ![]() A sectarian fence. ![]() Dad, don’t you know that the Lord abhors smoking. No, I didn’t know that. Why don’t you tell me about it?! The number of Lenins encountered during this expedition breaks all records. ![]() An unusual lamppost. ![]() A dumpster site against the backdrop of the largest building in the city—the Officers’ Club. ![]() Yes, there’s Internet. ![]() Andreeva St. This building is connected to the Internet. Half the windows in the city are covered with tin foil because of the heat. The foil does a good job of deflecting the sun’s rays. ![]() The city has a huge number of buildings with stars on their gables. ![]() A breathtakingly beautiful door. ![]() Photocopies AstrakhanMapWe’ve finally reached the ultimate destination point of our itinerary. ![]() Slow speed! Do not drop anything on the dock deck! New trash cans have been set up on every corner. They’re incredibly difficult to use—you literally have to crouch down in order to get your garbage into the can and not miss it. ![]() Another beautiful transportation company logo joins the Saratov masterpiece in the collection. ![]() Astrakhan Autotrans SATMP #3 A Soviet-era Morozko ("Frosty"—a refrigerator brand) sign which has miraculously survived between two buildings. ![]() * * * Our expedition, consisting of three motor yachts, successfully completed the journey from Moscow to Astrakhan in under a month, covering almost 3000 kilometers by water, enjoying over 100 swims, visiting nearly 30 cities en route, passing through 20 locks, enduring one small repair. It’s possible to dock in almost every city. All large cities have yacht clubs with potable water and electricity. Many places have gas stations on the water. With some preparation and a supply of enthusiasm, any boater can replicate our itinerary (or a less ambitious one)—it’s both fun and beautiful. ![]() |
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Rivethnoexp. Part VII. Volgograd, Srednyaya Akhtuba, Znamensk, Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan
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