Random Russia - Part 2

Russia is such a vast and diverse country that you actually can't talk about "things I've seen in Russia". Our experiences in the Far East of Russia and in Southern Siberia were sometimes quite different. Especially in terms of the landscape. So I'm dividing this post according to regions.

In general:
You can't buy alcohol before 11am.

Churches are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. Women can borrow scarfs to cover their hair and sometimes wrap around skirts. It stood out to me that there are hardly any possibilities to sit down. Seems like the Russians worship standing up.

Far East:
I've seen more cowboys (men herding cows on horses) in Russia than in Australia.

Cows and at times horses mostly roam around freely, no fences at all. Often they are unaccompanied. Free-range at its best.

We've also seen herds of wild horses. Mongolia is close!

Southern Siberia:
If you want to have your car cleaned, you drive to a shop where they do everything by hand. Super detailed! (We only got the car cleaned from the outside, but we saw many cars shining bright as new even inside).

People sell dried birch branches everywhere on the side of the street. These are used in the local saunas (banyas) to increase the effect.

On the way from Barnaul to the Kazakh border we saw many beautiful settlements that had a gated entry from the main road. Unfortunately we don't know if anyone could enter or only the habitants. Houses of all shapes and colours, surrounded by what looked like super productive gardens. A dream!

There are a high number of flowering fields. Some look like they are cover crops, but there was also a white flower that I really need to find out what it'll be used for. Often fields are lined with a flowering greenstrip, amazing for insects and local wildlife.
It was also very beautiful to see if a field had been a sunflower field during the previous season. The bright yellow flowers surrounded the wheat or whatever else was growing and every now and then a single one would have popped up in between the new crop. Mother nature has her own way of creating beauty!

Super duper friendly people all around! Don't believe US movies depicting the Russians as the villains all the time. We were welcomed warmly, invited for a random BBQ in the middle of nowhere and had people waving and greeting us from their cars in Barnaul. So so lovely!Read more