After Sora, the intention was that we'd take a
boat to Verkola.
It turned out we couldn't, as the boat owner had a conflicting
commitment, or something, so instead we took the ferry over
the river Pinega to the side the road is. (There is thus no
way to go by car to Sora except in the winter, when there's
ice on the river.)
We took an ordinary bus, which was OK, but it became a bit
crowded when a dozen tourists with lots of baggage came
aboard.
It hadn't rained for quite some time, but still there were
parts of the road which were nothing but half a meter of
mud. That made at least me understand that the part about
"bring rubber boots" would have been really necessary, unless
we'd such good weather as we had.
I guess Verkola is famous for two things, the author Fedor
Abramov and the monastery.
We took a boat across the river to the monastery, where we
were met by one of the monks.
He showed us around the monastery, and showed us "before 1918"
photos, which shows what they want to restore it to, but
first in the shop where
some of use wanted to buy icons, he
exposed on his views on
Lutherans
and their relationship to icons (he found it contrary to that
religion and they weren't for sale as they were only provided as
a service to worshippers -- but he could give a few away, with the
assumption that some of us would put something in the collection box)
and in the church itself on
the
state of the world (not good, but with his religion it didn't matter
much as he was looking forward to the end -- I think).
Next village on our itenary, to which we also went by bus, was
Sjardomej, which also is a rather long and
narrow village.
In the mid-morning, we crossed the river in order to have a little
picnic.
It really wasn't much, in my case tree needle tea, but the lunch
we soon thereafter got at a familiy in a nearby village was really
great, as expected.
There, like in all villages, we stayed in different families.
The children in "our" didn't mind
being
photographed (only they weren't actually three like in this photo,
only two, but
some of the neighbours (and relatives') children were around a lot,
and everything wasn't easy to communicate, but we managed pretty
well anyway). We really had great time in that family.
In the evening, the family left, and left the whole house to
us "as that's how they do it in Russia".
The next day, on our way to the fourth, and last, village were
we were to stay with families,
we eventually were to go by river. Not boats, but inflatable
life rafts. It didn't look attractive to me, as the weather was
hot, but it turned out that if one sits on the roof, it collapses,
so we could float along. And of course have the mandatory "swim
stop", after just an hour or so. (Our guide really likes being
in water.)
The river turned out to be a bit slow that day, so it wasn't until we got pulled a bit by a motor boat we arrived at the lunch beach, in Karpagory at all, and then it was late afternoon.
So, the final stretch, to
Marijna Gory,
which was about the same distance we'd already
come that day, we again took a bus.
From Marijna Gory to
Pinega, which is too large to be
called a village (I think the map symbol says "50000 inhabitants"),
we took a pair of chartered fast river boats, with a
lunch- and swim stop about halfway.
Great view along the river, with varied nature scenery and
scattered villages.
In Pinega, the hotel we were to stay in didn't
have room for as many as 12 tourists, 1 guide and 1 project manager.
So some of us had to stay in an ordinary house, like the one in
the photo to the left, converted into a hotel. It lacked a shower,
but then again, the "real" hotel did too.
In the evening, we went to
bar - restaurant
and had a good dinner.
The next day, we left early, in order to visit the nearby national
park.
Lots of mosquitos, but I liked the hiking.
Swimming in the river afterwards, and going down into the
famous caves, I didn't do.
The shops in Pinega, at least some of them, like the one
in the photo, had old-fashioned names like "Magazin 12".
The beach, where one could find ample evidence Pinega is a forestry
products town, was popular in the evening, with people
swimming
and playing.
The evening we were there, a TV team was also there, and filmed a
local group of singers,
singing
traditional songs.
After Pinega, a long bus trip back to Arkhangelsk.
There we had some days to spend, and one afternoon we were guided
around by a good guide (in the cap), who among many other things
told us
what
happened when the first western European sailors arrived
in Arkhangelsk
and
how
the city looked in old times.
Interesting to consider that Russia didn't have any other seaport
than Arkhangelsk until S:t Petersburg was founded, that it used to
be on the route between western Europe and China and that during
the USSR era one third of foreign income was due to exports through
it, forestry and shipbuilding.
I'll finish up with some photos and
some
sounds from market.
Photos from some of my other travels
This document last updated 2000 Aug 08
by
Urban
