Ouch!

That's what you get from spending the afternoon on the lake without putting on socks and sun screen. More colors in the living room... A lesson I should have learned by now, after doing the same mistake so many times.

Kayaking on the lake

We felt it was a waste to have the Ob sea next to our place, and not being able to use it for navigation. So Christian and I decided to buy kayaks... You'd think with such a beautiful sea and people being so close to nature, the place would be swarming with kayaks, right? Well, no. People don't have kayaks here. We had to get the kayaks sent from Moscow by the Transsiberian on its way to Ulan Bator. The train arrived on Thursday, and we were very excited and went to the train station ahead of time to make sure we'd get them. A good way for us to learn that all train schedules in Russia are in Moscow time, and also to remind us that there is a 3-hour time difference between Moscow and Novosibirsk. But we got our boats in the end...


You should know that as of today, the pristine water of the Ob has been kayaked by 2 people only: Christian and me. We could have made it 3 if we had let the drunk guy swimming toward us use our boat for 5 minutes as he asked us, but we're jerks and we don't want to jump in the cold water for 5 minutes while the guy figures out how to use the paddles. But let's not get this little story ruin our beautiful day.

So today was the big day: we met at the beach behind the Lada dealership, a primary spot for getting our boats wet. And off we went...



Boy, if the locals only knew what they were missing! If you think there is only dull coast and flat water to explore... there is so much more to see here. A kayak tour on the lake is the opportunity to discover magnificent reefs and architectural gems left by previous generations. No further than 20 minutes after our start, we discovered beautiful cement blocks. How were they brought there and why? Mistery... woooohh... So many questions left unanswered.

Anyway, why travel half way across the Earth to go to places like Tulum or Macchu Picchu, when here you have more recent constructions, in a more advanced state of degradation?

And what a blast to glide between those cement and steel structures! See how Christian just found the perfect spot, protected by blocks of cement and steel, to practice his flipping technique...


And here, a buswreck, probably left there intentionally as a breeding ground for fish...


There are even dark caves to explore, where the fauna includes moth and mosquitoes of the size of actual butterflies. Also, it's amazing how the steel is reminiscent of real stalactites...


Well, that was it for the first day. We got our load of fresh air and nature, and made it back after 5 hours of paddling. Next time, we should try to go paddle in an actual industrial zone to gauge the difference.

It is not that bad on the other side of the Ural

I am posting here some of my pictures of Moscow, in an attempt to convince my local friends that Moscow is not that bad. That's right, it is not in the center of Russia, and you have to walk a long way to go pick mushrooms or to get some birch tree sap. They also don't have the Ob sea to go swimming for the 2-week summer. But it is beautiful, and it is very easy to get real close to people in the subway. Only perks...

No more getting lost on my bike

Today, May 9th, I went for my first bike tour of the year. Snow is 99.5% gone (still, I spotted a few patches), the weather is nice and warm, and I recently had my tickborne encephalitis shot, so I was all prepared to go. Plus now... no more getting lost in the woods or the villages of datchas since I got my little GPS. You can see below that my bike ride was still quite erratic, but God knows where I would have ended up this time without being tracked by satellites. Hopefully not in one of the famous secret cities...

What is going to happen to the technopark?

With the crisis on going, I was curious about what happened to the project of building a Technopark in Akademgorodok. 'Technopark" is a major project to make the regional innovation economy leading in home and foreign markets of high technology, using Siberian science potential." A model of the building hosting the Novosibirsk Technopark is presented below, and you can find more info about this exciting initiative here.

I was looking forward to the erection of this building, which looks great and would certainly host a good cafeteria. So, I started worrying about its status when I saw the crisis smacking Russia in the face. I was relieved when I found this headline on the web (here):

"NOVOSIBIRSK AND KEMEROVO TO CONTINUE BUILDING THE TECHNOPARKS"

Not only is it a good news in itself, but reading the small script (always a good practice around here) turned out to be even more interesting:

The project of the creation of technoparks in Russia is actually suspended. [...] The concept of technoparks is too far from the initial purpose. [...] The most terrible is that not one region, which participates in the program, has a concept and a business- plan of its technoparks. The regions entirely do not have understanding what technoparks are [...]. In one of the regions in the project of technoparks provided not only the territories for an Expo-center and hotels, but even place for the cemetery.Of nine regions to pretend to the state money, only Novosibirsk and Kemerovo will benefit from it.

OK... So the project is still coming to Novosibirsk! Why did I even worry?

Yuck...

In many places around the world, spring rhymes with flowers, colors, happiness and loving season. Here, it rhymes with mud, dirt, wet feet, and tick-borne encephalitis. The pictures below show the slush and mud that announce the end of the winter. The melting snow also reveals piles of garbage that were nicely covered by snow until now... No, it is not a nice sight. The whole Siberia is transforming into a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other nasty bugs ready to feast on our blood as soon as the snow is gone.

Still... somehow, I am happy spring is here!

My first visit to the dentist

Oh boy I was scared to go to the dentist here. Last time I was in a medical place in a country where I did not fully understand the language, I failed to convey I wanted a full anesthesia before the Bavarian surgeon fixed my broken nose with his bare hands...
It turns out the experience was great. The office was all new and shiny and the staff was very nice and helpful. I asked for teeth cleaning, and the dentist counted my teeth (24), took her calculator and typed 24*120 rubles to calculate my total bill. I was very appreciative of this simple and reliable pricing model. I was also comforted by the fact that her financial incentive was in line with me keeping as many teeth as possible during the intervention. To seal the deal, I simply opened my mouth and let her work on my teeth.