I'd recently expressed an interest to my colleagues here regarding a boat trip on the Volga. There is a place south called Astrakhan that is this great silk road city at the edge of a huge marshland as the mighty Volga enters the Caspian Sea. Since I am pining for nature often here in Russia, I had hopes that I might be able to see Astrakhan. It turns out that the trip would take a while---more time than I have---but Dr. Bobarykina found a more modest trip, from Saratov south to Volgograd, coinciding with the big Victory Day Holiday on May 9. We booked it on Tuesday in a little office down by the river. The Institute and International Office decreed that I should be accompanied by someone as my Russian language skills are still far from being of much use. In addition,Volgograd is where a couple of terrorist incidents took place in December. So, Valia from the office went on the trip as well. I do very much appreciate the care that my colleagues take for my safety and comfort, but sometimes I feel like the "helpless American".
The boat was to leave Saratov on Thursday afternoon, via Samara upriver. It looked ok....a bit old, wooden decks. It was called the Rodnaya Rus, roughly-"Mother Russia". At about 2pm it arrived. A lot of people were already on it---I calculate it can accomodate roughly 300 people.
Valia's friend Yevgeni saw us off at the pier----Yevgeni had taken us skiing earlier that year, he is an engineer and a really good guy.He has recently been in Khazakstan and brought me some Kazak vodka and cognac. Very nice.
My compartment was tiny with particle board walls and the bathroom/shower was very interesting. Toilet and shower in the same place---I've seen this before in India, Europe, and Latin America, but I must say that showering I was like an elephant trying to bathe in a sink.Things get a little musty as well.
First meal was dinner at 6pm. You are fed in groups just like a regular Western cruise. They play this weird little song on the PA when it is mealtime.....for breakfast it says "Zaftrak, Zaftrak, pa, pa rum pum pom": Food was fine. Salads at dinner are nice. Good soup. Chicken, pork and fish with rice, potatoes usually.
Breakfasts got interesting---one morning a meatball......another a hotdog and cabbage! Fresh baked bread. Cherry juice called Kampot. You don't go hungry but it is not "fine dining." I however found that the service was excellent. The whole boat gets fed 3 times a day by about 5 women. Waiting tables, set-up, cooking, breaking down, and dishwashing was done like clockwork. One funny thing, I walked by the tiny kitchen one morning---3 older ladies in there working hard washing dishes. Hardcore, gangster rap full volume. Cultural commonality except no greasy teenage boys---only Babushkas rocking out to Ludacris.
The first night at dinner, the others at the table were a young couple from Saratov, Tatyana and Ludmilla. They started the conversation by mentioning that they knew an American was on the boat-----their travel agent had mentioned it to them. Sort of strange. Anyway---really nice girls. They remind me of some of my dearest friends in DC and NM. We all make arrangements to go to the Rodina Mat statue together on Victory Day.
The river is placid and peaceful. Very little traffic. At one point it widens to what looks like 10-20 miles. You can't see the other side. Here you are moving through the Russian steppes. Beautiful, sweeping views.Cliffs, little villages, smaller rivers coming in. Russia is greening up everywhere.When I grow up I'm going to come here and paint this landscape. The ship drifts into the evening(we are to arrive in Volgograd in the morning) and the sunset is spectacular. I take about 50 photos.
Sleeping is easy on the boat. The usual thumping of Russian pop music goes away near midnight. I make friends with the bartender(imagine that) and talk for a while but I am asleep by 11.You are awakened by Pom pa rum pom pom, zaftrak, zaftrak. Breakfast is oatmeal.
The boat enters a cool series of locks in the morning as we approach Volgograd. It is mesmerizing to watch the water level on a canal rise and drop 30 feet in 15 minutes. Guys are now fishing everywhere on the banks of the river. Big 4 day weekend for everyone I think. Two even have a couch on the banks. They make me very jealous, but I'm doing pretty well on the boat as it is.
Volgograd materializes shortly and you can see Radina Mat on the Western bank. She is imposing. Very Russian. Huge---I'm told larger than our Lady Liberty. I am in a sacred city for this Victory Day. The importance of this battle in WWII cannot be overestimated. Every Russian alive has been touched by this war through the generations and they honor this day reverentially and seriously. I feel a connection to this---my own father was a navigator on a bomber in the Pacific during WWII---Corrigedor, Leyte Gulf, the Philippines----he would love the fact that I am teaching in Russia.
I had been given a ribbon in my neighborhood bar...Poppas Irish Pub.....black and orange....and I wear it. My friends tell me I'm starting to look like a Russian. I think they are just being nice.
