back to siberia

[wirbel]

A really interesting documentary on belgian TV ??n shows a reporter returning to the same places he visited last winter and meeting the same people to show them the film he made then and to see how they're living in summer time siberia. It roughly follows the transsiberia express i think, allthough today they also went north to Jakoetsk; a booming city of 200,000 inhabitants built on a permanently frozen swamp along the river Lena. This causes the old houses to slowly sink away when the top soil melts in summer... They showed two russian builders working on new appartment buildings; these people only stopped working when temperatures were lower than -52C The crane operators are usually female. In summer time everybody is living in their 'datsja', much like the 'hytte' (cabin) in scandinavia I guess (much similarities here ).
Before they showed this city they were showing the country life of the people in Buryatia, where they are tibetan-buddhist; i'm not sure it's because of this faith, but it looked very peaceful! people really living close to nature and they all were happy with their way of living. They were keeping cows and people still lived all together in communities, taking care of the grandparents, but living in separate self-built wooden houses. Very nice and cosy houses built around a central fireplace. The young calf was kept inside the house in winter because it was their 'treasure'

Well as you see a very interesting place that's worth seeing and learning more about. Traveling along the transsiberian railroad is even more one of the things i would love to go do sometime...

[Elforel]

Yep, Siberia is really a very interesting region of Russia. I have had the chance to go to Yakutsk myself, it's one of the loveliest places and people i have met.
If you ever decide to go to Siberia or take the famous train, write to me, i may be able to help a bit. I lived and got married there, remember?