VFR to Russia (In Memory of Bob Axsom)

[Vlad]

A local airplane restorer and homebuilder Nikolay called me and invited to his shop. I was very tired and declined the offer. I am not going anywhere for three days plenty of time to visit. He agreed. Another local pilot I virtually knew was away to ferry a new amphibian. He also called and congratulated on making the journey. I walked to a supermarket then to the bank to get local currency then paid my fine I was ticketed at the airport. Then just dropped dead at the hotel.


Woke up past midnight couldn't sleep more. Weird feeling during polar day. Heavy curtains still leak daylight. After an hour of futile attempts to fall sleep again I quit. I took my camera and went outside. Past 2 am and sun is still there. Not a single soul around and it's Friday night. Weird place. Beautiful sightseeing.




A movie theater.





A local explorer statue and a gym.





View to the East toward the airport.





The other way is the deep sea port. Somebody is relaxing there not a bum that's for sure.








Saint Nik meeting arriving ships.





A Russian Orthodox Temple made without a single nail.





Museum and Chukotka cultural Heritage building.





Time flows slow in Russia. 3 am... 4 am... Man in New York a week probably has passed. I snoozed again...

[Chino Tom]

Really enjoying this Vlad! I have Google maps and Wikipedia open following
and learning. Be safe!

[precession]

Originally Posted by Chino Tom

I have Google maps and Wikipedia open following
and learning.

Good idea. Doing the same.

[Gary7A]

Молодец!!



Gary Kohler
RV-7A
Ready to leave garage

[Vlad]

My new friend Nikolay sent his buddy to pick me up at the hotel and drive to his shop. The driver gave me a nice guided tour of the town.








On top of Verbluzhka (Camel Mtn) sits a communication center. There is no cable connection to the mainland from Anadyr. All comms are relayed either by the satellites or via giant troposphere repeaters I was told.








A memorial to first explorers and heroes of Chukotka by the port.





We stopped for a picture by the local attraction on the top of the mountain. There is a giant cross and you can see most of the town from there.




Then we drove to Nikolay's shop. Let me tell you this man is a legend. Retired as a TV station tech he'd seen it all. He roamed the tundra in his own vezdehod design where only deer drivers could reach. I thoroughly enjoyed his tales going through his photo albums. He brought to his shop and now restoring a twin engine light amphibian aircraft. It will take for a while I am in the late seventies he said. He knows every Bear flying over. To keep tradition and propaganda going we celebrated our meetup.





He grows his own veggies right by the shop. On permafrost.



Well, the day ended elsewhere. The highlight of the evening was eating stroganina a dish of Chukchi people. Basically it's a deep frozen raw fish of certain kind. Very unusual taste at first then you will get used to it.




If I survive till tomorrow I go to the Museum.

[BillL]

Originally Posted by Vlad

Then we drove to Nikolay's shop. Let me tell you this man is a legend. . .

What a family resemblance!!

Gripping adventure, Vlad, and a new legend is being made.

Thanks.

[Vlad]

I survived. Even managed to find my way to the hotel. Without any trouble and without knowledge of my "curator". (Those who visited Russia probably know that every foreigner traveling for several days without a tourist group or guides is "assigned" a plain clothed FSB officer. Just in case. This way no visitors get pick pocketed, eaten by the bears or harmed any other way. Especially within a security designated zones...)




Next day I visited the Museum. It's located in a modern building and like most of local museums everywhere in the world is not crowded.




Tickets are equivalent $5 for Russian citizens and $10 for foreigners. The photo shooting permit is another couple bucks.





They have several unique exhibitions the most interesting I found were Alsib WWII ferry routes and indigenous population culture and living.




Quite a mixture of the artifacts.











The Commander of Alsib ferry division Col. Mazuruk. The bottom picture...






There are still several WWII crash sites exist in the vicinities and this was the most recent item donated by the explorers.





At the end of my museum tour I asked my guide, a pretty local lady to give me a paid city tour and she agreed. We walked for about two hours she is an encyclopedia of history. Fascinating tour I received. She refused the money but agreed to come for a dinner. Life was back to normal again...

[Vlad]

The morning after next I checked out of my fancy hotel and moved across the bay to Ugolnye Copi a satellite city. There was a layer of fog over the bay. What surprised me was the wind. Those hovercraft cabbies were sticking together barely making 10 knots. As soon as we landed there was nice and shiny on the opposite shore. Weird weather over the water.



Ugolnie Copi is a settlement completely different from Anadyr. The population consists of mainly retired military types and blue collar workers. Their mentality differs they think Anadyr is a parasite city. Why? Because Anadyr only houses the offices of feds, region, local and multitude other government functionalities and it produces nothing. It consumes. On the contrary Ugolnie Copi have mines, electricity generating facilities and airport. There is no restaurants in town but you can order pizza by phone. There are no hotels as well those arriving by aircraft never stay at Ugolnie Copi everybody goes to Anadyr. For transient pilots there are couple fully furnished apartments for rent around $60 per night. I moved into one for one day but never slept in. This was my RV Hotel and a room with a view many thanks to my new friends. Alex special thanks to you and your father.








There was a huge military presence here one time. After Gorbachev-Reagan Pact everything went downhill. We drove through an abandoned military base my companions (former servicemen of the same unit) were silent.








A sprout of spirituality.





A well preserved monument.







Peace!





Then we drove into tundra...

[larrys]

I do not know you but I am living the dream reading each new entry.
Thank you for the time and effort it takes to document such an amazing trip.
Thank you! Larry

[slngsht]

Originally Posted by Vlad

My new friend Nikolay sent his buddy to pick me up at the hotel and drive to his shop. The driver gave me a nice guided tour of the town.

UAZ van . Worked on one of those a couple decades ago.