Home » Russia » Travel to St. Petersburg and Mongolia (part I)

Hello my dear subscribers,<br /><br />Tomorrow I am leaving to my next trip It is not only my travel addiction, that drives me. I have to travel for health reasons also. Life in America is pretty unhealthy. People in the not so prosperous countries walk for groceries, walk to work, run after overcrowded buses and fight with others to get inside. This provides them with much needed amount of daily exercises, the natural way. Americans almost do not walk. They go everywhere by car. Every task which requires even a small muscular effort is mechanized or automated. Even two story buildings have an elevator. This, along with abandons of food produce an un-intentional result. Americans became fatter and fatter. Dedicated people with strong will, would wake up earlier and go for a jog, go to gym and eat, not tasty, but healthy vegetables. This way they stay in shape. Ordinary folks don't do that and get fat. A Stunning 70% of Americans are overweight.<br /><br />This is an unexpected result of a sincere efforts to make people's live better and easier. I did not get overweight yet, but I definitely got out of shape during four months of sitting in front of the computer and traveling between the computer and the fridge.

Travel to St. Petersburg and Mongolia (part I)

Alex Mumzhiu
2006-03-22 18:13:34

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Pecheri and Puskin Hills, about a 5 hour drive from SPB. I was told to come at 7:00 am sharp. The bus left at 8:00am. The toilet in the bus did not work. The toilet on the street did not have paper. Lonely Planet book came to help... as always. Before tour guide started her presentation, she recommended to tourists not to drink (water) because the difficulty with toilet facilities. I remember those Western tourists who always carry a bottle of water with them; not in Russia. The tour itself was not as bad as it could be, keeping in mind that there were tour groups in front of us and behind, so you could listen to your tour guide or the next one. What surprised me was Pushkin's posmertnaia maska (a wax mask of Pushkin's face, made after his death). I obviously saw his mask before I moved to America. However, only after I spent 20 years in America and became familiar with different types of black (Negro) faces, did I recognize some familiar Negro features in Pushkin's face. You can easily meet such face in Washington DC. Pushkin predecessor Gannibal was black.

I got a real feelling for these majestic places when I came in the evening, alone, on my bike. I rode from the tourbaza (tourist hotel) to Michailovskoe, than to Trigorskoe than back to the tourbaza. Even though, I was the only person in Michailovskoe, the guard told me do not ride my bike. So I rode it in the hills and fields surrounding Pushkin mansion, where Pushkin rode his favorite argamak horse. Nothing interferes with inspiration coming to me from these places, which are so magical to everybody who loves Pushkin. I am sure if there were bikes available in Pushkin's time, he would prefer to bike. Horses are living creatures and require some attention. Bikes don't need hay, don't fart and don't say "neigh" (igo-go). Three days later I rode my bike near Marsovo Pole (Mars square) in Saint Petersburg and challenged the girls who offered horses for rent there, ...