The Villages

24.06., the breakfast at the hotel was as expected not so great due to communication problems.

The journey continued eastward. Maybe I can remember the names of the places, they were small villages consisting of muddy streets with potholes and few paved roads, passing by collapsed wooden houses that showed hints of their past beauty. Lovingly decorated with remnants of beautiful colors. I imagine how it must have looked like in the past when there was hardly any car traffic, especially in the snow.

Next to the sad remnants of the past were the magnificent churches with golden onion domes. At first you see one spire, then two, then four and when you drive around the building, it turns out to be a huge church or even a cathedral. Besides that, there were also old dilapidated churches, some under restoration or no longer wanted. You didn't even have to go to St. Petersburg, the beautiful green, blue, and golden onion domes on the white or brown or brick red churches are everywhere here. Even wooden churches with small onion domes. The landscape is green and water-rich. These photos are on the other camera, which I cannot load right now, but I will do that later.

Cemeteries are very large and the graves are decorated with brightly colored plastic flowers. I took a close look at a village cemetery: Each grave bears a picture of the deceased, birth and death year. Very few have lived longer than 65 years.

The further east I went, the fewer churches I saw. In a small village just before Irkutsk where I stayed overnight, there was one church that I could even visit from the inside, accompanied by a friendly elderly lady whose task seemed to be to take care of this property and explain many of the valuable objects to visitors. Unfortunately, I don't understand Russian.

No matter where I stop to take a break, the villagers 'coincidentally' pass by and have something to do: fishing, going for a walk, once community representatives came by and seemed to discuss how they should feel about a stranger staying here in a camper, some pass by and invite you to come over, most are simply neutral but always helpful. In many communities, there are monuments for the fallen in World War II, in one of them there was a kind of memorial plaque in the center. On some properties and cars, 'ZZ' is used to show solidarity with their own.