For those of you who have never been to Russia traveling by car can be very interesting. In Moscow the highways are just that big highways. From what I could tell there were a number of times where the roads were at least 5 lane wide one way.
Now I am sure that everyone realises that it is winter time in Russia and with this comes snow. One of the first things that I noticed was small little piles of dirty snow on the side of the road in the shoulder area. These piles were about 8 inches tall and 12 inches wide.
As we drove there would be a couple of aimless men with a shove. They were picking up these little piles of snow. Then I noticed all around the city there were workers doing the same. I finally asked does this type of clean up happen each time it snow? The answer is no this is the spring clean up. Apparently, Russia had some thawing out early this year and the spring clean up has started.
The cars are dirty! I mean so dirty that you can not see what color they are. The license plates are covered with this dirt that is a result of the chemicals that are used on the roads so that the roads do not freeze. I was actually surprised that they were not frozen solid.
In Moscow we really did not drive fast. I think on the way from the airport the day I arrived the driver thought I was worried so he kept it slow. Now in the region the driving was a bit crazy. I thank Gerard for all those years of his crazy driving because it helped to condition me for travel in the region. Gerard will do a u-turn on just about any street including in Manhattan.
One thing that I did notice is there are no lines in the road. So in region at times the road went from a 2 lane road to a one way road (the same road). We were only stopped by the police once. I had my passport ready and my big fat mouth shut so there was no problem. We had the social worker in the car with us and she spoke to the police officer and in my opinion scalded him. No money exchanged hands and we were not stopped on the way back through.
When I left the region they actually asked me if the driving scared me? I thought that was a strange question. I love to drive fast. Then they remembered that I live in New Jersey. The driving here is a little crazy.
School Days - November 2023
5 months ago
5 comments:
What a typical story. We were stopped twice, once on each trip, but our coordinator who was driving always got out. We never had to deal with the police. I can only equate driving in Ekat to driving in NYC. Ugh! I can imagine how muddy things are now. We were muddy from walking in the streets in Feb. A cakey mud, not typical of around here.
Melissa
Our driver in Moscow wasn't too crazy, but boy was our driver in Kras! Traffic lights were optional. . .there were times when we just laughed and closed our eyes. We even took video of it one day! But, once the babies were in the car, he was fantastic! Good memories. . .
Sounds like Russia and the roads to me! The only scary part for me was the way they passed other cars. The funniest thing I heard was when our friends who live there (who are Russian) said that traffic lights were purely a suggestion in Russia. They weren't kidding!
Yes, the driving is something. We couldn't get over it. It was bad in Vlad too, but better in Ussuryisk where our little one's orphanage was located. Our friends are in the Ukraine and they have special stickers for women to place on their vehicles (too funny).
Congratulations on meeting your little girl. I must agree, driving in Russia is definitely interesting! I have never seen such dirty cars.
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