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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Sep 28, 2010 02:00 PM Back on the Silk Road
Urumchi where I stay is on the famous Silk Road. They have here a great museum (free entry) where you can study the history of the region, excavations and the culture of the nationalities living in the west of China: Ujgurs. Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Tajiks... The museum is definitely worth a visit.
Urumchi today is a modern town with more then 2 million inhabitants, it is hard to move around - fortunately city bus ride costs just 1 yuan (they pay 6,22 yuan per USD) so you can use them assuming that you know the bus number... It is not easy for the foreigner to comunicate with locals, phrasebook is worth to bring... I stay in the centrally located youth hostel Maitian - just near Parkson Shopping center. They charge 55 yuans per bed in 4-bed room.
Tomorrow I will try to cross Takla Makan Desert...
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Sep 27, 2010 02:00 PM Quick transfer to China
Brrrr。。。。 My 2000-kms sailing down the huge Yenissey was exciting but I will tell you the true： I have enough of cold，snow and FSB。S7 airlines （former Siberian）took me to the Western China。They offer quite good web tarrifs！ I already safely landed in Urumchi。It is 18 degrees here!
I stay in 他和 youth hostel 安顿覅好沟通我 安顿 and -as you can see - I fight with the Chinese i呢色 keyboard and software ：））
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Sep 26, 2010 02:00 PM Norilsk - gulags, precious metals,snow...
There is not much to see in polar Dudinka except the museum and the new orthodox church。 Dudinka works as the port for the nearby rich Norilsk。 Twice a day there are public bus going from Dudinka to Norilsk， it costs 220 roubles one way。The first part ofthe 100kms road built on the permafrost is horrible to drive。 It is hard to maintain this polar road -they say it is northernmost highway of the world. Bumps, bumps and very strange landcape of tundra with ice on the ponds and waterholes.
Yes, I saw Norilsk - itis huge， 200 000-people town - probably the biggest in Arctica。 Mines， industrial blocks and
towers。And a lot of pollution。 Snow，below zero。Norilsk has also his sad story：thay say that during Stalin times more that half a million people died here due the harsh conditions and terror， also Poles。I visited Norilsk's Golgota - monument built at the bottom of the mountain to remember them。In the mouintain there are still plenty of nikel， platinium， gold。。
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Sep 25, 2010 02:00 PM I crossed again the Polar Circle
We crossed Polar Circle in the middle of the night near the little village of Kuryeika。Captain said that there is no reason towait for the circle because there is no single sign on the bank of the river。Kuryeika itself is famous because in the past Stalin spent there some time in exile. Soon he escaped. Today the thick forest of taiga slowly dissappeared. Then I saw only tundra. We reached Dudinka at 9 pm in the dark... Dudinka is closed town. I was surprised because on arrival nobody except the captain checked my permit issued by FSB. Probably it does not happened at all that the foreigners arrive to this remote place...
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Sep 24, 2010 02:00 PM Last boat to Dudinka
The sailing season on Yenisset lasts from June to the end of September. I sail on the last sailing in this season。Every few hours we are calling the Siberian villages. People are coming to the ship on their boats to collect passengers and goods. There is a lot of time for the talks with the locals - I already have many friends on the ship - my knowledge of Russian helps to broke the ice.
It was snowing today and it gets colder and colder。Only 2 deg Celsius in the morning。 The plate of the soup in the ship's restautant costs from 60 roubles，the plate of potatoes with meat -from 250。 The big river is getting wider and wider。There are still great fall landscapes on the banks of Yenissey。
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Sep 23, 2010 02:00 PM 2000 kms down the Yenissey。。
When I came in the late evening to the prichal-little jetty of Yenisseysk it was rainy and very windy。 The ship - Alexander Matrosov arrived 11 pm。 And it was drifting about anhour expecting improvement of the weather。Fortunately we
did not wait till the morning。。。 At 1 am I was already in the cabin and we departed soon.
It is 2000 kms from Krasnoyarsk to my final port of Dudinka at the mouth of Yennissey. Great river adventure - I am the only foreigner aboard Matrosov!
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Sep 22, 2010 02:00 PM Getting ready for the Far North of Siberia
I the morning I visited local museum (20 roubles entry fee). It is worth regarding the history on display. Nansen was here and there were gold rush in the middle of 19th century.
Then I met descendent of the Poles sent here during Stalin regime - what a pleasant surprise! T
The boat to the north is departing today late in the evening.
I have 3 days and 3 nights of sailing on Yenissey to Dudinka - it is more then 1500 kms.
I boutht already 3 loaves of bread to take it to the ship - the food aboard is expensive! Ahoy!
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Sep 21, 2010 02:00 PM Yenisseysk - old Siberian town
Yenisseysy was established in 1619 - it is one of the oldest Siberian towns....... I stay in the lovely, little Ilimpeyskaya Hotel poying 1000 roubles for the clean room witha a shared bath. Pleople here - in outback Siberia are much nicer than in the westernized big towns of contemporary Russia.
I took a long walk along the Rabocho-Krestyanska St enjoying old, traditional timber houses and orthodox churches. It is lovely Indian Summer now here - quite warm and sunny. The loaf of bread costs some 15 roubles (half dollar), hot soup in the bar - 25-50, egg 3.50...
In the evening I got a fax from Krasnoyarsk - yes, FSB permited me to sail further north, but there are strict conditions: one day in Norilsk only and the escort from trhe beginning to the end of my stay. Paid escort - can you imagine?!
I am happy anyway - nobody of my friends saw closed town of Norilsk. More people will come if I will collect the information how to get there and how to awoid the traps...
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Sep 20, 2010 02:00 PM Sailing Yenissey River...
In the evening I got the bad news: no permit... Maybe they will decide tomorrow... FSB... But tomorrow morning I have a boat to the north... The young lady from Russian travel agency took money and promised to send me the permit to the holet in Yenisseysk where I want to make a stopover on my great river voyage down the Yenissey. Should I trust them? Do I have another choice?
At 6.30 am it was still dark when I was walking with my bacpack to the Krasnoyarsk river terminal. The boat was waiting. It is "Prof. Bliznyak" - the real twin ship of the "Kulibin" I sailed down Lena last year.
We departed on time: at 7 am. and we were sailin non stop all day... On the banks of the big river there was beautiful foliage of the autumn taiga. Great colors of green, gold, brown...
We reached Yenisseysk in the dark at 10.30 pm. No news regarding my permit...
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Sep 19, 2010 02:00 PM FSB: your travel permit is not ready!
In the past it was KGB, but now it is FSB who takes care of the people who wanst to go to the special zones in Russia. Two months ago a travel agency from Krasnoyarsk placed to FGB my application with all enclosures. I want to sail on the Yenissey River north - to the closed town of Dudinka and Norilsk. I was very dissappointed to hear that my permit is not ready and nobody knows if and when it will be ready... Next message will be in the evening...
I decided to use the day to go to the Stolby rock formations close to the town. You can go there by city bus (11 roubles each way - dirty cheap!).
There are two ways of access: 7 kms walk from the bus 50 stop or a chairlift (150 RT) from the Bobrovy Log amusement park - bus 37 goes to the park. I had a nice wether to take some good pictures of the rocks and there was a panoramic view of the city and the river from the hills. But the local Stolby are not as impressive like a Lenske Stolby (Lena Pillars - see my website) in Yakutia. Please keep your fingers crossed for the positive FSB decision. The ship down the Yenissey departs tomorrow!
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