Epilogue

Irkutsk, March 15, 2020

The mood on board our bus on the way back to Irkutsk is slightly subdued, hardly anyone is talking, everyone is lost in thought. Lunch in a canteen by the road, even Aldar seems depressed. We arrive in the center of Irkutsk at 3 p.m. and visit the market, where we find conditions somewhere between Thailand and Central Europe. Most of the stalls sell meat. The butchers are women, bending over their displays, which only contain large pieces. Then we drive a few streets further to our accommodation for the night with Irina, our organizer, who actually lives in Paris with her family but is here at the moment. After thinking about the 8 days we still have planned, we decide to book a flight for tomorrow morning, fearing that a trap will snap shut if the virus breaks out in Moscow too, which would at least put us in quarantine if we were able to return. Also, after the great tour, we have little desire for further tourism. Even on the island of Olkhone, the handful of tourists were too much for us. Before dinner, everyone is on their cell phones and laptops to rebook or confirm. At around 8 p.m., we drive with Aldar to the best restaurant in the city (population 700,000) for our farewell dinner. As the oldest of the group, I make a long toast to Aldar. As usual, we start and end the meal with the best vodka shots. Nico well adjusted in the Duty Free

On the plane to Corona-Land March 16, 2020

Everything went well and quickly this morning, last hugs and after 35 passport presentations and security checks later I'm sitting on the plane to Paris, the shorter part of the 8000 km to be covered. Siberia seemed immense, even by plane. The whole of Central Europe has now closed its borders, we hope to just slip in and then go into quarantine at home. The sun is shining.

!!! Attention: The following paragraphs were written before the war against Ukraine !!!

Russia

Aldar told us a lot about history and politics, about the Buriats, about his pride in being Russian. He agrees 100% with Putin's foreign policy, but not at all with his domestic policy, the suppression of the opposition and the press. Putin is committing electoral fraud, which he doesn't even need, he gets 54% of the vote and cheats his way up to 64%. Without Putin, Russia would have collapsed into civil war. He has sacked apparatchiks and made the oligarchs pay and put the mafia in its place, greatly reduced police corruption, but the FSB has become a mafia rival, offering 'protection' at 60% of mafia prices.The judiciary has emancipated itself and become quite independent of politics, but the prisons are in no way inferior to those in India, which must be an absolute horror and downfall. According to Aldar, the two Chechen wars were only meant to behead the mafia. Grozny is now the most modern and peaceful city in Russia, as it has been completely destroyed and rebuilt. The army is now battle-hardened and very well equipped, Russia has become the third largest arms producer and is exporting wheat again. His description of the 90s after Yeltsin's abdication was new to me or had slipped my mind, there was a real famine and poverty throughout the country, people were in a very bad way. Even today, 22% still live in poverty because of the small pensions. In this respect, and after everything we have seen in terms of civilization, modernity, wealth (although the middle class only makes up 12% of 152 million, it is still a lot of people), Putin has achieved and accomplished a great deal. The views of all the Russians we spoke to about Ukraine, the appropriation of Crimea¹, the solidarity with Assad² in Syria are pro-Putin and quite different from what the Western news whispers to us. Even before my visit here, I myself saw the situation more in line with the Russians. The lies of Nato, which has encircled Russia³ and presents Putin's defense as a threat, the American pressure on Brussels to include Ukraine, the CIA's failed coup in Kiev, it all speaks for itself. Somehow we have become very blind in Europe, the USA has been pursuing a policy of dividing and burdening Europe for two decades, the Middle East is being set on fire, the wave of refugees is pushing England out of the EU, the nationalists have the upper hand and the media are silent. In England, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Italy, Trump's motto is: Me first! I watched Oliver Stone's very interesting 4-hour interview with Putin on YouTube. Lavrov is also worth watching with CNN. I think Putin is vastly superior to most Western politicians, he is very cunning and thinks long-term (he also has the luxury to do so). Now a constitutional amendment is up for election that will give him the presidency for life (he's already been in office 22 years). Most people agree that there has been no alternative to Putin so far, but now Foreign Minister Lavrov may emerge as a competitor. We certainly felt much safer than in Paris, for example, very welcome everywhere, the slightest effort to speak Russian is immediately rewarded. Irina's crew accompanied, educated, informed and protected us really well. I don't think we were aware of some of the dangers on the ice and were amazed at the precautions they took. Criticism? Yes, the coming to terms with the past. From comrades Stalin to Yeltsin we saw no monuments anywhere, only Lenin, Trotsky and various generals. Obviously they cleaned up. But the non-art museums and especially the Gulag Museum leave a lot to be desired, a lot still needs to be done.

Closing words

Nico and I found what we were looking for and were surprised by more. I definitely want to come back, just as I want to go back to Bolivia. The Transsib and the north of the Baikal were clearly the highlights. Wintering in Solnetchnaya for a week would be the next dream. There in the north, you are so completely in the middle of nowhere and yet you have the feeling of being in the center, nothing is missing in this solitude. Besides the blog, I didn't get to read, but I listened to many podcasts about the non-existence of free will by Sam Harris, including his critics. That's why I'm already wondering what made me and will make me go to Siberia in the future, although I still can't agree with the thesis. But when you travel to another culture and see the (different) uniformity there (in dress, gestures, traditions, building styles, belief systems etc), you do wonder where and when the choice was for each individual.

P.S. French soil has got us back, we landed on time and got on the last TGV, right in the middle of the SARS2 panic. All the stores are closed, our hand gel has been stolen from the X-ray box in Moscow, the pharmacies here are empty. Belinda asks me to buy food, as all the shelves are empty on the island, the Parisians prefer to sit out their quarantine by the sea. Now I have to provide my surroundings with Peter Attia's latest update on the pandemic. Farewell!

PP.S. August 2023

The invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has changed many things, both in Putin's Russia and in the West, which has declared its solidarity with Ukraine. In Russia, the negative influence of a dictatorial system is particularly evident; the media are much more closely tied to the official guidelines (aligned) than in the West, to the point of total disinformation. Putin himself seems to have undergone a personality change, and he was completely wrong about the Ukrainian reaction to the 'Anschluss'. The Russian military is proving to be as calcified as in Soviet times. The West still wants nothing to do with its 'intrusiveness' and disregard for the Minsk agreements, treating Russia like a normal state (e.g. Chile) and not as a hegemonic power like itself.

-> Travel tips

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)