Burgdorf

The first question of the day was "how to get to Burgdorf?" A colleague proposed to go by bike. Crazy idea? Actually a nice one. So we went off for a 25 km ride through hilly, rural and tidy Berne province. It took us 2 and 1/2 hours... and was quite tiring. It was the first time for me to ride for such a long time - a good experience. And of course, I could not help asking myself how do professional riders do to climb those steep mountains day after day. There is an obvious answer... On the way, we stopped to buy blueberries and a friendly cat came to say hello. It would have liked to stay on my shoulder for much longer, but we still had some way to go.

The next question is "what to say about Burgdorf?" Well, that is a really tough one! I could probably go on for hours or I could be ironic. To keep it short, i will quote our guide, who said "Burgdorf is the city of schools". I think it is a good summary.The last question sounds: "is there a criminal in the house?" We visited the crime studio where we would play the investigators. It was both interesting and fun. There were around 14 cases to solve, thanks to several clues. Sounds easier than it was. The owner had all the experience to set up these cases, as he is a retired policeman.

A year on!

Time for this blog to celebrate its first anniversary! I guess i should continue with it. What do you say? Feel free to make proposals to improve it some more. I must say I thought some of my friends would also start with a blog. Apparently, they prefer facebook...

What best way to celebrate with the most famous Geneva fireworks.

Some said that there were not as nice as last year. Still a great evening! And so many tourists. It certainly did not feel like there were world economic problems. Indeed the main guest was Russia and their tourists came in numbers. Surely another bumper year for the exclusive swiss watchmakers.

One of the highlight of the evening was the superb and colourful sunset on Mont Blanc. Is not that beautiful.

Moscow

One of the first thing that strikes in Moscow is that the city is booming. The airport is flashy, many buildings are being built, the traffic is nightmarish, historical sites are being restored, huge advertisment boards flourish and people wear the latest design clothes. Moscow is actually not in Europe, but in a new continent. Russians are proud of their past, their culture, their strenghts, their religion to the point that they feel they are the reference point. They do not need to be part of Europe.

We were of course in Moscow to visit the main highlights. The red square of course. On the first evening, we were stunned at the colours and the beauty of the St. Basile church. In the neighbourhood, there is the Lenine tomb and the big shopping center, Gum. Behind the high red walls, where Staline, Brejnez and co waved at the Russian troops, is the Kremlin. Some buildings are modern, like the one that used to host the meetings of the Communist party. But most are churches financed by tsars. They were competing to build the best one, with the biggest bell or the highest tower.

This mixture is present also on top of the towers, with communist (the red star) and tsarist (the double eagle) symbols. Further, the Douma, the Russian parliament, the Boltchoi theatre and a statue of Marx.

On the last day, we visited "Star City", the place where the Russians (and Europeans) astronauts train to fly into space. It was quite a mission, and an expansive one, to organise this visit. Indeed, the doors have opened to tourists only three years ago. I was then expecting to see very modern buildings and the latest technology gadgets. What a disappointment! The 7000 inhabitants live in exactly the same appartment blocks. Worse, the technology used seems so old. The centrifugal machine and the pool used to practice work on the spaceships looked so old. For a potential space traveller (who wants to give me a million??), this visit did not boost my confidence. Apparently, modern Russia is not investing much in this domain.

Transsiberian

From Moscow to Biysk in Altay, we took the Transsiberian train. We spent 3 days and 3 nights to cover the 3400 kilometers. We changed thrice of time zone, although in each station, they still display the Moscow time. We stopped in places like Sverdlovsk, Kazan, Tatarskaya, Karasuk... We went through mostly flat areas. There were some fields (potatoes, wheat) but mostly it was covered with birch and fir forests. Seldom did we come accross old style industries. However, on the tracks, we saw numerous Gazprom carriages. The Transsiberian is a major artery not only for people but also for goods.

At each stop, we could get out and buy small things on the platform. In most cases, it was older women selling local fruits and Chinese toys. This was a nice change from the "food" our agency had planned for us, and it was also a question of survival, as the restaurant on board ran out of food on the second day already.

The train itself was quite comfortable. We had a compartment for four people, large enough for my long legs. It is ideal to rest, relax, read, play cards, look at the landscape. And if we felt the need to stretch our legs, we can walk through the 18 carriages. It is quite a mission and there still are a few smoking places.

I must admit I was quite impressed that the train was almost always on time, even after three days. Ok, it was not very quick, but reliable - does that sound familiar? Another surprise was that on the second day, they switched from an electric powered locomotive to a coal powered one.

Altay

There in the middle of Asia, we enter the Altay Republic (still part of the huge Russian Federation). Moscou and "white" Russia are far far away, actually 3400 kilometers. The relaxed atmosphere and the environment are welcoming. The old traditions are alive with "natural" religious rites and burial sites still in use. There are even rumours that archeologues who come to uncover tumbs annoy the "spirits" so much so that they generate earthquakes and natural disasters. Do I need to say that many rites are forbidden to women.The landscape is quite similar to Switzerland, with high peaks, large glaciers, many rivers, thousands of lakes and sparse vegetation. The Altay Mountains are one of the oldest mountain range in the world and made it to the list of Unesco natural World Heritage sites.

We drove so close to the borders with China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, that we had to stop at a "pre-frontier" border post. It sounds much more serious than it actually was. On our trip, we visited some local firms mostly linked to the agricultural sector. We saw a farm active in the export of deers, in particulars of the antlers to South Korea and of the meat to Germany. We also got a taste of the very sour fermented mares milk. All these are family businesses that have no support from governement. Tourism is becoming more popular with river rafting a favorite attraction on these stormy waters.

We spent a few nights in a traditional house, sleeping on yak skin and eating all sorts of traditional products. We felt very welcome even though it was close to impossible to speak with the local population. In the village, people still go around with horses. The shops, the clinic, the schools are mostly made of wood.

We spent two nights camping in the middle of nowhere, but close to a river. Very nice area, except that little mouse and squirrels liked it as well and were running below my tent early in the morning. It did get very cold at night. Fortunately, the night is short at this time of the year. The evenings were spent around the fire with good food, singing competitions (in Russian, Kazakh and French) and good vodka. And of course, we could admire the stars and the planets (Jupiter and its moons) above us.

Eclipse

On the first of August, we all got up early and excited for THE highlight of our trip - even though it would only last a bit more than 2 minutes. So we decided to climb a hill and went off for a 6 hours walk. On the way, we had time to stop by a lake and just to dip the feet in. Way too cold. Then we reached the observation point. It was so windy, we had to lay on the ground. But it was a pretty comfortable way to spot the eclipse. We prepared the cameras, videos and binoculars for the eclipse. Nice look ?Then we had a big argument: would the moon come accross from the right or the left side. We had to wait for the first "contact". The eclipse was beginning! The combination sun-moon got through a few funny shapes - including "packman".

The moon was progressing quite rapidly. The colours were changing, the temperature was dropping significantly, the clouds were menacing. And then it was TIME. The last rains were blocked by the moon. It was dark! We got all so excited, trying to do too many things. Looking around the sky where Mercury and Venus could now be seen. Taking pictures. Being amazed at how dark it was.

And then, the total eclipse was over. The light was coming back... Too short, too quick. What an experience. All went perfectly. By the way, the next one is in China on July 21, 2009. Who is interested?