This is part 2 of my journey from Kaliningrad to Teriberka : Karelia
Day 9 : Petrozavodsk, capital of Karelia
The day was long, I barely slept. The plane arrived 15 minutes early in St Petersburg; you can criticize Russia on many points but their public transportation is efficient!
I just had time to jump on the last bus to get to the city, and take a taxi to Ladozhsky station. It was Fast and Furious but Yandex taxis version on Moskovsky Prospekt, my driver had put Voyage voyage on full blast in the speakers in my honor and slamed the brake like all the others at each radar warning. At dawn, I took a not so fast train to Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia on the shores of Lake Onega.
Noon, arrival in this city visited 9 years ago. I remember little except falling on a frozen sidewalk, the icy wind blowing between the Soviet streets and my New Year Eve in the depths of the Karelian forest with somz 30 young Russians. What a laugh we had!
Petrozavodsk at the beginning of autumn is very pleasant (but still that wind!). Once again the weather is awesome, it won’t last.
No boats to Kiji tomorrow or the day after. The joys of an off-season trip. It sucks! Consolation by eating an excellent Kalitka with tvorog (small Karelian pie with cheese) and lemonade with maroshka (Arctic berry).
Day 10 : Medvezhegorsk
For a successful trip to Russia I always say that you need a visa, cash and earplugs to sleep well on the train or in a hostel. I went around the clock in my hostel bed with springs of the matress that pierced my ribs. Today improvisation. I admire travelers who plan day to day and stick to their program. 8:30 am, I show up at the bus station, take a look at the departure board: Kostomuchka, too far; Kalevala, it will be for the return trip; Medvezhegorsk, davaï!
Crossing the Karelian forests with autumnal colors, the sky is darker with each kilometer. Traveling in Russia at this time of year, excellent or very bad idea?
Formerly called “bear mountain” Medvezhegorsk is located at the very north of Lake Onega, roads go to the Zaonezhe peninsula, closer to Kizhi. Medvezhegorsk is the kind of city where on the Murmansk-Sochi route you get off the train at 3am wearing your tapashki (plastic slippers) to stretch your legs in search of a Plombir ice cream. Passengers don’t stop there, Western guides don’t even mention the town.
I name the Medvezhegorsk train station the cutest vokzal I’ve seen to date. I saw a husky jump on a trampoline to get a better look at me behind its fences. In the gardens people prepare firewood for the winter. Kirova Street which goes down to the lake is in the colours of the Karelian flag and the houses outside the “town centre” are mainly made of wood with tin roofs.
Lunch in a canteen for 330 rubles. I digested my borsch by hiking on the Lysushkha “mountain”; great views of the lake and tunnels from the Great Patriotic War dug into the rock by the Finns.
I found a small, shabby hotel for 2000₽; it’s obvious that the area is touristy, normally in a small town in deep Russia (yes, here it is a bit) you can find this kind of room for half the price. Russians make wine in cans now. Tastes like an 11% soda, it’s drinkable.
Day 11 : Onega lake’s Eastern side
– “Where are you going?” – “to Povenyets” – “get in!”. Here I am, hitchhiking towards the south of Lake Onega, looking for old Karelian wooden churches in the villages lost deep in the forest. The weather is terrible all day. As an old lady from Kirovsk once told me, “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.” She was right, I am ready for the rain. “Do you want to see the entrance to the canal that connects Lake Onega to the White Sea?” Koniechno! Kostya takes me along a unpaved path full of potholes, he knows all the fishermen on the embankment.
First church, closed. Second church, closed. The villages are deserted. But it’s really pretty; the autumn colors, the little wooden churches …
Heading to my next to the last destination of the day, Sergei stops his truck as I have just stuck out my thumb. Shorts-top tank, he is at home in his truck, he’s on his way to Gorno-Altai, he can make himself comfortable given the distance. He transports there with 2 other guys in convoys, Shungite, a pseudo mineral with properties not recognized in the West: water filtration, protection against electromagnetic radiation from our electronic devices and bad vibes from others.
My previous driver would have really needed it, he was angry with the whole world for living far from everything. We talked and laughed so much that I missed my last church of the day. Lithotherapy fans would say that the 25 tons of stones in the truck have something to do with it. He gave me a small key chain with a piece of shungite. Arrival in Vytegra, 2200 rubles for a small clean and heated hotel room.
Day 12 : Onega lake’s western side
40 kilometers back to see the church of St Eli in the village of Saminsky Pogost missed the day before. Closed and inhabited by pigeons who didn’t have the key.
Vytegra, I cross the White Sea canal on foot. The weather is ok-ish, there are fewer cars/trucks on this section of road. Why? I have my answer 1 hour later, there is no road as to speak. Trucks slalom between potholes, overtaken at full speed by 4wd registered in the Leningrad region (St Petersburg). At the intersection of the roads from St Petersburg to Petrozavodsk, it’s worse, no one stops, behind me the road goes deep into the forest. Finally Yuri who works for the company that builds the roads around Lake Onega takes pity. “The asphalt is coming, but it’s a long process, the country is big and we want to do well”.
Voznesenye, the road stops abruptly at the river; “But why is there no bridge?” – “no money” my driver answers me. So we wait 45 minutes to cross by ferry. On the other side of the Svir river, the same thing, the asphalt has not yet arrived. Along the road there are half-empty villages, huge granite quarries, trucks loaded with logs, small wooden churches.
Back in Petrozavodsk, Yuri insists on gifting me for a nice hotel room for the night “you will tell French people that we know how to welcome guests in Russia!” Huge room, view on Onega, 5 times my accommodation budget. Spasiba
Day 13 : Rainy Sunday in Petrozavodsk
The weather is awful but there are boats to Kiji. “It’s full” says Olga, an arrogant 20-year-old girl who doesn’t even look at me when she talks. After 10 minutes of negotiation, she eventually lets me buy a ticket for the next day.
It’s pouring down, I hide in an 18th century vibes café. In a sea of young Sveta, Tanya and other Yulia, each more pretentious than the last (this clash of pre/post USSR generations!), I meet Vestya, a young blonde Venetian waitress with a unique first name, she learns French and sits down with me before the other customers arrive.
It’s still raining, I go to a nice restaurant: moose soup, Vespian fried pastry, Karelian Kalitka with cranberries. Eventually the rain stopped, I went for walk around the historic Slobodka district to digest my copious lunch.
Day 14 : Kizhi, finally
The Kizhi pogost, an architectural wonder of Northern Russia.The boat leaves on time, almost full. 1h15 to reach the island, I hate being on a boat but the water is calm. The Kizhi pogost, a 17th century parish enclosure made entirely of wood, is absolutely magnificent! The Church of the Transfiguration is the most beautiful church I have seen in Russia to date. Breathtaking. 22 domes made of aspen wood, botchkas rising to the sky, the reflection of the sun on the scales makes it look silver. The mudzhiks must have believed in a divine creation when they saw the structure for the first time!
It’s a mess with the tickets, the funny little lady at the kassa only sold me a ticket to access the Pogost and the territory of the museum, not the interior of the buildings. Very weird organization. 99% of the signs are in Russian. It’s a shame for a UNESCO site.
Back to Petrozavodsk too late to catch the 5:10 p.m. train to the far north.
