Where on Earth (Week 7) Volgograd!

by Neil Woodburn on

Congrats go out to Beanie, John, Barb Steadman, Bo and James for all correctly guessing that the above statues reside in the city of Volgograd, Russia. The memorial commemorates the horrific battle that was fought here in World War II back when the city was named Stalingrad.

I had the opportunity to visit a few years ago and found a very peaceful and lovely city. This is partly because nearly the entire thing has been rebuilt since the war when every building was flattened as both Stalin and Hitler ordered their troops to not surrender.

The result was the loss of 1.5 million lives and the dubious honor of being one of the deadliest battles in all of mankind’s violent history.

Today, the above memorial has been built atop Mamayev Kurgan, the highest hill in the city (check it out here on Google Earth). Wandering through the complex is a very sobering experience as dozens of gigantic statues stoically stand their ground against the Nazis. Patriotic Red Army songs are piped out of hidden speakers and fill the air with a sense of horror, sacrifice, and Slavic manliness.

The centerpiece of this complex is the massive Mother Russia statue seen in the distance. This enormous structure stands 270 feet tall and is one of the tallest statues in the world. By comparison, the Statue of Liberty is only 154 feet tall.

No one does war memorials quite like the Russians and I therefore recommend checking one out if you ever find yourself in the country. Nearly every city has one, but none compare to that which is found in Volgograd.

Where to go to Disappear off the Face of the Planet

by Neil Woodburn on

Want to disappear and never be found?

Such a desire is increasingly difficult in these modern times when internet cafes and satellite telephones reach nearly every corner of the globe.

Escaping the world and living off the grid is the theme of a recent article by Elisabeth Eaves for Forbes Magazine. Eaves discuses the challenges that modern-day technology poses for those who want to disappear, then recommends eight places where one can actually do so. Naturally, most of the places I’ve never heard of (otherwise they wouldn’t be off the grid, now would they?).

Take for example, Tristan da Cunha, a tiny archipelago populated by just 300 people and only reachable by a five-day boat trip from Cape Town, South Africa. Or, there is the Darien Gap between Panama and Columbia where one of the cons listed is, “foreigners occasionally kidnapped.”

Of the places I’ve heard of, Papua New Guinea, Kamchatka, and Mongolia I’ve only been to one: Mongolia. If the other seven locations are even half as remote as what I saw in Mongolia, you can truly expect to disappear for a long time.

Russia to Alaska by Train?

by Neil Woodburn on

Plans have just been announced to build a tunnel underneath the Bering Strait and connect Russia with the United States. Although a final go-ahead has yet to be issued, proponents of the plan estimate that the project would cost up to $12 billion and take 15 years to complete.

Others are calling it a pipe dream. The Bering Strait is hardly the friendliest of environments to be building what would be the world’s longest tunnel at 100 kilometers long. And then, there is the extra $55 billion that would be required to connect local rail lines to both ends of the tunnel.

But if it does happen, one could travel by rail from London to New York heading east. Wow. That would be very cool!

Berlin to Irkutsk Direct: Rail Route to Possibly Open

by Neil Woodburn on

Long train journeys are one of the simple joys in life. I don’t mean a three-day journey through Europe where one has to switch trains every 6 hours. No, I mean a continuous train journey where you board at point A and don’t have to get off again until point B, many days later.

The Trans-Siberian is one such classic journey. To do it without switching trains, however, involves starting the journey in Moscow–not an easy task.

There are some alternatives, however. Currently the longest journey from Western Europe itself travels from Berlin to Novosibirsk–a very long, four-day trip.

Russian Railways, however, is floating the idea of extending the journey an additional day, all the way to Irkutsk. This would be a far more attractive end station than Novosibirsk and very much worth the journey on its own. Travelers can then catch an onwards train to China (another two days) or turn around and do it all over again back to Berlin. Whatever their choice, they can still brag they rode Western Europe’s longest rail route without changing trains.

Evil Passports Plague Village

by Dave Luna on

The devil is in the details for a group of Russian citizens. About a hundred residents of the village of Bogolyubovo claim bar codes found in the country’s new passports contain the Mark of the Beast. This refers to a set of three sixes which are believed to signify the Devil.

The town’s name translates to “God-loving” in English, and it seems its people are quite serious about that. Some elderly residents have even gone a step further and stopped picking up pension checks because of the attached satanic bar codes. Now, that’s dedication.

This is all very interesting especially amid the talks of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in American passports. I’m fascinated that American concerns dwell in realms of privacy while these humbler folk center their objections around religion.