This was my first look at Kuzhir upon arrival, and I thought "Man, this place is like the Old West, except in the East!"
This is where we stayed for the week, in the second story of the house on the left. The lake, and Shaman Rocks, are just over the hill on the left.
Home sweet home! The upstairs is our room, the downstairs is the banya.
Our room, with Leila still sleeping. Note the absence of lamps, since there's no electricity in the village.
Outhouse and kitchen
The Shaman Rocks, just over the hill
Rocks? What rocks?
View from the Shaman Rocks. See the pointy houses in the upper left of the picture? The one on the right is our room.
Kuzhir village, with a swamp in the middle
Everyone in the village calls it a swamp. Yet some crafty entrepreneurs from Moscow bought the swampland and will turn it into a "spa," where people can come to take "healing" mud baths!
I met this guy one morning while wandering around the village
Next thing I know he's got his shirt off to show me all his tattoos!
What a character!
You may be wondering by now, since I clearly said that the village had no electriciy or telephone, what the poles with all the wiring are for?
The truth is, there *used* to be electricity and phone service on the island, back in the Soviet days. But after perestroika and the end of communal farming, the villagers stopped working and essentially drank and did nothing for a year.
Then they ran out of money, so they chopped down the poles leading to the village and sold the wood and wires to continue their vacation from reality. Of course, that eventually ran out as well, so they went to work, but the end result is that electrical and phone service is nonexistent on the island.
One thing about living in Siberia with no electricity is that you need a *lot* of firewood to get you through the winter!
You think that's the original factory model?
For some reason, I made this cow quite nervous. It didn't take its eyes off me as it walked (jogged) in a large circle to get around me.
Climbing the hill from our house, with the village directly behind us, is a very pleasant beach.
Clear on the other side of the village is a dock and some kind of fish processing place.
Check out the seagulls on the chimneys
The dock is not what I would call in the best of shape!
The gate to the docks, still with a red Soviet star
Right across from our place is Nikita's complex, a collection of buildings with a couple dozen rooms like ours, plus a restaurant. It's *the* place in town to meet others and organize excursions to various parts of the island.
Nikita is the Soviet ping pong champion, circa late 1980's. In addition to organizing a pleasant stay for visitors to the island, he uses much of the money he collects to improve the quality of life in the village and does much to help the children.
Inside Nikita's complex
Walking back through the village, I found these two girls doing their homework while running a liquor stand!
The dining area
Breakfast is served...
Leila contemplates her tea
Rene, an often hilarious Swiss entrepreneur
One of our Siberian waitresses
This clever Siberian fellow was with a group of kids learning English doing a summer camp on the island
This friendly Swiss couple are doing a one-year, round-the-world trip without ever taking an airplane! The German guy in the background was a constant source of one bad joke after another!
This Russian girl actually worked at the complex. Apart from the highly unusual makeup and hairstyle, she has one of the squeakiest voices I've ever heard in my life.
Pablo, a student from Switzerland (the Swiss were everywhere!) came to Siberia to help out with a news camera crew and was taking his last two weeks as vacation. He ended up coming back to Moscow with us.
Elena and Nadya, the two Siberian girls I ended up throwing into Lake Baikal (heh, heh!)
Anatoly, the owner of the place where we were staying, shows off cold-smoked fish...
...And hot-smoked fish.
Pablo reads a book on the steps leading up to our room
Nikita's complex includes a really cool playground for the kids
