We knew this border wasn’t one that could be crossed quickly. We started very early in the morning, and by the time we arrived in the Russian Federation, it was afternoon. It took about 10 hours, mostly waiting. Although we were tired, we finally made it! But this day turned into a really bad one. The parking area where we spent the night seemed calm. But at night, young people went there to play soccer all night long. Meanwhile, they played music on the car radio loudly. It was impossible to rest well. But that wasn’t all. On our way there, we encountered a very unfriendly policeman. During our two previous visits to Russia, we had never encountered such a situation. Everyone was polite and friendly — even the police were always interested in our tour. But not this time. Anyway, we were allowed to continue despite being really irritated about that situation.
After traveling hundreds of kilometers, we reached our first point of interest: Elista. It is the largest Buddhist center on the European continent. This city is not a typical Russian one. With its statues and temples, it feels more like being in the Far East of Asia. We spent the night there and moved on the next day. After traveling more than 300 kilometers, we reached the Volga River. However, it took another 300 kilometers to reach our next point of interest:
Lake Baskunchak. We didn’t expect much, but we found the “Dead Sea” — located in Russia, not Israel. Extremely cool! It’s both an active salt mine and a tourist attraction. We took the opportunity to book a young man to take us across the lake. Due to communication issues, we ended up in an area of the lake that we had not intended to visit. However, the ride in his UAZ was extremely adventurous. Just before we returned, the car stopped working properly. The fuel level was too low. Other drivers towed us to the village. While our driver went to buy gas, we walked back to the lake to explore and take a bath. It was gorgeous. We had never experienced anything like that before.
After that, we took a short trip to reach Mamayev Kurgan, where a well-known statue was installed: The Motherland Calls. Located in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), it commemorates the victory over the Axis forces. It’s a very impressive place. The statue is one of the tallest free-standing statues in the world, and it is likely the tallest statue depicting a woman. After eating sushi heavily influenced by Russian cuisine, we turned around to drive back.
We hadn’t planned to return to Georgia. Sometimes, however, plans need to be changed. As a result, we would not see Siberia or even reach Mongolia. Unfortunately. We just needed to cross the gigantic Volga River and some of its tributaries again. In one place, we drove across a swimming bridge. It was a curiosity we had never seen before! A few days later, we returned to the Caucasus region. In this direction, the border could be crossed faster. Finally, we made it back to Georgia.
