Going South (Friday, July 12, 2002)
On Wednesday night, we received some interesting information about black storks. Professor Sokolov from the University of Krasnoyarsk knows about cliff nests at the Mongolian border, in the Republic of Tuva.
On Thursday afternoon, we met Valeryi Ivanovich Krivonogov, the head of the Achinsk Wildlife Protection Authority, who came to Krasnoyarsk. He assured us that his people will search for nests, even though they did not know about any as yet. We therefore decided not to go to Achinsk for the time being, and continue to Abakan, and then via Kyzyl, the capital of the Republic of Tuva, to Erzin at the border with Mongolia. From Krasnoyarsk, it is just a little longer journey than from Prague to Paris :).
Yesterday, we left for Borodino, not very far from Abakan, in a hired van. Our guide, ornithologist Andrey Bajkalov invited us to spend the night at his parents' place. Borodino has some two thousand inhabitants, including Russians, Khakas, and Germans who were transferred here from the Volga region during the war. Andrey's father is Russian, his mother is Chuvash. They are both old-age pensioners, so they have at least some income guaranteed from the state. However, they have keep two cows and other animals and grow as much vegetables in their garden as possible vegetables to make a living. Many younger Borodino citizens are much worse off. The local sovkhoz went bankrupt and its employees get 105 roubles a month, which is just enough to buy one loaf of bread a day. As Andrey's mother said, "alkashi" (alcoholics) started to steal. Five horses and several cows disappeared from the village lately.
The Bajkalovs' household is quite well equipped - they have a TV set, fridge, gas cooker - yet we felt like we travelled several decades back in time. Whether it was the tiny kitchen or home-made butter, cheese and milk fresh from the cow, I can't say...
Right now, on Friday morning, we are in Abakan, the capital of Khakasia, trying to find out something more about storks in this territory. Nevertheless, we are pinning our hopes to Erzin, hopefully, we'll be able to get to the Tuvian republic...