What to expect in Russia?
General information:
An impressive landscape and beautiful nature.
A fascinating landscape and a unique environment. The whole region around Lake Baikal has its special charm, no matter if it is a steppe or taiga, a sand bay or cliff line, North or South Baikal. All of you, who were there once, will understand.
An adventure,
that you can participate in but also create on your own. Working together, sitting around the campfire and singing songs in the evenings, drinking hot tea at any time of the day - and all that somewhere around Lake Baikal.
What not to expect in Russia?
You should definitely not expect that actions, which are planned or announced will be carried out. The place for the camp can be moved to another location on very short notice, on trips it happens that a boat or a bus doesn't show up or a planned hiking tour can be cancelled on short notice. In these cases it's good to be calm but also proactive. Not everything can be perfectly planned in advance when you're in Russia, and the Russians don't plan everything in advance either.
Safety:
In Russia you are not as medically protected as you are at home. Sometimes it takes 2 days to get to the nearest doctor's surgery. Sometimes, when being on an island without having a walkie-talkie, you can't contact a doctor's surgery at all. But apart from that, Siberia isn't more dangerous than most other remote travel destinations in the world. This applies also to crime - as far as you don't interfere with politics or economics to a great extent.
Food:
A German proverb says: 'A farmer does not eat what he does not know.'
Who now thinks, "Yes, that's what I do too", should either not go to Russia, or just think about the beauty and charm of Lake Baikal and forget about the everyday meal 'kasha' (porridge) and other unpleasant things. The meals on the Russian camps are quite similar every day. We attempt to cook warm meals as often as possible. However, cooking in a large group can be very special.
In general, we cook over the campfire. For this we use 10-litre buckets that are attached to a clasp to hang over the campfire. For this reason the participants get to eat soup or very tasty fish almost every day. For breakfast, there's kasha almost every day, but mostly improved with dried fruits. Such sort of breakfast isn't everyone's cup of tea, but, on the one hand, there's no other feasible alternative to it and, on the other hand, it's just typical Russian. By the way, you can improve your breakfast with a little bit of cinnamon.
The midday and evening meal is mostly thin soup. If possible, it's also very often tasty fish from Lake Baikal or fungi and berries from the woods. In general, there's served bread with the soup. Actually, Russians always eat a warm meal in the evening so that there's also no other alternative to soup. However, for a change, the participants will once in a while cook typical food of their own culture. If possible, there's also fresh vegetables or fruits to eat. But please consider the fact that the food is stored outdoors for over two weeks (and not in a fridge or similar) so that the choice of food is narrowed considerably. Besides, the Russians like to drink black tea at any time of the day and with any meal.
It's definitely very helpful to discuss some questions in a group before going to Russia, for example, who will bring what spices. In our experience they are always missing in the camp kitchen. A little cinnamon for the kasha as well as pepper, nutmeg or stock granules don't weigh that much but can pretty much ease your life.
Specifics of the Russian way of life:
Russian mentality
At this point we want to give some preliminary information about the Russian mentality. This information may be a little funny or banal but we think that it's very important for dealing with some situations in Russia.
Russian democracy
'Russian democracy is that everyone can say what he thinks but only one person decides what to do.' We've laughed about this sentence very often but we've also had to deal with the truth of it. Russians don't like endless debates, no matter what it's about. In most of the cases, they just start doing and only afterwards discuss about how some things could have been done better. Dealing with this is not very easy since, as we understand it, a foregoing discussion can solve problems before they occur.
You can battle against the mentality but you'll rarely succeed. For this reason we introduced the 'pill for anti-self-determination' that everyone, who's getting upset about certain things, can (symbolically) take. That means that calmness is something that you need in Russia to a great extent but something that you can also learn there.
Appointments and agreements
On the one hand, appointments definitely have to be kept. However, on the other hand, they are also very relative. If you're invited to a Russian's house or if you'll meet with a Russian, you should be on time in any case. Also arrangements about when to get up or when to prepare food should be taken seriously. On the one hand, Russians do expect this from foreign nationals, on the other hand, it's a question of politeness.
However, certain appointments, such as the arrival of a bus or the beginning of a trip, that shall occur on a special time, are just made for orientation. It can happen that the bus arrives 5 hours later or not at all on the respective day. When being on the camp you should prepare for this Russian manner and quickly come to terms with it. In general, you cannot change it. So, don't become desperate but rather play games or read a book.
What do Russians think that we ('fastidious') Westerners are capable of?
The answer from Russians would be "of nothing or just of a few things". That means they would put a lot past us but they don't think that we would survive in the Siberian wilderness. To some extent, it's surely justified since, nowadays, we're not really used to living without sanitary fittings etc. for several days somewhere where it takes 2 days (or 300km) to get to the nearest doctor's surgery and where nobody can help you. However, many Westerners have got a lot of outdoor experience due to several tours and therefore are capable of surviving without any help. The reservations of Russians about the Westerners' abilities are partly that serious that the latter shouldn't even go alone by bus or taxi or similar.
You should be aware of this attitude and not get upset about it. Instead, you should rather try to convince them otherwise. That's not always easy but still possible. The resulting mutual respect helps to deal with each other in a kind and personal way. All in all, don't give up. Just be calm or in case you can't be, take a 'pill for anti-self-determination'!
