The Russian people have hearts made of gold. Here I was : 220 Kms past Chita on the way to Skovorodino. I stopped at Chita and tried to get a hotel room, everything was booked. Some International Festival was going on and Even PM Medvedev was in town for the celebration - no rooms anywhere. I rode until I couldnt ride anymore - it was 10:30 at night. It was getting dark. I stopped for gas at a little village gas station - primitive. At the gas station, some immigrant gypsies arrived and were begging the Station attendant for some gas. It was a sad situation, 5 or six people in an old Russian car - packed with all their belongings. They were making a big scene - drama, crying, babies shown to everyone. I gave them 500 rubles for gas - 50% so theyd leave and 50% because they needed help. So they gassed up and left and instantly the gas station was quiet again. I needed a place to camp. I saw an old couple standing in their front yard about 40 meters past the gas station and on the edge of a very little village. I rode over and asked the Man if I could camp in their front yard. Of course everything was in Russian Language. I explained that I was from America, I work in Ulaanbaatar and for my summer vacation I was riding to Magadan and back. We talked for about 20 minutes while he evaluated me. His wife came out and after a short, and quick (positive) comment from her, they agreed to let me into their yard. I started to get my camping stuff out, tent, sleeping bag and stuff and the couple interrupted me and asked me to come into the kitchen for some tea and a cookie. We ended up talking for another 45 minutes. It turns out that the Mans Father built the house in the 1950s and was a local Collective Farmer. In 1985, when the Son, (the Man I was talking with) was 17, He went to Collective Farming School to learn farming. When the Son returned to work in the Collective Farm in 1989 - everything was in poor condition and a year later, the Collective Farm was abolished and the son had no job in the new era of market economy. As land was divided up, the father was given the house and 1.5 hectares of land and was left to live via subsistence. Since that time of 1989, the Father passed away and the land and 1.5 hectares was handed down to the son - the Man I was talking with in this small kitchen. He showed me around - he has 5 cows and provides milk to the village, a Russian Banya (sauna), a very nice garden - fantastic what he grows: greens and reds and oranges and some whites and sunflowers. He gets his water from a well in the center of the village and a home-made gutter system that collects rain water and drains into to large tanks. The Man explained there is a truck that comes by 3x a week and stops at all the small villages and buys fresh vegetables that get transported to the big cities for sale to the restaurants. During the winter time, he only makes money from selling milk. He told me he never got any money from the state. No job, no pension, no opportunity for more education. He is what I call the Gap People. People that were trained to live in a Socialized, Planned Economy, but were left by the side of the road when the Motherland changed its painful course to Capitalism. They fell into a gap - no one helps them. After Tea, and the Tour, the Man invited me into his house and told me I could sleep in his sons bed. His son had grown up, moved to Moscow and became a truck driver. The bed, like the house was original 1954 model steel frame, steel mesh webbing and a 50mm thick pad. It was more like a hammock. I slept so good ! I can honestly tell you I loved this stop, I loved the people, my heart went out to them. The next morning when I left, I gave them the equivalent to 3 nights hotel payment for their kindness. [ 10,000 Rubles] These are the people that we will see in heaven.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:31:22 +0000
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