last full day

well i tink all of the band recording is done - perhaps we are recording some of my songs today?..
last night had to do some acting- video of wedding preparations by groom and best man..mainly  because i wasnt there - had to go straight to wedding from plane

this is the brides parents cat. apparently it is called a british cat? anyhow it was huge, and had a liking for being stepped on and used as a mop

waiting to get into the studio- the building reminds me a lot of the those shithole rehearsal rooms near the tip in SB - but inside the rooms are a lot cleaner..

the groom twiddles on guitar for purposes of the video - all artistic like..

yesyterday we went for a walk down to the river which involved walking along the train track and thru a village on the outskirts of syktyvkar..these are not dachas but actual homes - i am looking into renting one for a while..

every house must have a knackered soviet times car outside..

down to the river

view of syktyvkar from the outskirts

last night was bit of a laugh - jammed with a local band while all were under the influence of whiskey..should have recorded it - but it was probably frog dirt..

well off to get out in the sun..

randon vidios

sorry no vids as connection so slow here.. will post when i return
so random pics instead.. 

inside the local post office

komi republic celebrates its 90th birthday

a device to both scare and potentially kill small children..

what every supermarket needs..a beer tent..

what i initially thought was a toilet, turns out to be somewhere were you buy fresh water

prime mushroom pickin territory - found numerous chanterelles!

the main square

typical flats of the posher type..

hi tech high rise and low tech low rise

time has zoomed by here, cant believe i'll be returning home soon already. had probably my first party last night where no alcohol was consumed..strange but not unpleasant. played a psychological game called mafia. i will bring it back home to try..

not sure what the remaining days hold - some more recording for def - but otherwise?

has been almost not stop sunny here.. hope same 4 you lot at home and 4 the puzzfest..

urals part2

well it was certainly vast, quiet, mysterious,wild, haunting...and that was just my tent..

what wasnt rocks covered in bright green lichens and moss, was a carpet of berry bearing plants..i have never ever seen so much fruit readily available to pick..most of it was a siberian version of bilberry- that tasted like strawberry..it was literally a case of walk a step, grab some berries, walk another etc..i was on a vitamin c high.

magical skies most evenings, blown in from the arctic.

at our first camp, we left the other two to put up the tents while we searched for a vital drinking water supply. this is where we all felt real fear. are you familiar with the scene from jurassic park, where our intrepid team enter the field of long grass?  that instantly sprang to my mind when we were walking down through the woods and foun bear traces. fresh traces. im not talking about lines in the grass, im talking huge indentations where the bears had layed down - in this chest high grass. not just one, but four or five. they were somewhere close. it was a scary time- and we hadnt got the water yet! so we had to forge on and keep our wits about us..bears will invariably attack if you stumble across them at close quarters..anywho- we got the water and got out of that wood quick..this was not the last close encounter.

bears dont like fires, so we cooked up some tea

some of the views in between camps

an example of the berry carpet

ooh more berries, what a surprise..

a rather cheeky little view..

we find time to play a strategy game..?..

?dont ask me - i lost

we decided to make our final camp where there were lots of bear signs- in this case lemon smelling shit - from the berries dont you know..the fragrant smell was everywhere- which means so were the bears..but for some reason we werent as scared- maybe we were becoming one with nature?..

the final weary trek back to the cars as the sun set.

finally back at the cars - where god did speak to the lowly travellers and said 'get orf my land'

btw it was now zero degrees..mm not it was just a case of a 600 miles high speed drive at night by two knackered drivers..deep joy

next up - some random videos

back from urals..

well it wasnt so much a camping trip as more of a military expedition- rucksacks filled to the brim and terrain to tire any man..i am knackered!

first there was the very long drive there (approx 600 miles) - all done in one go of course, this involved rubbish roads for the most part + extreme roads for the rest. it felt like rally driving for about 200 miles of it..nearly all thru forest.

the only town we came across - all to do with gas

 typical driving view

3/4 of the journey there, we had to get thru a gas terminal..we arrived about 10 oclock at night, and they wouldnt let us thru, so we had to kip in car. the following day was five hours of bullshit bureauocracy while everything was quadruple checked by god knows how many people- then we were finally thru..only another 200 miles or so to go..

our final contact with civilisation before we went it alone - nice sauna...

went for a jaunt up a large mountain to find a helicopter that had had a bit of trouble..

on our final leg

'you are now leaving europe and entering asia' . cool, first time in asia. also we are now in siberia proper

beautiful but severe landscape

'ere dear, ill give you an and..'

lots of nice clean rivers

so we left cars and set off on foot, sun shining and alls well\
ok - bit knackered and need shower so will sign off fa now and continue this later.. stay tuned for news of bears

nightmare journey..

hello from russia!..well everything seemed to be going swimmingly til i got to amsterdam airport. flight delay of two hours meant my connecting flight from moscow to syktyvkar was also under threat..

on arrival at moscow airport i had 15 minutes to catch the next plane, which would have been ok if it hadnt been for passport control..this took 15 minutes. i prayed that my flight might be delayed..unfortunately not. flight missed.next flight available?..8.30pm the following day - well after the wedding. after a great deal of swearing and general downheartedness, i texted the groom to explain the situation - he said there may be another option..book another flight from a different airport leaving in the morning. he sorted this out over tinternet.. so a day and a half later, i reached my destination..at least im here and caught the wedding.

a damp send off at leeds bradford..

time for a slight bit of r&r in the freebie posh hotel in moscow (note beer, which was most welcome)

getting on the plane bound for syktyvkar at moscow airport - it was absolutely roasting..

a great setting for the wedding

 the bride and groom with immediate family

a wedding dance practice in a posh hotel

the wedded couple pose

and again

the following day, some of us go to the father in laws dacha to relax - we were later treated to a display of dry lightning which i'll post later - off to bed now - as its the trip to the urals tommorow...so no posts for a few days..hope alls well in riot britain.?..