Nizhny is a fascinating town that I hope to revisit. It is clearly an economic growth centre in Russia. It was the first area to privatise its small businesses in the early 1990s and has kept its lead. Its heavy industries also transformed. General Motors and Skoda moved in and it is now one of Skoda’s top production centres worldwide. It is now also moving into a new generation of industry based on big data and tech.

 

Mike had a fascinating time at the Skoda workshop while he got the brakes fixed. And they not only refused payment but gave him gifts including some wonderful WW2 memorabilia. Because the mechanics didn’t want him looking over them as they worked, the managers entertained him with stories including how during the war they built submarines there and transported them thousands of miles to the sea. Some of the other stories are too interesting to print….

 

Despite this, the statue of Lenin in our car park was still observing us as we left.

Fig 1 Parked under the baleful gaze of Lenin…

On our 690 km journey we passed scores of churches – one begins to understand how Karl Marx’s frustration led him to allege that ‘religion is the opium of the masses’.

Fig 2 We pass churches….

Fig 3    …..and more churches….

Fig 4   ….and still more churches 

This was mainly a transit day and the driving was uneventful. We took a westward line about 100 KM north of Moscow.

 

Some observations on Russia. Past drivers on the rally commented on the risk from drunken drivers, especially in trucks. We’ve spoken to hundreds of truck drivers at cafes and petrol stations. Not one smelt of alcohol. Life expectancy has risen sharply in the past 30 years, by nearly 6 years for men. This may well reflect increased sobriety. Still, Russia has a 12 year gap in life expectancy between men and women, the highest in the world.

 

Russian drivers seem much better at home than in St Johns Wood High Street. Road manners now are good. Although there are queue jumpers in traffic jams, it is not like Mongolia where it seems to be the national sport. In Russia 19 out of 20 don’t queue jump. Those who do, as in St Johns Wood, seem to be in large 4x4s!

 

We finished the day in Zavidovo. This is a spanking brand new special economic zone for recreational pursuits and technology built around a lake. We watched water skiers being pulled by zip wire. And golfers in their buggies.

Fig 5 ……and end up watching a beautiful sunset in a ‘recreational and technology based’ special economic zone..

President Putin has a weekend retreat here. And, as the pic shows, it looks pretty good. But it all looks a bit empty so far. Time will tell whether enterprise can overcome bureaucracy.

 

Today is the longest driving day of the rally as we drive to St Petersburg. I suspect mainly motorway, followed by the inevitable jam as we enter town. Fingers crossed for us and the car…..