Россия: дураки и дороги
The problem with Russia - fools and roads. I heard this phrase so many times when I first started reading LJ a few years ago, but never understood it until I visited the country. Fools, they're found everywhere on the planet, but the roads in Russia remain a mystery to me after so many visits. The answer to yesterday's game - the Kursk villagers had a huge celebration because the dirt road in their neighborhood was finally paved. According to my reader, the villagers had been waiting for this day for over 85 years, and now live in happiness over something as basic as a proper road. For me, it's almost incomprehensible that such a celebration would ever occur in the U.S., because good roads for us are the norm. Even in small towns, with few rural exceptions. The only time I've seen a lot of dirt roads was in rural parts of Kansas, but such pathways were usually leading to privately owned farmland or very remote areas, not neighborhoods where many homes and people are located. Rural roads in the U.S. look something like this.
1. This shot was taken in the middle of nowhere Kansas, during my December journey. Dirt road, but we were here by choice. Those who want to go off-roading, explore remote parts of an area, or take the unbeaten path can pick this route. However, if it was so desired, we could have traveled on a completely normal, paved road during this part of the trip. Well, sometimes it's fun to go off course and have a little adventure, so we picked this route instead. :) Kansas - ugly, flat and full of barren fields in winter. About this State, I'll have several posts when I can find the time to write.
2. Another rural road in the Smoky Mountain region of Tennessee, not dirt but gravel. Such roads I love. :))
3. Road to a beautiful farm I visited in Vermont. All of these photos were taken with my iPhone, so sorry for the bad quality.
4. And here - the glorious village road of my reader only a few weeks ago. So many people accuse me of seeing Russia only through the eyes of one person, my frequent travel partner macos, but this is not the case. As I've explained before, I have many Russian friends and readers, and I see the postings about ordinary life from people outside of Moscow and Peter consistently on Facebook. I began to notice one reader who frequently posted photos of the horrible dirt road in her village, showing scenes of devastation, holes, and complete flooding during rains which made simple navigation and chores burdensome, and sometimes impossible. Several shots taken from her Facebook page, look familiar? I've traveled on such roads numerous times during my Russian journeys.
5. So how did the "miracle" of a paved road occur? About eight years ago, the villagers began to write letters to local and regional authorities and deputies. Their cries for an ordinary road fell on deaf ears for many years, and then last week the community began to see signs of hope. Construction equipment rolling through the neighborhood!!
6. The finished product - what beauty! In the words of my reader - "We can now live as white people (as we call it here). It's a real pleasure to walk on a smooth road instead of ruts and knee deep in mud...but paving a road in a living street isn't usual for our great country. But you know this not by hearsay...of course, we thanked our Chief, but actually it's awful when such necessary things as a road are taken as miracles, and it's especially sad for the country which calls itself great."
These are HER words, not mine. But I agree 100%. Proper roads and infrastructure, a hallmark of most civilized socieites. And I'll never understand why Russian officials think otherwise, why resources aren't dedicated to improve pavement, potholes, etc. Even when I rode in Yaroslavl in March, I played a dodging game with my local driving companion, trying to avoid huge craters in his tiny car, which sat low to the ground.
Congrats to these Kursk villagers, who can now walk without struggle, to the kids who can now skate and ride bikes on a smooth surface, and to adults who also wish to have fun. :)
Please tell me the reasons why Putin and your officials don't dedicate money to improve the lives of villagers and Russian citizens by building proper roads? And don't blame the weather. :)) I traveled recently in the Yukon Territory of Canada, where temperatures fall well below zero in winter time, and the pavement there is just as in the USA. You can look at my post, if you want to see it for yourself.
P.S. The winner of the contest is anna_sollanna, who will receive a prize from Maine. It's great, because I actually met this reader during one of my visits to St. Petersburg. Good job Anna, and to all the others who easily guessed the proper answer about the road.