Imagine a country with one arm stretching over to the Far East in the Japanese sea, one arm in the South East in Georgia, one arm in North West Finland and another in the South in Mongolia and to have diplomatic relations with them since 1497, the date they first appointed an Ambassador in Istanbul.

And again, imagine a country that contributed to your victory in the War of Independence through its relations that began in the early 1920 and its financial contribution. It is not commonly known that this is the reason why with the direct orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk the Republic memorial in Taksim contains the sculptures of two generals of this country.

http://www.whereist.com/tag/russian-generals/

Imagine a country which throughout the ‘cold war’ years we considered it as ‘the other’ and with the impact of American movies we consider it to be a country that can never be defeated by the enemy! Because as the enemy generals would say – “The two best allies of this country are the incredibly cold weather and the vast expanse of land!”

How strange it is that our knowledge of this great and ‘mysterious country is so minimal… It has always been a little foreign to us, a little scary and our entire knowledge of it consists of a few stereotypical names and events! I know that this does not differ greatly in regard to other countries but when it comes to this country it seems that the false things we think are true and the things we don’t know at all is at a high number!

(The song recommended for this section: Polyushka Polye)

 

When we ask a regular person on the streets of Taksim what they know about this country, they will not hesitate to give the following responses: ‘Crazy Petro, Katerina, communism, cold war, Chernobyl, Gorbachev, the suitcase trade… ‘Yet at one point a particular generation that was raised in these lands was so well acquainted with this country’s history, literature, and politics.

Surely the person mainly responsible for the acquaintance of this generation was the ‘great blue-eyed poet’ who traveled to this country over the black sea on a sailing boat and spent the rest of his life there with the longing for ‘an Anatolian sycamore tree’.

(In this part Nazım Hikmet’s poems will be recited with a loud voice! Let’s listen to him from his voice…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgV17VdLG2k

It is true that the winds of “glasnost” and “perestroika” that came with Gorbachev, and the famous scene with Yeltsin stood on a tank, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and all of the concrete and symbolic results of this event did indeed leave a deep impression in our minds and in world history. The ‘stable’ process that began with Putin and Medvedev still continues in Russia.

(Now it’s time to listen to Scorpions ‘Wind of Change’)

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change…

Why is it that when we talk about a country it is its political history that comes to the forefront? It is only once this has been discussed that a few words are spent on the writers, authors, poets, actors, actresses, athletes and scientists. But are these enough to describe a country?

Well, if one night you dream that you embarked upon a Trans – Siberia journey with the famous film director Fatih Akin, how would you feel? Who would want to embark upon that journey with Fatih Akin? Who wouldn’t?!

(In this part, the film “I’m Juli” which was directed by Fatih Akin would be watched for the umpteenth time)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr7WImqnKBM

If it is the case that we now limit all events of our lives to 140 characters, I will communicate the train journey from St. Petersburg to the city of Irkutsk in Siberia through my tweets:

23rd of February – I know you won’t believe this but I am about to begin a Trans – Siberia train journey with Fatih Akın!

24th of February – I know you won’t believe this but I really am about to begin a Trans – Siberia train journey with Fatih Akın!

The Trans-Siberia route is one of the world’s longest and well-known railway lines…  the Trans Siberia Express moves from Moscow to Vladivostok and totals 9,288 km. At its fastest, it can complete its journey in 7 days.

If like us you prefer the Trans – Manchurian route, you can see Russia, Mongolia, and Russia… To gain more information on the Trans Siberia route please visit the following links.

25th of February – the reading list for before and during the Trans–Siberia journey with Fatih Akın…

I am currently at St Petersburg.

The Trans- Siberia journey with Fatih Akın began at St. Petersburg. They say that during its establishment over 100,000 people died of hunger, cold, illness and accidents and therefore it is known as the ‘city built upon bones’… St. Petersburg the city of ostentatious palaces! Throughout the journey, I listened to Akın talk of Russian History. Here are a few anecdotes that remain fresh in my mind and the things they remind me of: The founder of the City Czar Petro – otherwise known as Crazy Petro, in fact for the Russians, Petro the Great. He reminded me of Mahmud the second.

He felt that Moscow symbolized Russia’s past and so created a new city, built from scratch, from a swamp to St. Petersburg.

His travels to Europe and his passion for the navy reminded me of the Sultan Abdul-Aziz. (Sultan Abdul-Aziz was the first and only Ottoman Sultan that traveled to Europe. He is renowned for his interest in the navy and shipyards). Apparently, Petro desired for his people to wear modern and Western clothing. He was known to walk around with a pair of scissors at hand, cutting of long beards. The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, built on the location of the execution of the 2nd Alexander who abolished serfdom in 1881 was impressive…

There was an attempt to assassinate Abdülhamid the second with a bomb attack however the Sultan was saved at the last minute! The story reminds me of sultans that were strangled t death: Osman the Second, Sultan Ibrahim, Selim the Third, Mustafa the Fourth.

The children and young soldiers of aristocrat families who went to Europe for an education and then rebelled against the Czar are known as the Decembrists… The unsuccessful rebellion had begun in December which is where it takes its name from. The main names of the rebellion were executed; the others were exiled to Siberia… We will see signs of them once again at the end of our journey. I am not a historian, I do not want to boast but the Decembrists reminded me of the Young Turks (Jon Turkler).

Enough history. Let’s now look at social life… A beautiful Russian tradition: newlywed couples hang locks on bridges, the locks symbolize the love and bond they share.

26th of February – I hereby add the St Petersburg Hermitage Museum to my list of seen Museums.

For those that still don’t believe me… Fatih (,) Akın and Ayberk in St. Petersburg!

(My dear friends from the Communication Faculty of the Ankara University Fatih and Akın. Fatih the project owner, director, cameraman and the projects everything… Akin the presenter, the guide, the historian. As for me, I am the volunteer behind camera photographer and social media supporter. So, now time to send best regards to Hamburg where director Fatih Akin lives in)

Let us continue with the Russian Czars, the word Czar comes from Caesar. Did you know that the ‘sick man’ nickname was awarded to the Ottomans by the Russian Czar Nicolay the first?

The oppressive practices of Nicolay the first reminds me of our tyrannical Sultan Abdülhamid the second. He is also known as the Czar that exiled Dostoyevsky to Siberia.

27th of February – From the city of Dostoyevsky’s death to the city of his birth… St. Petersburg – ‘notes from the underground’ on the train to Moscow… @moskow

28th of February- @Kremlin, @read square, @St. Basilica Cathedral, @Russian History Museum.

(Just like those who travel from Ankara to Istanbul that falls directly into Taksim, we fell directly into Red Square in Moscow! Many things have been written, drawn about Red square. Those that are particularly curious can read the boring travel notes in this part!)

We find out at the Russian History Museum that ‘Dreadful Ivan was, in fact, Tough Ivan! Just like Crazy/Great Petro!

1st of March – For the second time on this journey I visit the Novodevichy Cemetery and the grave of Nazım. And of course, the Vera who lies next to him. This time we don’t forget Chekhov and Gogol. The cemetery is just like an open-air museum. Writers, poets, musicians, scientists, soldiers, politicians, they all hear in one place. In particular, we wanted to remember Kropotkin by his grave. The statues of famous Russian characters were extremely effective!

2nd of March – Examples of the most precious treasures of Troy, on display at Moscow’s Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

I hope that one day these treasures will be returned to their true homes, Anatolia…

Dip note: Following the entry of the Red Army into Berlin, the treasures that were seized from the hands of the Nazi’s were transferred to Moscow.

(In this part we can now listen to Katyusha from the choir of the Red Army)

At the exit of museum, Akın informs me that the Russian Poet Pushkin’s mother’s grandfather was colored. I was astonished! It is almost impossible to find a supermarket in the center of Moscow! As a result, you become regular members of Costa or Subway! In Russia you can fearlessly step onto a zebra crossing, vehicles stop as soon as you step foot.

3rd of March – the ‘colored’ people of Moscow are the slant-eyed Central Asians! Women over 70 are still working. On the underground, in museums, cloakrooms, it is always them at work…

Dostoyevsky’s museum was neglected, however, the first print of the Karamazov brothers, his letters and personal items were all very effective… Our museum guide uncle Slava was an old trooper that had carried out work in journalism, photography, sailing, and music!

Nightlife in Moscow, 6.5 out of 10! Entrance is free, no such issue as having to enter with a female companion, live music ends at 12, and then club music until 6am… I saw two venues called Zavtra ve Defacto. I can say this much: ‘women guaranteed to fall in love with’ a true city legend!

Amazing and delicious breakfast of strawberries and crêpe at Moscow… Russia is a very cold country… Snow, winter, cold, ice, short days, long nights all aid the people to be harsh and unhappy! Goodbye to Fresh Hostel and Moscow… Onto the train gar at Kazanskaya…

4th of March – Kazan is probably the most beautiful city in this region. Travel back in time with the White Kremlin… in a single word; amazing!

I couldn’t do without seeing the Tatar History Museum! The exhibition of the city before the Russian invasion was like a dream… I strongly recommend you read the sad story of Lady Süyüm Bike who fell in the custody of the Dreadful Ivan following the invasion of the city.

Lady Süyüm Bike: “Oh Kazan! Hapless, ill-fortuned, bloody city. Your crown has fallen from your head, you are now homeless, as a widow, where are your masters?” It is said that she committed suicide by jumping off a 7 tier tower in the White Kremlin. Some resources suggest she was killed in custody in Moscow…  In Kazan, it was easy to read and understand road signs spelled with Latin characters. It is as comprehensible as Azerbaijani… We also saw the world famous Kazan University where Lenin and Tolstoy received their education… apparently, Kazan will host the 2013 Universiade games.

Tonight we were introduced to Tatar cuisine. Beef pastries on the menu, along with horse meat pastrami, Tatar soup and horse meat with potato and cheese sauce.

5th of March – Today’s plan: White Kremlin, the Kul Şerif Mosque, the Volga river, and the Soviet Museum. Tip of the day: Don’t forget that as you embark upon a two-hour trek by the frozen Volga River facial palsy is a serious threat… Throughout the journey, I put on a snow mask twice, looks like from now on it’s not coming off! (At the Volga River).

(The song for this part is definitely the infamous Volga Boatmen)

Kazan at night -27 degrees! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

6th of March – The Kul Şerif Mosque in Kazan is one of the most beautiful mosques in the world, yet unfortunately it is closed to the public! We couldn’t see the inside… White Kremlin really has been well safeguarded and it has been listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

Time travel at the Soviet Museum. The magazines, toys, clothes, badges, and posters all remind me of the movie “Goodbye Lenin”.

After the Che Bar in Moscow, we now see the Marx Bar in Kazan… now it’s right! This is a summary of the situation in Russia! Tonight we board the train that will take us to our next stop Yekaterinburg.

7th of March – Last night’s Kazan-Yekaterinburg train journey was just like a Fatih Akın movie! A group of rough looking men first complained slightly because we were filming in the food wagon, then one of them slowly approached us for conversation. He looked as though he was in his 50’s but in fact, he was 62 years old. He was wearing a white vest that showed off his muscles, and he had long ‘80’s’ style hair.

We had taken our guard for a potential surprise punch when he calmly said, “if you had asked for permission before filing it wouldn’t have been a problem, I have a job to do!” We apologized, put the camera away, and tried to explain to them, with our very limited Russian, that they had thought that we were filing them because of the wide view lens… he called the waiter, and our old trooper ordered us some champagne! Once again Russia, once again surprise! We listened to their life stories that had passed in mines; the conversation was so deep that they even told us of the stress they were undergoing in marrying off their children!

The large breasted overweight waitress and the overweight gay waiter were like film characters! At that point, the staff switched off the lights and literally through us out! We left the food wagon feeling happy and content. The next day an extraordinary journey with our Chinese travel friend postman Chen who knew of Ecevit, Çiller and Kenan Evren. It took us some time to understand that Kemal was pronounced ‘Kemear’ in Chinese! Chen was a Chinese postman book and newspaper worm and history passionate with a paper money collection. Chen now has Turkish Liras in his collection!

At Yekaterinburg, we saw the place that the last Czar Nicolay the second and his family were executed. Nowadays a large church stands there in his memory.

We are re-boarding the train in the afternoon. The new target is the city of Irkutsk by Baykal Lake.

8th of March – Yekaterinburg-Irkutsk journey, 54 hours nonstop! We have been on the train for two nights and three days… The real Trans – Serbia only just begins! Before we arrive at Irkutsk, we take a short break in the city of Novosibirsk… Thankfully there are people at the station that wave at us too so we don’t feel lonely!

(Ok, time for another song: A journey through Siberia)

9th of March – At the moment we are in the city of Irkutsk otherwise known as the ‘Paris of the East’. The ‘Paris of the East’ cliché has reached all the way to Siberia. Let Erzurum, Van, and Gaziantep be warned!

Following a 54-hour train journey, we finally arrive at the station at the 3am local time.

After a half an hour walk we arrive at our hostel at 3.30 am.

10th of March – Irkutsk is like the urbanized version of Safranbolu. The city is renowned for its wooden houses with colorful window shutters. Classical music broadcasted through the speakers of the municipality onto the streets! Many of these houses belong to the Decembrist Rebels that I mentioned at the beginning of this article… The name of the river that passes through the city of Irkutsk is very meaningful: Angara!

The name of another bar in Irkutsk, Bar Acabama… Sounds like Barach Obama! Interesting! 🙂

11th of March – Towards the Baykal Lake…

12th of March – Two amazing days at the world’s deepest lake at Baykal. A walk on the ice-covered rake and sledding with huskies in the forest.

Ours loved the dry fish we offered them; I only had a small taste. It was difficult parting with Baykal… We will never forget you “Holly Baikal”.

At the Ulan Ude bus terminal. You should have seen the shocked expression of three Slovak traveler women who met a Turkish guy who spoke to them in Slovakian… (6.30 am, temperature -5 degrees, an entirely open-air bus terminal. On top of it all, neither we nor they had pre-booked bus tickets. So we shared the same fate)

Luckily enough, the passengers did not exceed the bus capacity; we gave the driver his money and took our places in the back seats…

The city of Ulan –Ude is the capital of the Buryat region… The most beautiful national anthem I have ever heard is the Buryat anthem.

 

Goodbye to Ulan – Ude, the final stop before Mongolia… wait for us the beautiful and lonely country of Chingiss Khan…

 

For photos please click:

https://yurtgezer.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/fatih-akin-ile-trans-sibirya-yolunda/amp/

 

(February – March 2013)