You might say this is crazy, but people do take trips like this all the time, from Beijing to Ireland, Anchorage to Argentina, rarely though do they go across Russia, and if they do it's usually only the western half. But Russia doesn't end at the Urals, Siberia is where both the Tsars and Bolsheviks sent their enemies, Dostoevsky, Mandelstam, Lenin and Stalin all spent time in Siberia, most in the very areas we will go through. We are going to take Russia's "Route 66" and cut through the middle of Mother Russia. From banyas and blini to the Tsars and the Revolution we will be passing through some of the most interesting and remote parts of Russia.
We will start in Vladivostok a city formerly closed to foreigners due to it being the head of the Soviet Pacific Fleet. Here we will study Russian for about a month and a half, until the weather turns from horrendously cold to just really crappy. From there we will head north to Khabarovsk close to the Chinese Border, and shortly thereafter we will be reaching the end of pavement for about 400km.
We will make our way across Russia slowly, as only one can, passing Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake containing 1/5 of the world's freshwater. We will go through Irkutsk, near some of the famous damns of the Soviet Era, and some of the other products of the Five Year Plans. We will head through, Novosibirsk, Omsk (where Dostoevsky was exiled, and the location of House of the Dead). We shall also Visit Ekaterinburg, where Nicholas II and his family were killed.
When we finally reach Ukraine (after the celebratory night) we will have a decision to make, should we turn north and try and beat the weather through Poland and Germany, eventually returning triumphantly much like Tsar Alexander I to Paris after defeating Napoleon to say "F*** You!!! Go Back To Baghdad!!!" one more time at the Geoffery Marie Hotel (If this makes no sense to you Click Here). Or shall we turn south and wind our way through the likes of Turkey, Serbia and Italy. Either way we will eventually be found in Porto, Portugal relaxing on the beach, with a bottle of port to finish.
Map provided by FCIT:
http://etc.usf.edu/maps ; http://etc.usf.edu/maps/pages/2900/2965/2965.htm