I Traveled to the Russian Republic No Tourists Visit 🇷🇺

Part two, in Elista, and the best video of the Russia cluster. Harry’s host is Valentina, who was his next-door neighbour in Bali and told him to come if he was ever in Russia.

The history is the spine: the Kalmyks descend from a Mongolian nomad tribe, were granted citizenship by the Tsars for fighting the Ottomans, and were then deported wholesale to Siberia by Stalin on an accusation of Nazi sympathy that Harry says he doesn’t believe. Only about 100,000 came back.

The day itself is domestic — a temple, a Soviet flat, a grandmother’s table, a yurt, camels, and a meal her family insist on paying for. And it produces the most careful thing Harry says about Russians anywhere: the stereotype that they are cold is true, and it is not the same as their not being kind.

Key moments

• [00:00] The premise: the only Buddhist republic in Europe, whose people were exiled by Stalin.
• [00:32] Valentina, from Kalmykia, who did not expect him to take up the invitation.
• [00:32] The largest Buddhist temple in Europe; white and yellow worn out of respect; prayer wheels holding mantras.
• [01:39] Her own summary of the republic: it produces nothing, and is among the poorest places in Russia.
• [02:09] The 1990s, when nationalist skinheads attacked Kalmyks in Moscow. A relative of hers was left paralysed for ten years and died three years ago.
• [02:40] Now: Moscow is more open, and a Russian passport and good Russian are what count.
• [03:13] The temple was renovated rather than built, with the Lama’s money.
• [03:59] What threatens the culture is the young leaving for work elsewhere.
• [04:36] Who the Kalmyks are — Oirats, nomadic, fierce fighters, used by the Tsars against the Ottoman threat and given citizenship for it.
• [05:07] Stalin’s deportation to Siberia. Many died on the way; about 100,000 returned after his death.
• [05:07] Around 300,000 Kalmyks today, roughly 70% Buddhist.
• [05:42] Brain drain to Volgograd and Moscow, because the opportunities aren’t here.
• [06:15] A typical Soviet block of flats, and the courtyard where four buildings’ children played together.
• [07:21] Gifts for a Russian grandmother: vodka, sweets and sausage.
• [09:09] The flat was given by the government about 47 years ago, when Valentina’s mother was born.
• [09:43] Bathroom and toilet in separate rooms — normal here, and his hosts find the Western arrangement strange.
• [10:18] Guests are fed on arrival, and refusing is rude.
• [10:59] Her grandmother taught for over 50 years, including how to handle a gun.
• [12:11] Born in Siberia in 1949, left in 1957.
• [12:43] Her memories of the USSR are affectionate; what’s good now is that her family are doing well, and that you have to work.
• [13:21] Three shots is what’s expected of a man.
• [14:29] Asked for one good thing about living here, she says family.
• [16:31] Her advice to two unmarried men: when you feel the lightning, you’ll know.
• [16:31] Number plates carry the region code — 8 for Kalmykia.
• [17:33] The number one tourist activity: a yurt, put up from scratch in about an hour and a half. By the women, he’s told, while the men drink vodka.
• [19:22] Sheep intestine soup on the menu.
• [19:58] Camels — two humps, the second being fat for endurance. The babies are five months old.
• [22:08] What he takes from it: Russia has 190 ethnic groups, and this is one. The diversity is the thing nobody expects.
• [22:38] Archery.
• [23:12] The monument to the repression of the Kalmyks, with a deportation carriage beside it — a week to Siberia, no food, no explanation.
• [23:45] The verdict on the stereotype: Russians are cold, and it’s true.
• [24:17] And the other half: cold is not unkind. A barrier, a hard history, −30 winters, very few foreigners, and wariness that he says is normal in most of the world.
• [24:47] Why the comparison is unfair — the Philippines and Indonesia live on tourism.
• [25:18] Sheep testicles.
• [26:26] Kalmyk tea: green tea boiled with milk, salt and butter.
• [27:00] Dumplings, a Mongolian-ish borscht, and a local lemonade he rates above everything.
• [27:30] Her family pay for the whole meal and won’t let him contribute.
• [28:05] The nomadic life ended long ago; what survives is a tolerance for hard travel.
• [28:41] Why the food is so calorific, and what that now costs people.
• [29:11] His closing argument: countries are made up, people are more alike than expected, and the point of travel is finding the commonalities.
• [30:12] Valentina’s version, and the better one: Russians don’t trust quickly and never stop once they do; they are direct, and you will never be shown a face put on for you.
• [31:23] Leon’s line, which Harry endorses as the lesson: never confuse politics with people.
• [31:58] They have not been allowed to pay for a single thing all day.

Extracted pages

• Place: Elista
• Country: Russia
• People: Valentina, Leon
• Tips: A government and its people are not the same thing, Judge a place for yourself, Bring gifts for hosts