I am back from an amazing expedition to Russia. I left Singapore on 3 July and was back on the 17th. The trip consisted of 2 parts, the main aim was to go to the Caucasus to climb Mount Elbrus and the second part was the R&R in Moscow before coming back.
Mount Elbrus, standing at 5642m tall is one of the seven summits, highest on the continent of Europe. Having done Kilimanjaro last year, it was time to do another mountain and a snow peak. It was a good opportunity to see how I would fare on a snow peak this time, instead of a trekking peak. Coming here would also give me the chance to see Russia.
All in all, the peak was tough. My climbing partner and I summited on 10 July 2007 at 1330 hrs. We were part of a group of 10, of which only 5 summited. Conditions were much tougher than in Kilimanjaro with temperatures dipping to -10/-15 degrees celsius as well as being blasted by up to 40km/h winds. The wind was strong enough to send ice flying into your face and body. It was rather painful and inconvenient when it got into the wrong places. The wind was also strong enough to knock you over, if you were not expected the sudden gusts.
The second part of the trip was a 3 day trip to Moscow. It was a very exciting experience being in this great Russia cit, full of history and culture. It was all my previous childhood knowledge from books and pictures come alive! There was so much to see, hear and devour and the 3 days were all too short.
I shall be putting up the photos over the next few weeks as I edit them and put some detail into it. I shall also put up snippets of my own documentation of the many things done and the many thoughts that passed through my mind during those 2 weeks here as I go along....
Look out for it
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