From Siberia to Sweden

We’ve been back from South Korea for a week now.  We’re jogging back into routine, but the jet-lag won’t go away.  A week on then, I think I should share my final holiday snaps.

These are from the plane.  Much of our long, long eleven hour journey was above thick layers of cloud.  But when we could see down to the ground far below, we were thrilled.  We could barely comprehend the vastness of Siberia.  Mile after mile after mile after mile of forested mountains, dusted with snow.  How could it be that in all these endless miles we saw not a path, not a field, not a settlement?  How could anywhere be so …. uninhabited?

Eventually though, there were settlements.  Straight roads passed between towns that seemed to be all about industry and factories, with large rectangular fields beyond.

Then there was the Volga, immensely wide, lazily spilling itself over plains and valleys, dividing, re-forming, leaving sandy islands in its midst as it meandered northwards.

We travelled over a cottony carpet of white cloud for a very l-o-n-g time.  And emerged over islands round Sweden.  There were coastal villages, isolated farms, fishing boats.  We spied on communities whose ways of life looked as if  they had changed little over the years.   And then it was cloud again, all the way to England.

These are terrible photos.  They’re fine for me as souvenirs of a tantalising journey offering glimpses of lands I’ll never see, and that few others have seen either.  Except distantly, courtesy of a journey in a plane.

 

 

 

 

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

10 thoughts on “From Siberia to Sweden”

  3. Not bad photos at all. At least your window was pretty clean. This brings back fond memories for me, as my very first overseas trip included a similar route, Narita to CDG, over Siberia. I got a sore neck from craning to stare out the little window for hours at the amazing size of that empty land.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It was astonishing. The bloke behind us just sighed wearily and asked us when we planned to shut the blinds so he could get to sleep. It wasn’t night time at either end of our journey at the time.

      Like

  4. I like your photos! I haven’t flown very many times and am not weary yet of seeing what the world looks like from above. I have never been on a long-haul flight either. I listened to you on i-player as I was out on Thursday and didn’t fancy getting up early on Saturday for the repeat. The programme was very interesting and it was nice to hear your voice and see your photo on i-player! My husband usually takes about a week to recover properly from jet-lag after he has been to the States.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’ve yet to listen properly – that’s my 15 minutes of fame then. I love seeing the world from above, because like you, I’m not yet jaded by too many flights. And a week sounds about right. I actually didn’t wake up at 4.30 this morning!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Were you on the radio talking about this trip? That’s neat! When I’m on a flight, I swing between being fascinated with the sights below and slightly terrified at being up so high with no visible means of support. My husband usually takes the window seat . . .

    Glad you’re home safely and recovering!

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.