In a catamaran through Siberia
Before 1989, there were no plans for individual trips to the Soviet Union. Only organized group trips to a few major cities or to the Black Sea were on offer. Nothing for young individualists who wanted to explore the world. But there was a loophole in the laws. You could enter the country with a transit visa, which was only valid for three days and was intended for a trip to Romania via the USSR. After that, the »Transitniks« left the intended route into the vastness of the Soviet Union. In the summer of 1989, three friends set off on an expedition to the River Aldan, a tributary of the Lena. In addition to their personal luggage, they had also stowed the floats for the catamaran in their watertight barrels. When the path ended in the middle of the taiga, their very personal Siberian adventure began, which Jan Oelker will report on in his lecture.
Lecture
Jan Oelker, Photo Journalist, Radebeul
