A couple more pictures of the village. The pictures don’t do it justice, you see just the mud and the old houses. But there really was a beauty to it as well, especially in areas where you could look down on the Pechora. Most of the villages along the river are built on high ground near the river, protecting them from floods. Almost all houses are surrounded by large gardens which supply much of their produce (the idea of buying tomatoes, potatoes, and other such basics seems bizarre to many Russians – you grow that stuff!), and in summer it’s common to go out and pick wild berries. In many ways, life there is like American life 100 years ago, except that there is electricity, television, a few modern comforts. This is NOT, by the way, the situation in cities like Syktyvkar, which are much more modern and comfortable. Moscow, which has 87% of Russia’s wealth, is improving fast. Russia has a split personality – growing wealth in cities, but problems and growing poverty in small villages away from the core.