Eternal outskirts of Moscow and beyond (LOTS of pics!)

[Skorohod]

After my last trip i've craven to ride through night. The night between day off and the next working day would be perfect, since it is most quietest nights. So there is a time to finally visit center of Moscow!

1. The Рот-Фронт ("Rote Front", it's from german, means "Red Front") chocolate factory:


2. The thick smell of fresh chocolate oozing through sleepy streets of Замоскворечье district (Zamoskvorechie means "behind the Moskva river" - an old historical part of the city):


3. But my favorite product of that factory is not a chocolate, but wafels:


4. Everything looks different at night, more interesting and mysterious:


5. Old wooden houses looks interesting always:


6. The lighting of "Seven sisters" switched from evening to night mode:


7. There almost none of cars and people in the central little streets:


8. Almost:


9. The view from higher bank of Neglinnaya river (the river underneath the ground now):

 

[Skorohod]

10. Suddenly, the Kremlin:


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14. I was approached by police officers while i've took that shot, they were concerned if i had some malice agenda. "You can shoot your pics while we checking your ID", they've said, so i did:


15. When i've done with Kremlin i've started to ride back south towards home. Then i've seen a shadow of a Lenin's monument and a satellite dish above that shadow. Don't know if that's means anything:


16. Shukhov's parabolic tower, a fence made from famous ПО-2 concrete sections and a stop sign. Don't know if that means anything either:


17. Just a street. Everyone is asleep:


18. And that's me, awake, taken selfie in a middle of a garden square:


19. A confluence of a Chura and Krovyanka rivers. Chura spitting with an icebergs of a foam:


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[Skorohod]

22. And that is a perfect example of bomzh people habitat. You can see secluded abandoned ruins with rugs over it, big central heating pipes above to live through the winter, a river nearby to get water, and a big free TV in the sky (a bit of a boring, though):


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24. There is a perfect cacophony of a frogs and nightingales coming through my helmet:


25. Krovyanka river flows alongside a fence of a cemetery, what a perfect combination (Krovyanka means "the bloody river"):


26. A pedestrian tunnel from nowhere to nowhere:

 

[Skorohod]

27. That's not just a landfill, that's an historical landmark! Tarkovsky's "Stalker" was filmed there:


28. The Neverdrying puddle is one of the artifacts of this "zone":


29. Looks like the end of a civilised land from this point:


30. But it's not. Like i've said before, the landfills has best views around:


31. You can see the Shukhov parabolic tower from there:


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33. And the Ostankino tower too:


34. I can see windows of my home:


35. But no one is waving back since all asleep:


36. Foof!


37. ТЭЦ-20, MSU main building, Sberbank HQ, and some of a Moon:


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39. There is a time to go home. Through an empty sleepy streets:


That's it for this week!

 

[99t4]

Let me return to my mini-theme of differences in the unhoused environs: Looking at your photo #22, the bomzh habitat appears to be lacking the huge piles of trash and cast-off items usually affiliated with the encampments in my area. What do they do with their garbage (discarded food containers, bags, needles, mattresses, clothing scraps, copper wire insulation scraps, busted open safes, shopping carts, stripped bike frames, car carcasses, etc.)?

Photo 9: Is that an urban public restroom there near lower left?

 

[Skorohod]

Let me return to my mini-theme of differences in the unhoused environs: Looking at your photo #22, the bomzh habitat appears to be lacking the huge piles of trash and cast-off items usually affiliated with the encampments in my area. What do they do with their garbage (discarded food containers, bags, needles, mattresses, clothing scraps, copper wire insulation scraps, busted open safes, shopping carts, stripped bike frames, car carcasses, etc.)?

There is a several causes for that. The first one - they can't create such a pigsty because they just haven't access to such type of things. There is more and more regulations about waste handling implementing in Russia for the last decade, waste became a serious business, lot of things goes to the recycling. So there is no need to throwing such type of garbage around if it can be turned for profit instead.

The typical bomzh cant's get a hands on such a "tasty" type a waste like aluminium bike frame or heavy steell objects like a car or a safe, all that valuable stuff is taken care of before they even got a wiff.

Copper from the wires and especialy from windings of a motors and transformers is still accesible from a waste bins around, if a bomzh is lucky - there is a possibility to get a hands on a improperly discarded vacuum cleaner or a hair dryer. So almost every bomzh habitat have a bonfire nearby with a signs of a burning out wire insulation.

The second cause is keeping low profile. That place exactly (between Krovyanka river and cemetery) is very secluded, but still has some people walking there. So creating a mess around their shack would be dangerous - people can get angry and chase them away with a help of a police. Every year there is subbotnik, people clean riverbeds and it's banks, another people keeping clean the cemetery, so having a dump under their noses would be irritating.

The third one would be a lack of numbers and organisation. Bomzh people in Russia is an unconnected hermits scattered around. It's hard to maintain operation with producing waste in such levels if you are weak and alone. There was a legends about a strong bomzh communities living from a wasteyards back in a 90's, but not now, wastelands have a security now and hired people to sort waste for recycling.

And no needles - bomzh don't have money for illegal drugs, only to find some extremely cheap and dirty alcoholic beverages. And being a self-injecting bomzh diabetic is not a viable option, i'm afraid. So the only waste around is some food wrappings and torn clothes.

Here is a crop of another shot of that place that night, you can see some more details:

Photo 9: Is that an urban public restroom there near lower left?

There is a parking toll booth in a lower left (and it's resembles a WC indeed from that distance). But right above it, just across the square is an actual pay toilet (you can even see "WC" letters):

 

[nicobie]

Those night shots of the Kremlin are beautiful. They rival anything the US has (outside of Disneyland or Las Vegas )

 

[Skorohod]

Those night shots of the Kremlin are beautiful.

Thanks! 8)

They rival anything the US has (outside of Disneyland or Las Vegas )

That and some of a Neo-Gothic Cathedrals, they as close as it gets to the Old World architecture in a matter of vibe and scale. Anyway, it's hardly a rivalry - the shining downtowns full of skyscrapers are worth to be an iconic architectural image of a New World and old european cities have nothing to put against it.

 

[Skorohod]

The Moscow weather in the last weeks of May was not inspiring, unpredictable and rainy. But i've found a window of opportunity to ride in the night between Saturday and Sunday. So i've went to northern outskirts of Moscow, the Bibirevo district. Such districts was called "Sleeping districts" in USSR, since there was nothing to do but to went home, sleep through the night and went to work in the next morning. Over the years they become nicer - shops, malls and public gardens was builded, new workplaces appear, so now it's just nice place to live in the best panel buildings USSR has to offer back then.

1. A evening rainbow in my window tells me i'm good to go!


2. The sunrises in summer Moscow somehow less spectacular than sunsets. I don't know, maybe something connecting to the difference in the state of atmosphere in the mornings and evenings:


3. The school looks empty since there early morning of weekend and kids all went to summer vacations:


4. Bibirevo famous for lots of П-43 series of panel buildings. Here's the one:


5. And this is II-68 block-panel building harmonising with ПО-2 fence and cherry tree in bloom:


6. Someone is not asleep already. Or not asleep yet, just like me:


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8. Rows of П-43:


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[Skorohod]

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14. Suddenly, i've ride into Lianosovo tree nursery:


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16. The mall named after the Budapest city, the capital of Hungary:


17. Because of the wind gusts something went terribly wrong. I hope, that no one been inside during that:


18. Solar panel waiting for the sun:


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[Skorohod]

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24. From the tree nursery i've exited to a sleepy backyard:


25. The mighty КОПЭ building - a sign i'm close to Altufievskoye highway:


26. Electric bus sleeping on charging station. "This is electric bus" said writing on the side of the bus:


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30. The Altufyevskoe highway and rows of КОПЭ buildings. КОПЭ considered a pinnacle of soviet panel building engeneering:

 

[Skorohod]

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39. Something in bloom:


40. Enough with КОПЭ. Time to switch back to П-43:

 

[Skorohod]

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42. The blooming lilac and songs of nightingales under the windows of П-43:


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44. The city is still asleep:


45. And it's time to me to bath in a morning sun:


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47. The less aesthetic side of П-43 building, it may look like the broken windows. But there never was a windows, it's a fire escape stairs:


48. I like it anyway, adds a character:


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[Skorohod]

51. The best playground - is a wasteland! I bet local kids love this place:


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54. Wet dandelion:


55. Apple trees in full bloom:


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57. The last of П-43's this time. I promise:

 

[amberwolf]

2. The sunrises in summer Moscow somehow less spectacular than sunsets. I don't know, maybe something connecting to the difference in the state of atmosphere in the mornings and evenings:

Spectacular sunsets are usually caused by lots of "crap" in the air: windborne dust, particulate pollution (including tire dust / etc kicked up by daytime road traffic), etc.

Sunrises don't usually have the same stuff in the air so they aren't typically as spectacular. But they're cleaner and it's easier to breathe while out riding.

 

[Skorohod]

58.


59. A little pond stranded between garages and powerlines near Chermyanka river valley:


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[Skorohod]

68. When i see powerline towers rising to the bottomless sky, i've lost control a little and starting to take pictures frantically:


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70. "Do not climb. Will kill!":


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74. My "garage on the wheels". Since it more than 35 kilometers from me to northern outskirts, i've decided to keep to a minimum a "lost" mileage of Sur-Ron and drive it in my Largus instead:


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76. Time to go home, it's a perfect early morning with a little amount of traffic on the Moscow roads:


That's it for this week!

 

[The Toecutter]

Those were some excellent pictures.

#17 was frightening.

 

[Skorohod]

Spectacular sunsets are usually caused by lots of "crap" in the air: windborne dust, particulate pollution (including tire dust / etc kicked up by daytime road traffic), etc.

Sunrises don't usually have the same stuff in the air so they aren't typically as spectacular. But they're cleaner and it's easier to breathe while out riding.

Agreed, totally makes sense. And changing of air currents between seasons amplifies difference during the summer, makes morning air cleaner. During other seasons in Moscow the difference between sunsets and sunrises less noticeable.

And maybe the pollen also adds something, a vegetation in the north can be fast and furious, trying to achieve all its natural goals in the little time

 

[Skorohod]

Those were some excellent pictures.

Thanks! 8)

#17 was frightening.

Makes the imagination run wild... ugh!

 

[fechter]

Great pictures. Thanks for posting.

 

[99t4]

Photo #1: City is seeing boomtime development! (assuming all those cranes are construction cranes)

 

[Skorohod]

Great pictures. Thanks for posting.

8)

Photo #1: City is seeing boomtime development! (assuming all those cranes are construction cranes)

Yes, this is indeed a two massive urban development projects going on in the city right now. The one on a pic, blessed with a rainbow - is a redevelopment of an old Moscow industrial zones. What you can see - is a new apartment buildings replacing a legendary ZIL automobile plan, which is dead and gone for years now. Another projects is called a "renovation", this is a replacement of old 50's-60's 5-storey buildings by new ones. New ones is a much taller (17-24 storey) and with much better square footage per appartement. Most of apartment owners glad with that sort of exchange, but some of them kind a discontented. Can't please everyone, i guess

The "renovation" is an almost 1:1 exchange of an apartment quantity and free for owners of displaced apartments, so this is OK.

But massive construction of apartment buildings within a old industrial areas is kind of baffles me. I wonder who will have enough money to buy all of those square footage, and will they plan to live there or use it as an investement to rent those apartements to someone (and again, where that tenants will come from in such numbers?).

 

[99t4]

I wonder who will have enough money to buy all of those square footage, and will they plan to live there or use it as an investement to rent those apartements to someone (and again, where that tenants will come from in such numbers?).

Maybe the business plan is "If You Build It, They Will Come?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3c_pJ_CLJQ

 

[Skorohod]

Maybe the business plan is "If You Build It, They Will Come?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3c_pJ_CLJQ

Hahaha, i'm not gonna be surprised if this is actually how it happened :lol:

Anyway, construction is fast this days, and in a year or so i'm probably gonna see how many ghosts in this town just by looking out my window and counting how many windows are lit during long winter nights.