Itinerary

Free Internet access in staterooms...

So says the Viking River Cruises brochure. Well, I am going to put that to the test in five days time. I will bring a laptop and post daily blogs while on board the Viking Pakhomov.

Day 1           Fly to St Petersburg
Day 2-4       St Petersburg, Pakhomov as floating hotel
Day 5          Pakhomov sails, Mandrogy
Day 6          Kizhi
Day 7          Kirillo-Belozersky
Day 8          Yaroslavi
Day 9          Uglich
Day 10-12  Moscow, Pakhomov as floating hotel
Day 13        Fly home

Viking  Pakhomov was built in an Elbe shipyard in what was then East Germany in 1990. It was renovated in 2003. It is supposed to have been renovated again for the 2011 sailing season. We shall see. 423 feet long, it carries 210 passengers, watched over by a crew of 114.

If all goes well, at the end we would have sailed the Neva, Lake Ladoga, the Svir, Lake Onega, a small stretch of the Volga, the Moscow Canal and the Moscow River.

The Volga is the longest river in Europe. It starts south of St Petersburg, flows some 2,300 miles until it empties into the Caspian Sea. It is also the largest river in Europe, in terms of discharge. The small stretch we will be on is near its source.

Days ago, the Volga demonstrated its potency. Bulgaria, a 55-year-old cruise ship carrying holiday-makers, sank in a rainstorm, drowning some 130 persons, including the captain and many children. The boat was licensed for 140 but was carrying 208, including 25 unregistered passengers.

The cause is still unknown. The river is five miles wide where the ship went down. The tragedy happened outside Russia proper, in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, some 500 miles south-east of Moscow.