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Steve Elkins

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Tuva, Siberia, and Moscow

In March 2014, I traveled to live with neutrino physicists on the frozen surface of the world’s oldest, deepest lake (located in Siberia), where they risk their lives daily to hunt for the obscure particle that will allow them to peer into the subatomic fabric of space-time. Shortly after, I traveled to Tuva to work with throat singers, shamans, and hunters near the borders of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. An excerpt from my interview with Valentina Süzükei in Kyzyl, Tuva can be read here: https://www.steveelkins.net/Interviews/The-Music-Of-Echoes-of-the-Invisible-Part-7-Tuva/

Ted Trager chronicled the trip in the blog posts below.

Moscow: http://tedandmelissafurlife.blogspot.com/2015/06/a.html?m=1

Siberia: http://tedandmelissafurlife.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html?m=1

Trans-Siberian Railroad: http://tedandmelissafurlife.blogspot.com/2015/07/trans-siberian.html?m=1

Tuva (part one): http://tedandmelissafurlife.blogspot.com/2015/09/part-one.html?m=1

Tuva (part two): http://tedandmelissafurlife.blogspot.com/2015/10/part-two.html?m=1
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  • Person jumping on the top of a bridge.
Moscow
March 2014

    Person jumping on the top of a bridge. Moscow March 2014

  • A shaman brought us to this ovaa one of our first nights in Tuva. An ovaa is a sacred place of concentrated spiritual power which are often in mountain passes.  The shaman performed a ceremony on Melissa involving fire, milk, and wolf mimesis.
March 2014.

    A shaman brought us to this ovaa one of our first nights in Tuva. An ovaa is a sacred place of concentrated spiritual power which are often in mountain passes. The shaman performed a ceremony on Melissa involving fire, milk, and wolf mimesis. March 2014.

  • While staying with neutrino physicists in Siberia on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, there was no running water. So, no toilets, no showers...the physicists don't shower at all for two months, so we didn't for the five days we were here either. We got all our water from a small hole in the ice, which usually had to be broken apart with a spear each morning after it froze again.  March 2014.

    While staying with neutrino physicists in Siberia on the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, there was no running water. So, no toilets, no showers...the physicists don't shower at all for two months, so we didn't for the five days we were here either. We got all our water from a small hole in the ice, which usually had to be broken apart with a spear each morning after it froze again. March 2014.

  • Untitled photo
  • Untitled photo
  • Siberia, March 2014

    Siberia, March 2014

  • Yurts
Tuva
March 2014

    Yurts Tuva March 2014

  • Tenz Arakchaa in Tuva

    Tenz Arakchaa in Tuva

  • Untitled photo
  • Filmmaking in Siberia with my new assistant.  
March 2014.

    Filmmaking in Siberia with my new assistant. March 2014.

  • Untitled photo
  • We drove 40 kilometers across the frozen surface of Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's oldest (25 - 30 million years), deepest (three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other would vanish without a trace), and largest lake (bigger than Belgium and containing 20% of the world's fresh water), to reach the ice camp where physicists' are trying to capture neutrinos from deep space.  We stayed with them on the frozen surface of the lake for a week.  The convulsive water beneath the surface causes the ice to break up into cracks and ridges. If the cracks are no more than two feet wide, then the driver speeds up to launch across them (we spun out a couple times and were certain the van would flip). If they're bigger, planks of wood stowed on top of the car are used as a makeshift bridge. March 2014.

    We drove 40 kilometers across the frozen surface of Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's oldest (25 - 30 million years), deepest (three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other would vanish without a trace), and largest lake (bigger than Belgium and containing 20% of the world's fresh water), to reach the ice camp where physicists' are trying to capture neutrinos from deep space. We stayed with them on the frozen surface of the lake for a week. The convulsive water beneath the surface causes the ice to break up into cracks and ridges. If the cracks are no more than two feet wide, then the driver speeds up to launch across them (we spun out a couple times and were certain the van would flip). If they're bigger, planks of wood stowed on top of the car are used as a makeshift bridge. March 2014.

  • Tuvan Shaman, near Kyzyl.  March 2014

    Tuvan Shaman, near Kyzyl. March 2014

  • While taking us out for a day in the Tuvan countryside, Алдар Тамдын (pictured here) brought us to a camp of yurts he built, one of which had a restaurant in it. He ordered us sheep's head soup and boiled blood. Алдар also builds musical instruments, carves totems for shamans, and hunts bears. Did I mention he recorded a record with Lou Reed? Tuva's Minister of Culture happened to be eating at the restaurant when we arrived, and Алдар introduced us.

    While taking us out for a day in the Tuvan countryside, Алдар Тамдын (pictured here) brought us to a camp of yurts he built, one of which had a restaurant in it. He ordered us sheep's head soup and boiled blood. Алдар also builds musical instruments, carves totems for shamans, and hunts bears. Did I mention he recorded a record with Lou Reed? Tuva's Minister of Culture happened to be eating at the restaurant when we arrived, and Алдар introduced us.

  • Tuva
March 2014

    Tuva March 2014

  • Tuva, March 2014

    Tuva, March 2014

  • Siberia, March 2014

    Siberia, March 2014

  • Ted, Melissa, and myself (right to left).

Moscow.
March 2014.

    Ted, Melissa, and myself (right to left). Moscow. March 2014.

  • Siberia, March 2014

    Siberia, March 2014

  • Moscow
March 2014

    Moscow March 2014

  • Dostoevsky in the subway
Moscow
March 2014

    Dostoevsky in the subway Moscow March 2014

  • Moscow's Museum of the History of Drunkenness.
March 2014.

    Moscow's Museum of the History of Drunkenness. March 2014.

  • Ted, Melissa, and myself (right to left).
Moscow.
March 2014.

    Ted, Melissa, and myself (right to left). Moscow. March 2014.

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    11427673_10152946378981762_8764887791324724717_n.jpg
    We drove 40 kilometers across the frozen surface of Siberia's Lake Baikal, the world's oldest (25 - 30 million years), deepest (three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other would vanish without a trace), and largest lake (bigger than Belgium and containing 20% of the world's fresh water), to reach the ice camp where physicists' are trying to capture neutrinos from deep space.  We stayed with them on the frozen surface of the lake for a week.  The convulsive water beneath the surface causes the ice to break up into cracks and ridges. If the cracks are no more than two feet wide, then the driver speeds up to launch across them (we spun out a couple times and were certain the van would flip). If they're bigger, planks of wood stowed on top of the car are used as a makeshift bridge. March 2014.
    Tuvan Shaman, near Kyzyl.  March 2014