Day 168 (18 June 2023) - Novokuznetsk, Russia
DAY 168 (18 JUNE 2023) – A few days ago, Nikolay and friends mooted the idea of a tree planting activity. They chose to sponsor and plant a rowan tree (see description below). So today, all of us rode our individual bikes to an off-road location on a hill side near the city.
We were joined by Liza, a reporter and Bogban, a cameraman, both from Novo TV.
We picked a spot with a good view at the top of the hill. Nikolay made sure to get his 2 young kids involved as well, so they started digging!
We successfully planted a rowan tree together and held our respective flags in solidarity.
This is my 2nd tree planting activity in Russia. I am happy to be a part of this initiative taken by my Russian biker friends (Nikolay, Nikita, Logunov and Evgeniy) and very thankful for their support. I hope this helps to raise the awareness on the effects of global warming and that more people will try planting more trees in an effort to save nature!
Check out the full Russian media coverage here :
Since I was supposed to leave for Omsk at 2 pm, Nikolay advised me to postpone it to tomorrow, so I stayed another night at his apartment. I got to meet Nikolay’s friendly neighbours, some of whom spoke good English. They were very curious to see a foreigner in their neighbourhood!
Later, we went for dinner at a Japanese Restaurant together with Nikita’s family. I met his wife and his 9 month old son. We had good food and a good chat all the way till 11 pm.
Fun facts : The Rowan tree is also called the ‘Rabina’ Mountain Ash and is commonly found growing in the wild in Russia, and several other European countries. It takes about 5 - 6 years for a rowan tree to flower for the first time and it can live for up to 200 years! Its botanical name is ‘Sorbus Aucuparia’.
The Rowan tree has edible fruits which is high in Vitamin A and C and cab be used to produced jam, juice, preserves, pastry and wine. This tree has a long mystical history and has been known as the Tree of Life as it symbolises courage, wisdom and protection. Today, it is popularly used in landscaping.
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