Remote town

I was spending my summer of 2017 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. It was a fairly boring break. Since I was 14, I was active and desperate to explore. One day I decided to bike to the airport and back. I know it sounds weird but I'm a huge fan of planes and the airport is my dreamland. Back to the topic, This was my first solo journey outside my neighborhood on my bike. The main road to the airport did not have a sidewalk neither did it have any traffic lights. This made crossing the road and riding to the airport a legitimate nightmare. It was much more bearable with my friends, but today hit different. I had to be much more cautious and aware of the cars around me. One small slip and I could end up in a Russian hospital, which is the last place I want to spend my summer in. I made it to the airport after almost 40 minutes on my bike. I spent 20 minutes taking photographs of various soviet aircrafts before making the journey home.

This is where it starts getting creepy. I was riding back home and it was hot as fuark. I decided to take a quick breather at a bus stop which ensured I would not get run over by a speeding truck. Anyone who lives in Russia would know the number of Uzbek and Kazakh immigrants that flock to small towns. I was casually leaning on my bike when a big-looking uzbek dude came up to me and asked who I was and where I was from. My general ability to speak and understand Russian was pretty bad, so I was only able to grasp a handful of what he was trying to ask me, but I still understood him nevertheless. I told him I was from India (I actually am Indian) and I was 14. He starts asking me if I was muslim and pointed to my Hindu amulet that was hanging from my neck. The dude was a dumb\*ss and insisted that Allah is god. I wasn't really religious but this man's desire to bring up religion kinda creeped me out. I thought he would eventually leave me alone but instead he got a bit more pushy and tried to offer me a local drink called Kvas (fermented bread drink). I didn't really like the taste of Kvas, but it wasn't the taste which made me decline the offer. I declined because a random stranger was asking me at a bus stop about my whereabouts and if I wanted a drink. He pointed to a Kvas stall which he claimed was his and he could give me a free drink. Obviously to hell w that. I said no politely and implied that I really had to leave now.

But no, he takes the weirdness to a whole new level and offers me a ride in his car, which I didn't see anywhere near the bus stop. I say no, to which he whips out his phone and calls some dude. A few seconds later 2 dudes show up in a shitty old Honda Civic. I wasn't going to go with the dude, but this just made it a lot more suspicious and creepy. The dude's nature was also really suspicious and I kept trying to ignore him. I don't understand why he would offer a ride when I have a bike and places to be, and I had already told him I was on my way home. He then started telling me that I had a really nice bike (it was only 2 months old so it did look fresh). He proceeded to fiddle with my gear knob, which pissed me off and at that point I just said fuck it. I said Paka (bye) in Russian and crossed the road as fast as possible. I Almost got run over by 2 trucks but it was worth it. The fact he fiddled with the gears made it 10x slower to get out of there bc you're not supposed to change gears while idle. I rode back towards my neighborhood as fast as I could. Didn't dare look back and kept accelerating forward. I was probably doing almost 50 kmph on an uphill slope, which is relatively fast considering the space I had to ride my bike was only 3/4th of a meter wide. The surface was also dirt so slipping was a hazard. I heard a honk beside me and it was the same dude driving his car next to me. He kept asking where I was going. I just yelled "I'm fucking going home!". I'm so thankful I had reached the turn into my neighborhood bc I could make the turn and dip into any of the streets. He continued straight on the main road so he eventually lost track of me.

I made it home with my legs sore as hell, absolutely shaken and terrified. It took me 2 years to make another solo journey to the airport. 10/10 would not stop for a breather again.