Something Russian - Banya

I decided to rename "Only in Russia" as "Something Russian", because there is very little in our modern world that is unique to just one country, so no more claims of exclusivity!

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A Banya is a kind of sauna or steam bath. The Russian version, "Banya", is much steamier than a Finish sauna, which is all I can really compare it with.

There are public Banyas where you can pay 50 rubles (probably more by now) and steam yourself with a crowd of strangers, you can also hire a commercial banya with a group of friends, the one in my pictures is at a friend's Dacha. In the many off-the-grid private houses the banya is the place where you wash yourself and your clothes.

This family have a kitchen sink in the entrance, useful for washing the dishes.

This wonderful device is simple but very useful. You fill the top part with water, which is released at the bottom by pushing up on the rod below. It means you can wash your hands without anyone to pour water on you.

This is the changing room, where you can also have a drink and a snack between sessions

in the steam room.

You can see the door to feed the stove at the bottom right, the door leads into the wash room.

Looking into the wash room, this is where you can wash when your finished or pour a bucket of cold water over yourself after the steam room (rolling around in the snow is good too)

Upper and lower benches, the higher you sit the hotter it is, also used for lying on to be beaten with birch branches. 

The stove, where the magic happens! It is fed with wood from the outside, so there is no danger of being gassed.

Hot water tank.

Stones to make even more steam, when you throw water on them.

Most banyas have a collection of silly felt hats to protect your head from the heat.

The thermometer goes up to 160 C (320 F),  I don't think anyone makes it that hot, 

100 С (212 F) is a more normal temperature. 

Our Dacha

Our dacha is 35 km (about 20 miles) outside of Krasnoyarsk.

There is one room and a "kitchen" downstairs and a second room upstairs

Downstairs room. We decorated it with lots of the kids old paintings (as a rule anything old goes to the dacha to live out it's last days)

Kitchen, from the staircase.

Upstairs room

Anita and friends painted the murals, the big picture is of the church summer camp.

This is the view from the upstairs balcony.

For most people dachas are for growing things, we look at ours more as a place to relax and get away from the city and the polution.

That's why we have a climbing frame and sand pit, instead of plant beds.

Now that I have finished building the climbing frame (after only six years) 

I am turning my hand to making raised beds.

This summer we dug out the top layer of grass and sowed clover, we used the turf to make
raised beds

There's always something to do at the dacha!

You can run around,

play in the pool

eat

sleep

take pictures

Climb a tree

In the evening we like to watch films by candlelight!

Dacha

A "dacha" is a summer cabin usually somewhere outside the city. 

The dacha is where the older generation especially spend their summer holidays and weekends.

It gives relief from the tight confines of flats in the concrete jungles of Russian towns. 

Dachas come in all shapes and sizes, they are mostly self-built.

I love the variety, I love the little inovations, and I love the artistic touches

Dachas are fairly primitave with no running water and a toilet dug at the end of the garden, 

however most do have electricity.

This is a "banya" (that is what the sign says), a Russian steam bath.

A dacha is mainly for growing fruit and vegetables, potatoes are especially important,

it's how the Russians survive during economic crisis.

All the pictures except the one below come from our neighbours' dachas,

which all seem prettier and more productive than ours!

I will show you some more of our dacha in later post.