Emerging temporarily from our Russian traverse for a quick tour of the Baltic States, involved simply crossing a border line but was more akin to pulling the curtains apart and seeing another world. Estonia, (population 1 million in an area less than 20% of New Zealand’s) is one of the Baltic Tigers and the impact on us was immediate. We headed straight to McDonalds for a long-denied Mac Attack to break the diet of Shashliks and Borsch (kebabs and beetroot soup). It seems incongruous that a mere 10 kms apart you can be in a poor peasant rural economy where folks use ancient implements to carry out their daily tasks, and next minute you’re seeing modern farming machinery being driven up and down long rows of wheat. Such is the dramatic difference between the impact of the EU’s common agricultural policy and farming life in some of Russia’s regions. Estonia – home of Skype – and booming away nicely these days, has had a topsy turvey ride since the Nazi’s overran it en route to their siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg). Before the USSR then absorbed it, the GDP per head was the same as Finland, but by the time Gorbechev got the wall removed that ratio had fallen to a mere 14%. The ratio has now recovered back above 60% thanks to market reforms (including a flat income tax rate of 23% en route to 18% by 2010) and the EU’s Cohesion Policies. The difference in quality of life with neighbouring Russia is astounding. Despite Russia being on its border only 3% of its trade is with its former master, Estonia having turned toward Germany and Scandinavia. Stopping by a field to talk to some local farmers about life in Estonia we quickly learnt that things were improving all the time, that they took their holidays all around Europe and that, in the words of one of them, “free broadband internet access is a basic human right in Estonia”. Indeed we noticed that wireless access was everywhere free of charge and that hotel rooms didn’t bother with phones as all those online had Skype. What a different world to that just a few kilometres away in Russia. Then we rode down into Latvia, the smallest of the tigers but you could say that its capital Riga, was the most dynamic scene we were to encounter during this quick break from our Russian traverse. Ensuring we got into the heart of its old town, built in the 14th century, we were astounded at the wealth that the locals were either driving or had dripping from their fingers. It was such a concentration of opulence that we asked where all the money was coming from, it seeming unlikely that forestry the country’s main industry was responsible for the Bentley’s, Maseratis and Ferraris that were parked in town. The answer came soon enough. The charm of Riga’s old town is indeed a magnet to many – not just tourists but Latvians and Russians. So the town these days is propelled substantially by repatriated earnings from Latvians working abroad and from Russians doing international business who show an alarming tendency to keep all their winnings away from Russia. The experience of Yukos and similar re-nationalisation of assets by the Kremlin is driving a capital flight by wealthy Russians to faraway places. Actually Latvia is right next door which means they are able to hop across the border and enjoy driving their exotic cars away from the gaze of Moscow’s authorities. Then on to Lithuania, probably the Sister with the richest and most daring history. First to tell the Soviets to take a hike and end 50 years of occupation, Lithuania has a long history of independence and at one stage it’s empire reached all the way down to the Black Sea. But that was well before Nazis and Communists placed Eastern Europe under their iron fists. We found Lithuania pretty flat and a bit of a boring landscape, although its capital Vilnuis, is charming enough. After this quick flick it was time to head back to the Motherland so we entered Belarus or White Russia, so named because the Mongol Hordes never got here and hence these Russians were left “pure” apparently. These days Belarus remains firmly within the Russian sphere, providing a comfy buffer between Russia proper and the decadence of the West. We enjoyed the quaint, nostalgic trip into this Soviet-style museum where bureaucracy, vintage machinery and people employed despite no job, still rule. A day later we took to the road to Moscow.   
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