01-May-2006 -- Confluence point reached 12:10 local time on 01 May 2006. This day is still a public holiday in Russia, and the shipyard we are working at in Astrakhan was shut down for the day, offering a great opportunity for a trip out of town.

We equipped ourselves with a Garmin II and some Soviet military maps downloaded from the internet, and took a Lada taxi from downtown Astrakhan. The trip was approximately 34 kms, and we drove straight to the exact spot, which turned out to be located in the middle of a field, only about 300 meters from a major road. Thanks to dry conditions we were able to drive all the way to the spot and actually put the Garmin on the bonnet of the car! The journey took 3 hours round trip, as we spend a bit longer going back, taking some local ferries across a couple of arms of the Volga river and heading back to Astrakhan along a different road.

This was my first confluence point, after an unsuccessful attempt on one in Azerbaijan a couple of years ago. It was almost disappointingly simple, but the Astrakhan region offers more challenging confluences also... The hunt will continue! :-)