Our next stop was Ulyanovsk, well known for being Lenin’s birthplace (you mean you didn’t know? Join the other 55 people on our ship). As we arrived on a cold grey day, we were told by the harbour officials that there were a lot of ships docking that day and we would be delayed. We put down anchor. An hour later they said that, in fact, they closed three days ago for Winter, and no-one was allowed to dock, and we had to sail on. I gather this is typical of Russia: you get all sorts of stories, some mutually conflicting, and any or none could be true. As it was a Sunday, the probable truth was that the harbour master was drunk last night and simply failed to turn up to work.

So instead we moved on to Tollyati, an unscheduled stop a few hours down river, where they manufacture old Fiat cars but call them Volgas. Tollyati is about as attractive as Salford on a cold wet Sunday, except the buildings are in a state of varying disrepair. We were not sure of the way to the centre, and asked an old lady (via Gillian, our tour manager). A long conversation ensued. Apparently the lady had said that it was quarter of an hour by tram down the road but everything was closed as it was Sunday. She asked who we were and what we were doing there, and when told we were English tourists, initially expressed disbelief. Then she looked us over very carefully as if we were mad, made a sign of the cross and said, "Good luck to you!" Tolliati did not improve on further inspection.

Tolyatti river station