A sacred, secret mission

The fly agaric or мухомор, beautiful and deadly.

As we set off on our journey to Kostroma Oblast in July, I was aware of many people getting on the bus carrying rolls of plastic bags, buckets, wearing wellies and camouflage. some were carrying fishing rods , so it was easy to guess what they were aiming to do. the bus stopped randomly along the road for a few miles out of the city, as the camouflaged army got off, they determindly headed of in one direction or another to their secret corners of the forests and rivers. Curious to an Englishman, that's for sure, I had this image of arguments, fights and worse, over a patch where the prize is among at least 15 edible mushrooms that an average Russian can identify.

Белые (porcini), подберезовики (birch bolete), подосиновики (red-capped bolete), маслята (slippery jack), лисички (chanterelle), рыжики (saffron milk cap), опята (honey mushroom), грузди (milk mushrooms), cыроежки (russule)

 So, I am looking forward to mushroom picking, I have had a little foray, hence the photos, all I could fine were the poisonous ones and a dead mole!  but I was too late, there had been mushroom pickers before us and they proudly held their basket for us to see as they walked past without a word of course!

The mole of Красное-на-Волге.