A place of murderers and spies
Trip Start
Aug 10, 2008
1
5
59
Trip End
Ongoing
Yekaterinburg,
Urals,
Russian Federation
Friday, September 5, 2008
I soon learned that within minutes everyone changed into track-suit bottoms/PJ bottoms and slippers and the men (all quite a bit older) politely left the compartment for me to change. Then then made up my bed because that was 'mens work' I could get used to this! Later one of the men got off and we were joined my a women - a driving instructor from the north of Russia where the temperatures reach -42 in winter! She had done some traveling too and explained in Russian, and by drawing, about the places I had been. Damian stopped by at one point and translated a bit of what the older guy was saying - one of the things was that he thought Mongolians were basically barbarians and although they had high rise flats, they remained empty because they preferred to live in yurts. I quick like that and think it's good that they want to keep their culture and traditions but he seemed to feel sorry for me to have to go there - he hates it.
The journey again passed quite quickly with a couple of brief stops (10-20 mins to stretch your legs on the platform, some dozing, reading, and lots of sharing of food which was really nice- in fact I got off the train with as much food as I took on because they all pushed food on me to take away for my next stretch (Damn - I was hoping for a lighter bag!).
I arrived in Yekaterinburg early in the morning (almost 6.30 local time) and was glad I was with Damian to find our way to the hostel by trolleybus - on this we each had to pay for two tickets because of our bags but it was still fairly cheap.. We were very pleased we could enter the hostel early and have the use of the shower and the washing machine - in fact we were the only people staying there at this time and the owner had only been running in for 3 months. The mis-spelt 'No Smocking' signs made me smile, but the owner was nice enough and we had free wifi and breakfast included. But one bad thing, When we arrived I tried to look for my phone but couldn't find it anywhere. I haven't had it out everyday because I've just been using it when I needed it for an odd text (when it worked) or call home if I needed too. I searched everywhere but it was gone. Somehow I must have left it at the hostel or on the train. It could have been worse, I still had my wallet, camera, laptop and ipod, but it was just damn annoying. I guess I'll wait until I get to China and try to pick up a cheap one there. In the meantime I have brought a calling card in case I need it and I'll just do without. So please don't bother to text in the meantime - I'll let people know when I get a new number (again!) EDIT: I found out that I'd left in in the hostel in Moscow - It's safe but I'm still working out how to get it back!
After our we had showered and settled in we set out to explore. Yekaterinburg is another important place in the history of Russia - famous for the Romanov murders, the 'U2 affair' in which an American spy plane was shot down and as the birth place of Boris Yeltsin. Today, Yekaterinburg is Russia's 5th largest city and there is clearly a lot of money and development here and there were lots of impressive new building around, with many more parts under construction. The feel was quite young and optimistic and the city itself was quite quirky - some of the sights included a monument to the invisible man and an 'inspiration bench' which is supposed to inspire you to write poetry.
As well as a general walk around the city - including catching the metro (one line here, two more under construction), buses, trolley buses and mini buses, I saw the following places:
Chapel of St Catherine
The Romanov Death Site - marked by an iron cross. Around this area there were lots of wedding parties, having photos taken and releasing white doves. A
Church of the Blood - which includes photos and documents of the Romanovs (who are now saints).
Chapel of the Revered Martyr Grand Princess Yelizaveta Fyodorovna - a small wooden chapel next door
Ascension Church
The water tower - one of the city's oldest structures, inside we found a lovely man and tiny museum of ironworks- When you see the photos it's a bit like dads shed in one part! The man spoke only Russian but Damian translated for me. Even though I couldn't understand him it was clear that the man loved the place, and talking to people about the many different items inside. His face lit up as he spoke and when Damian told him I was English he explained about the door knocker that had come from an English design and about the samovars/hot water vessels for tea that were on display - the English style, Russian style and Chinese style. The little space also included tools, oven doors, chain mail, kitchen utensils and other items. After he explained what the different things were used for we took some photos and he gave me a little piece of stone that had come from the Urals - the rocks in the area. He was so sweet and made it very special.
Rastorguev mansion - an impressive building that we could just see from the outside, it is currently being restored.
Shirokorechinskoe Cemetery & Memorial to the Victims of Political Repression - about 8km out of the city I took this trip on my own because I had a later train to Damian. It was a bit of a mission to find the right bus stop and then I had to ask the bus conductor where to get off but she slept for the whole journey so I'm glad I spotted it out the window when I got to it. The conductor was so sleepy she didn't even attempted to charge me, or the other people on the bus so I got a free ride! At the cemetery was a small chapel, a huge funeral parlor and a couple of big cemeteries. I went because one of them showed the monumental graves of gang warfare here - there were many graves on men in their 30s, and quite different to the types of graves in the UK. Huge spots with sometimes tables and benches for mourners as part of the graves. Some had life-size etchings of the dead - images of casually dressed young men smoking cigarettes of clutching Mercedes car keys as a symbol of their wealth. There is a lot of respect for the dead here and even the older graves were covered in fresh flowers and tributes.
While I was here I attempted to post a parcel back to the UK. I had already tried and failed in Moscow because it closed before I could explain myself, and DHL was too expensive but this time Damian offered to help - I'm so glad because it was a nightmare! We queued for ages to be told that we had to put a senders address on there. We explained that we didn't live here but they insisted so I put the details of the hostel. Then we queued again to be told that overseas mail was in a different building (she had already been told it was going to the UK but obviously didn't care about the first time. While we queued tow other had a screaming match at each other. What a happy place! We eventually found the right counter in the building next door and had a helpful lady who arranged it for us. There is no way I could have done this on my own!
While here we went for a couple of drinks in the Scottish pub and Irish pub in the centre (In the former I was pleased to see the barmen in kilts!) and after walking to a Georgian Restaurant that was in the guide but actually didn't exist, we went to a fantastic restaurant serving Uzbek food (Called Nigora). The place was busy and it seemed that we got the last seat - it was worth it - the food was great and good value.
On the Saturday morning we raced to the train station for Damian's train - he had to run to catch it as there were only minutes to spare. I stored my backpack at the station and enjoyed another day of exploring before catching the train in the evening. That's also when I finally got around to writing me Moscow blog entry - as I relaxed in a coffee shop for a while.
