Sat 30-76-2011-Perm

30th July (Sat) 2011 travel to Perm

Left Ekaterynburb at a leisurly 8am for a drive thru the Ural

Mountains, just like in Australia !.

Just gentle rolling hills but pleasant.

We crossed the Asian-Euro border as decided by a Russian notary

many hundred years ago.

So we are heading for Perm (1.2M) the most eastern European

Russian city. Lots of cosmanaut stuff about.

Along the way we left the highway for Kungar,where the local

market was going full bore on the river bank.

We had a long lunch at the KUNGUR CAVES and then went underground for an hour or so. However the guide told he would not make a commentary in English, as he had the locals totally enthalled. The temperture was a mild -2C down under.

We had all wrapped up warm, but of course the gazelles were

unwrapped and tittering on tippy toes !!.

The lighting was quite good, however we did notice a lot of

rockbolts and manmade chimneys supporting the roof.

We travelled onto Perm about 80Km in very heavy traffic, school holidays finish Sunday, and dined at the local food hall very cheaply, though Mc-chicken sold beer.

Big day to Kazan tomorrow to see the Kremlin.

museum hunting friday 29-7-2011-Ekaterynburg

2011-7-29-rest-ekater
Up for breakfast at 8 after a half hour in bed reading a detective novel, found in swap a book in the lobby.

Headed into cbd for museum hunting and found the Military museum with tanks, mortars, kashnikovs, RPG etc.
The two ladies made us right at home with a russian comentary and obliged us with lighting on off  or a mixture. They were happy with our endeavours. Magnificent WW2 diorama. More tanks outside and lots of help in giving us directions.

Earlier an economics lecturer bridged a conversation which made me own up to liking his girl friend, have to watch when making commments about people !!. Still, we talked and he explained things about the city 'til we parted.

Had a lovely lunch, soups, cesaer salad, biers and dodgy coke cola.

We looked for a geological museum but it was closed, so went to a 19th floor lookout, grate views around the city. then onto a no. 021 mini bus for veronika(another first) to the railway station to see the siberian railway cars arrive and disgorge their passengers.

Our Destination was the rail museum with great displays and statues, then into the MTR to go the wrong way, I said it should be going the other way, but lady say platform 2, another set of tickets and 6 stops later we are back at the circus in town and a short walk to the hotel, where spot had some work to do, not successful the last two times, very occuded skies. But He has done his business good this time !! and we are in Ekaterynburg.

It's now having an afternoon shower so can hear the swish of tyres outside.

thurs night in Ekaterinburg 28-7-2011

great street

The Man !! 

Shoe Salesman ?

QU081159 (Small)

QU081159 (Small), a photo by mwper on Flickr.

bull-QU081149 (Small)

bull-QU081149 (Small), a photo by mwper on Flickr.

paving-QU081098 (Small)

paving-QU081098 (Small), a photo by mwper on Flickr.

maurietravelsp2p: mwper's photostream

maurietravelsp2p: mwper's photostream: "mwper's photostream on Flickr."

mwper's photostream

mwper's photostream on Flickr.

Romanovs-28-7-2011 thurs

 A rest day today and tomorrow before we head to Perm, so have have had a royal visit to the Temple of the Blood where the Czar and Family were brutally executed before being dumped in a forest.

Recently the house site was consecrated and the Temple built. Religion has blossomed since the demise of the soviet regime, so many are finding solace in their country's faith .

Their bodies were dropped into a shaft but floated and consequently suffered further indignities albeit in death and were severely scattered around the forest which was an old mining area.



Empress



A monastry occupies the site with 7 Chapels, one for each family member.

The Czar

playing around with video & slide show

This is boy playing a jig at 13th century Village in Mongolia.

2011-7-27-ekaterynburg

2011-7-27-ekaterynburg

tried to take a short cut. Definitely need navigator and driver

as 5th Largest city

Leaving Omsk, we travelled thru

the very lovely city to a monastry to walk around the fabulous flowering gardens.

We then got a bit lost but found the helicopter park on our way

in from the airport to find the Ekaterynburg motorway.

The land here is one huge vast granery with the wheat colour

just starting to turn.

Saw remnants of fiery truck smash, traffic very heavy today, trucks for miles.

We travelled about 460Km so arrive at 4pm as we lost another hour.

Six hours behind NZ, so will try to get a skype in if possible.

Got waved over by the black & white Baton for doing 60 in 40

Km/hr town zone. Showed him our magic travelling card and

greeted him with a smile,so all good and yes I watched the speed signs much more

carefully. They lurk better than in NZ but people flash too.

Road works continue along all the highways as summer finshes

soon.
Harvesting is just starting and saw silage pits and trucks with

grain.

 Drove into Ekaterynburg in a huge downpour so hard to see road markings and cobbled streets very slippery. V managed to stop a tram when I changed lanes.The city has 2.5M people, old Czar town, where they died, see that tomorrow.
Huge storm outside the hotel, wind gusts and thunder.

2011-7-26 to Nyomen

2011-7-26 to Nyomen

Left Omsk for Nyomem passing thru a beautiful inner city and past the Omsk Cathedral out into the country past my Millenium department store where I bought a hat which gives me an air of sophistication not otherwise seen in an Aussie hat. Has a tendency to blow away, but Georgie is quick.

Was able to use my Mastercard which saved my stack of Roubles.

Crossed the river and huge flood plain and headed out into the country.

Lots of hay made this time round bales. Even saw new subdivisions. The land is flat for miles

. A lot of maize grown as well as pasture, but found huge

sheds with cows and graineries, looked like houses. We saw low-loaders carrying knocked down Harvesters east on the road.

The Silver birch trees appear to have been killed, by drought last year, snow ?, or wet feet this year. Whole stands just bare !.

We visited a small down for bread, cheese and cold meat and then travelled on to a lake for lunch. A fisherman offered us some of his catch but we

declined. Gas is reticulated by pipe about 8 feet in the air along the boundary, higher at gateways.

We`often see fuel tankers parked at intersections, selling to local farmers ?. Big flood plains out in the country with bridges with groynes.

We see the odd speed boat being towed as the rives ar huge and used for sport.

Road graders all have bulldozer blades and we see them using them repeatably. Many rollers used as they seem to lock off a lane and completely
rebuild it in a day so lots of paving machines about which often means construction bumps 100mmm high, not nice at a 100 klicks.
A big day, as we stuck the usual traffic jam so arrived wornout thou we hadn't done huge Km's 500+.
the Boys went to a German Bier Haus for a meal and blackout and Dined by Candlelight while it was still light outside, no power but the bier flowed and they had gas so a BBQ meal was OK.

Novosibirsk for a long drive to Omsk 24-7-2011.

Left Novosibirsk at 7-ish for a long drive to Omsk 24-7-2011.

Left in fog for a few hours before it started to clear. Qite low lying land and swampy, shoulders of the road very soft and out of bounds.
Quite a bit of roadworks about, generally 'self controlled' so everybody is generally accomodating, although mrplod lends a hand occasionally.
had lunch at another old vilage which seemed full of old homemade farm machinery. Geof R had had his classic Saab repaired here in 2007.
However there was good gear hiding of out working, huge grain crop this year. Lunch down the road.

Nasty car crash-under a large truck, no survivors. jUST slat !.

.

Arrived in Omsk after V nearly took a manhole lid though back of truck, the just flip-up when u drive over them, very dangerous.

Had a shower in a great Ibis hotel, and then did battle with a non english menu once again. however, lots of miming and drawings, we had our meal
and then set off for  a a walk and me for a river cruise at 10pm in daylight.

Today's now monday so we snook out in V's L/R and went shopping and yes found a hat but too big. Did road battle to next mall, veryyyy flash,
and at 50% discount got a loverly straw for RR575. We then went to another mega centre and fought the traffic and one-way system back to the Ibis.

Got jessie on the Skype for an hour, so good..

Carol, feeling hassled now I can call her at any time. Was 12:30pm 100mm snow on mt pleasant and she hungry for lunch while I had not yet had breakfast.

Margaret & Ian next door Ok, but CHCH closed for the day.
Now hot and windy outside so may venture down to the river for a swim.

Krasnoyarsk - Novosibirsk fri 22 July 890Km- 13.5 hrs of driving !!!!

Krasnoyarsk - Novosibirsk fri 22 July 890Km- 13.5 hrs of driving

We left Krasnoyarsk at 7 ish 12C pouring rain, local streets flooded and very dull lighting for first few hours.

I shared the driving with greg first and then Veronika in the land rover.

Lovely rolling country but often big dips in road. farmers out cutting Hay, and very basic methods of raking, Rolling the soil,Paddocks of rape seed.

No fences of course so wary of  cows etc. There is so much feed this year after a massive drought last year
Quite a few rivers and big catchments.
More road accidents, a motorcycle and car. Travelled thru an old village after lunch (roadside stop, boil the billy and make sandwiches, all quite tasty).

Back yards around the country houses tend to be in potatoes. Traffic police out and about, but sometimes they are only cardboard cutouts.The 'ANC' ouposts
don't seem to be manned all the time these days.
Comming into the next city seems to be an art not a science, though maybe Murray's Gps is better, we have noticed the actual roads and the signage can be
misleading, and could have you spun off into the boonies or back the way youve come.
Novosibirsk is a very modern city, we stayed in an old compulsory government hotel, now renovated, and went to a bar for T, no english menu, but ah !!
one with pictures and they nabbed a passerby who spoke good english to confirm the orders.
we met some Italians in the dedicated Toyota L/C camper trucks who had just crossed the Gobi like us. many grey-nomads around out Skiing.

Had a day wandering, old churches, and then a trip out to the zoo for a bit of watching before the big drive.
We took a tolley bus which V & G hadn't encountered so was a life time experience with a very crowded bus on the way back with a little bit of frottage
thrown in for luck for V. It's amazing how the management can get their own guide to escort them to the Zoo while we make doo !!.
But, I had asked the hotel receptionist to write down our request to get to the zoo and bus number, and on the reverse side how to get home, our very amourous
bus-conductors was just too happen to oblige.

We found a restaurant with english subtitles and own brewed beer, and the we found a supermarket to buy tucker for tomorrow's lunch. The city clock chimed pleasantly every half hour.
We had the trucks washed by commercial cleaners with some wonderful degreasing fluid, the cars just dried off and were very clean, a high light for Greg.