EKATERINBURG

From Almaty the train rattled us north across the steppe once more, through the oil-rich city of Karagandy and the new capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, and into Russia where the countryside turned green and forested again.

Ekaterinburg is an industrial city of 2,000,000 inhabitants, with two main claims to fame: it was in this highly militant revolutionary city that the last tsar and his family were murdered in July 1918; and it was here that the T34, “the tank which won the Great Patriotic War (WWII)” was produced. The tank factory still exists, but the house where the tsar was killed was bulldozed in the 70’s. A tiny and moving wooden chapel marks the exact site. Unfortunately, the large square “Church of the Blood” has been built just next door to commemorate the imperial family (who have been promoted to sainthood) rather spoiling the effect.


We stayed in the Hotel Sverdlovsk – the name borne by the city from 1924 until the 1990’s in honour of Lenin’s principal crony. The hotel has kept its soviet name, along with the facilities in most of the rooms (at least ours!) and its service ethic. However it more or less satisfied our needs (good breakfast!), and my Russian was probably part of the problem; a noble minority of the staff were very kind and helpful, and a major face-lift is in progress. View of the station from our window.


The city lies near a gap in the Urals, an ancient mountain chain resulting from the clash millions of years ago of two tectonic plates, more recently designated as Europe and Asia (roughly). We stood astride the official border between the continents, on the main ridge. The Urals here are low and wooded, rather reminiscent of the Cotswolds. Further north they stretch up into the Arctic, bare and snowy, while further south they rise to nearly 2,000 metres – but that meant a full day’s drive each way. We went therefore to a little national park called Deer Streams and had two of the idlest days ‘Adventure Tourism’ I have ever enjoyed, drifting down a gentle trout stream in a rubber dinghy!
We got out to visit a few limestone caves, and the furthest we walked was about 3 km.
The most exciting part was the drive out down a muddy track in a Russian 4x4.

Yekaterinburg was industrial from its foundation by Peter the Great in 1724, to take advantage of deposits of minerals and semi-precious stones. The museum has a model of the original foundry, run by water power from a dam which still blocks the river Iset in the city centre.

School of architecture!

I broke my glasses and we had an entertaining time trying to get them fixed - in Russian...

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Desde Almaty, volvimos hacia el norte a traves de la estepa, pasando por Karagandy, ciudad petrolera, y por el nuevo capital de Kazakhstan, Astana. En Rusia, el paisaje era nuevamente de bosques verdes.

Ekaterinburg es una ciudad industrial de 2.000.000 de habitantes, famosa por dos motives principales: en esta ciudad revolucionaria militante mataron al ultimo tsar y su familia en Julio de 1918; y es aqui que se producia el T34, “el tanque que gano la Gran Guerra Patriotica (II Guerra Mundial)”. La fabrica de tanques existe todavia; la casa donde murio el tsar fue destruida en los ‘70. El sitio exacto es marcado por una pequena capilla de madera. Lamentablemente, han construido una iglesia nueva al lado, cuadrada y grande – la Iglesia de la Sangre – para conmemorar la familia imperial, ahora elevados a santos.

Nos alojamos en el Hotel Sverdlovsk – el nombre de la misma ciudad durante la epoca sovietica, nombrado por el colega principal de Lenin. El hotel retiene todavia su nombre sovietico, junto a las facilidades en muchas de las habitaciones (incluyendo la nuestra), y el etico de servicio sovietico. Sin embargo, satisfacia nuestras necesidades – un buen desayuno! – y sin duda mi ruso defectuoso era gran parte del problema; algunos de los empleados se demostraban amables y cooperadores; y estan mejorando la infraestructura.

La ciudad se ubica en un corte en la cordillera de los Urales, cordillera antigua producida por el encuentro de dos placas tectonicas – ahora Europa y Asia. Nos paramos en la frontera continental oficial. Son unas colinas bajas, cubiertas de bosque, que se extienden hacia el Arctico, mientras en el sur suben hasta 2.000 metros. Fuimos a un pequeno parque nacional para dos dias de “Turismo Aventura” – lo mas flojo que he conocido!! bajando un rio tranquilo en balsa. Conocimos un par de cuevas, caminando hasta 3km!! Lo mas emocionante era la vuelta por un camino muy malo en un 4x4 ruso.

Yekaterinburg era ciudad industrial desde que la fundo Pedro el Grande en 1724, para aprovechar los depositos de minerales. El museo contiene una maqueta de la fabrica de hierro original, con energia hidraulica de una represa que todavia atraviesa el rio Iset en el centro de la ciudad.