May 2019

Russia

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Trip start
May 16, 2019
skip's retirement travel Russia
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- Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 10:58 AM
- ☁️ 8 °C
- Altitude: 280 m
- Russia Urochishche Chetyre Brata 56.94222, 60.4731956°56’32” N 60°28’23” E
Monastery Ganina Yama
May 15, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Abandoned pits or mines near Ekaterinburg where the bodies of the tsars family were initially disposed of. Became a monastery recently. The first pic is of the main church here. There are 7, one for each member of the Royal family, though they are named for saints. See also the 4th and 5th pics for 2 more. The second is of the old mine pit where the bodies were disposed before they were moved. The third pic is a statue of the Royal family, and the last is the final location where the remains were found.Read more
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skip's retirement travel Russia
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- Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 12:35 PM
- ⛅ 11 °C
- Altitude: 258 m
- Russia Pyshma 56.96523, 60.5801156°57’55” N 60°34’48” E
In the Urals
May 15, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Ekaterinburg (see another post) is the center of the Ural-siberian area. In the first pic, I'm standing with one foot in Europe and one Asia. The second and third pics are of a mass grave site. Take a close look at the statue. The tears are faces. 4th is a look at the western Ural forest and countryside. The forest is a pine-birch forest. 5th is of a military museum with weapons used by Russia and or the USSR (not fascists, as the guide said), including many produced in the USA and provided under the WW 2 Lend Lease programRead more
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skip's retirement travel Russia
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- Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 3:24 PM
- ⛅ 13 °C
- Altitude: 252 m
- Russia Yekaterinburg 56.8399, 60.6161256°50’24” N 60°36’58” E
Ekaterinburg
May 15, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Major center of industry east of the Urals, with mining, metallurgy and manufacturing primary. This was a closed city under the USSR due to the extensive armament manufacturing. It is also famous as the place where the last tsar and his family and servants were gunned down. The first pic is the Opera House and the second is the former secret police facility. Third is a house (multifamily) built for VIPs. Them a look across the river a downtown, followed by a bad relief of workers. The last is the Boris Yeltsin Presidential site. This was his home town.Read more
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- Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 4:50 PM
- ⛅ 13 °C
- Altitude: 227 m
- Russia Gorodskoy Prud 56.84442, 60.6078256°50’40” N 60°36’28” E
Church on the Blood
May 15, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Built on the site in Ekaterinburg where the tsar and family were killed. First the church, then the Iconostases and one of many pictures of the family. Very moving. The Romanovs are considered saints now by the Russian Orthodox Church and are held up as the perfect religious Orthodox family.Read more
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- Day 1
- Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 12:11 PM
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 124 m
- Russia Koptelovo 57.70582, 61.8629257°42’21” N 61°51’47” E
Koptelovo, near Ekaterinburg
May 16, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Traditional village in Western Siberia. The first pic is of a small chapel with a natural spring underneath. You can see the wood pipe and channel with the flow from the spring at the bottom of the picture. Springs are considered special gifts of God, and it is why the town was founded here in the 1630s. The second and third pics are long views of the village and surrounding area. The last 3 pics are of Babushka Katya's house, said to be the oldest remaining house, built in the 1630s (that's not a typo). What's amazing is everything you can see is original except the metal roof and the windows. The last owner was Babushka Katya who moved out in the 1970s at over 90 years old.Read more
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- Day 1
- Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 1:20 PM
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 123 m
- Russia Koptelovo 57.70614, 61.8583957°42’22” N 61°51’30” E
More Koptelovo
May 16, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
I had a delightful time is this special village. Every village has a cultural center and a museum, each with a different focus. This is one of the first, and the exhibits are all donations. In fact, when local school kids visit, the guides can make personal connections with ancestors who owned the various items. The first pic is the small village choir who sang some folk songs. The woman on the far right was celebrating her 80th birthday. The party continued over lunch of salads, soup and traditional Siberian dumplings (and tea, of course) in the museum canteen. The lunch was amazing.
The next 4 pics are of various museum exhibits. The stacked boxes are dowry boxes. Notice that they are sets. The larger the set of dowry boxes a young woman had filled, the more desirable she was. The last pic is another view of western Siberia.Read more
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- Day 4
- Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 10:12 AM
- ☁️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 663 m
- Russia Skala Ded 55.91889, 92.741155°55’8” N 92°44’28” E
Stolby Nature Park near Krasnoyarsk
May 19, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
A morning walk in early Siberian spring (yes, there is still snow around and not just on ski runs) in a beautiful park loaded with rocks open for climbing. First is a look at the Siberian taiga here. Then several pics of rocks, some named. I won't tell you what the names are to see if your imaginations can come up with them. The last pic is the view from Grandpa rock back towards Krasnoyarsk.Read more
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- Day 4
- Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 3:34 PM
- ☁️ 21 °C
- Altitude: 191 m
- Russia Zarechnaya Listvyanka 55.95512, 92.3301955°57’18” N 92°19’49” E
Yenisey River and Krasnoyarsk Dam
May 19, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
The Yenisey is the largest river by volume in Russia, and as such has many hydroelectric projects along its length. First is a look along the river. Then two of the dam from below and from the top. The other two are the unique thing about this dam. That big rig is called the ship ladder, used to move river ships around the dam. It runs on rails from a pool near the foot of the dam where ships can drive in. The big rig lift them, runs up a steep rail incline and floats the boat in a similar pool behind the dam. This was less expensive than locks as the valley is both deep and hard granite. It wasn't running today, but I was told it takes an hour and a half to move one ship.Read more
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- Day 6
- Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 1:09 PM
- ☀️ 7 °C
- Altitude: 453 m
- Russia Kabanskiy Rayon 51.96008, 105.6975151°57’36” N 105°41’51” E
Lake Baikal
May 21, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
Baikal is the largest lake in the world by volume and is also the deepest. In fact, it is just over a mile deep. It is said to hold as much as 20% of the world's fresh surface water reserves, roughly equal to the volume of the Great Lakes combined. It is also very clean-you can see the bottom at 40 meters depth. It fills a tectonic fault that is getting wider by a couple cm per year.
There are various pictures of the lake, many through the haze of smoke. The last is the Delta of one of the several hundred streams that feed into the lakeRead more
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- Day 6
- Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 2:17 PM
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 462 m
- Russia Bol’shoye Goloustnoye 52.03651, 105.4069452°2’11” N 105°24’25” E
Bolshoe Goloustnoe
May 21, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
BG (I'll use this abbreviation for the long town name) is a small Siberian village about 2 hours from Irkutsk (see another post). It is located on the shore of Lake Baikal (see another post). The economy here is mostly tourism based nowadays, and there is evidence of some prosperity, especially compared to other villages I've passed through out here. There is even a fair amount of new construction.
The first pic is an overview of the village from Wise Mountain (see another post). Most notable is the traditional wood construction of the buildings. Pics are of the church and several examples of traditional Siberian village wooden houses. The last looks like a small meadow but is known as Dry Lake. It has water only every 3-4 years after extremely heavy snowfall. In the right background you can see 2 horses: mother and foal. The little one was probably only a few days old as it was still unsteady on it's feet.Read more
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- Day 7
- Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 12:28 PM
- ☁️ 17 °C
- Altitude: 718 m
- Russia Goloustnaya 52.06266, 105.3975152°3’46” N 105°23’51” E
Wise Mountain
May 22, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Wise Mountain is so named because legend has it that a creator God rested there. The first pic is of the mountain, followed by several views from the top. You will notice a lot of haze in the pictures. This is smoke. I'm told that fires are endemic to springtime Siberia. If you look closely at the 4th picture, you will see fire damage. The last is a picture of the lake from the lake side road.Read more
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- Day 7
- Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 2:21 PM
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 462 m
- Russia Bol’shoye Goloustnoye 52.03651, 105.4070552°2’11” N 105°24’25” E
BG guesthouse
May 22, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
The unnamed guest house at 56 Kirova Street is where I stayed here. The first two pics are of the buildings, and the last two are of the banya or Russian sauna. It was heaven. After a day of walking, hearty Siberian food, a banya, and a cool Siberian night, I slept 13 hours.
Very comfortable and highly recommendedRead more
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- Day 8
- Thursday, May 23, 2019 at 2:20 PM
- 🌬 14 °C
- Altitude: 430 m
- Russia Ostrov Yunost’52.27501, 104.2884652°16’30” N 104°17’18” E
Irkutsk
May 23, 2019 in Russia ⋅ 🌬 14 °C
Often called the cultural capital of Siberia, Irkutsk is a major city in Siberia. This is a large manufacturing center, including defense industries, especially aircraft. As you can imagine, I didn't get anywhere near that. Irkutsk was also a major site for exiles, especially for Decembrists in the 19th century, most of whom were intellectuals, who brought that with them.
Most buildings are 19th century or newer due to fires destroying what had been a mostly wooden city.
The first pic is the symbol of the city. It is an Amur tiger with a beaver tail (the names of both are similar in Russian) holding a sable as a sign of wealth. The second is of the main (Kirov) square, followed by a couple buildings and a look across the Angara River. The Angara carries the outflow from Lake Baikal.Read more
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- Day 9
- Friday, May 24, 2019 at 10:01 AM
- ⛅ 11 °C
- Altitude: 614 m
- Russia Mys Shamanskiy 51.73489, 103.7271651°44’6” N 103°43’38” E
On the train east of Irkutsk
May 24, 2019 in Russia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
My last day in Russia. These are pictures from the train window taken on the way from Irkutsk to the Mongolian border. Some of the pictures are of Lake Baikal now that the smoke seems to have dissipated a bit. The rest are of the countryside, mostly the Russian steppeRead more
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- Day 10
- Saturday, May 25, 2019 at 10:34 AM
- ⛅ 8 °C
- Altitude: 1,310 m
- Mongolia Gandan Monastery 47.92149, 106.8956547°55’17” N 106°53’44” E
Gandan monastery
May 25, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Oldest monastery in UB. Tibetan Buddhist. Something in excess of half the population of Mongolia are Tibetan Buddhist. The first picture is the main temple. Inside are thousands of small statues that surround the main one that is 26.5 meters tall and is of Ganraisag, the main God in Tibetan Buddhism. The 3rd pic is the only female protector (kinda like a demigod) in Tibetan Buddhism, whose role is to decide who goes to heaven and who to hell. Next is a school for young initiates learning to be monks. Next is what would be equivalent to the cloister in a western monastery. This is where the monks live and chant prayers. The buildings are traditional and survived some attempts to destroy the monastery. Last is the main gate to the old monastery.Read more
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- Day 11
- Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 10:41 AM
- ☀️ 10 °C
- Altitude: 1,295 m
- Mongolia Argalant 47.88833, 105.9747°53’18” N 105°58’12” E
At the edge of the Gobi Desert
May 26, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
Large desert in central Asia. The ger camp is located where the grassland steppe gives way to the desert. The first two pics are from the ger camp looking at the desert. The rest are taken on the first dune. The last looks back to the ger camp. It is interesting to be at the junction of two different ecosystems. There is a bit of a transition from steppe to desert, but not much. There are no trees on the steppe or desert, but there are at the edge between the two here that you might be able to see. It looks like a low area, sorta like an oasis.Read more
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Trip end
May 25, 2019