Novosibirskaya Oblast’

Hello!

Now that you are caught up on my day in Tomsk, lets go back a day to my train journey from Yekaterinburg to Novosibirsk and the city itself (I hope you are following along).

Train 3: Yekaterinburg to Novosibirsk

Well the train itself was the same as the previous two. However this time I was lucky enough to be joined by a school trip of 15 ten year old girls and about five teachers. Needless to say they weren't the quietest travel companions. On top of that I noticed when I left the train that the couple who were sharing my section helped themselves to my pack of dates that I had on the table between us (they left my phone but took my dates!). Who'd have thought the first thing I lose/gets stolen is food! Aside from that nothing else of note happened on my journey.

Day 1

I only had two half days in Novosibirsk so I couldn't waste any time when I got to the hostel. I decided to walk down to the river to see the monument to the fist bridge over the river across the Ob river (this was the turning point for travel in Russia and linked the east of the country to the west - and with it the famous Trans Siberian Railway was formed). Unfortunately as I was walking it started raining so i had to seek refuge in a cafe (one with no wifi! - kindle reading it is!). After my brief pit stop I carried on. The monument was quite cool as it was a small section of the bridge next to the actual bridge that is used today. Aside from the monument there wasn't much else down by the river, apart from a very sad looking amusement park (clearly not peak season). Back in the city centre I saw some benches covered in crocheted blankets (not sure why) and the Opera house. By now i had walked quite far so decided to find the only place in the city that serves vegan food (according to the happy cow anyway). This little gem turned out to be a kiosk in the middle of a park, surrounded by other kiosks that were all closed. From it i got the biggest falafel wrap ever, for the tiny price of £2! I decided to call it a day there and head back to the hostel as my train to Tomsk left quite early the next day.

Day 2

After my whirlwind tour of Tomsk, by the time i got back to my hostel in Novosibirsk i was pretty tired (even though it was only 11:30am. I decided to have a quick power nap and then head out again. At 3pm I left the hostel and went in search of Novosibirsk's own random statue - a man saluting a traffic light (seriously). Well i was not disappointed. It was indeed a man saluting a traffic light. After seeing this gem my plan was to head to the north of the city to see a park and another couple of statues. But as this route took my past my vegan kiosk, by the time I got there i was so hungry and tired that I decided to admit defeat, get a wrap, find a supermarket to stock up for the train and call it a day. Unlike the previous cities I have visited in Russia, Novosibirsk doesn't have a huge amount for tourists to see. As a city to live in I can imagine it is nice, but for a tourist it doesn't have the best atmosphere, in my opinion. Which you can tell just by looking at the top things to do on tripadvisor. Sometimes you just don't click with a city and that's ok. I would rather get some rest and prepare for my next mammoth train journey (32 hours guys!) than walk aimlessly round the city just for the sake of it.

So there you have my brief, and slightly disjointed time in Novosibirsk, the capital of Siberia!

Next stop, Irkustk!

Until next time,
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