Siberia!!!! - Krasnoyarsk, Russia
Krasnoyarsk, Russia
We arrived in Krasnoyarsk in the afternoon - our first stop in Siberia! Spent the afternoon just walking around - the weather was beautiful. Had a picnic lunch in the square. Walked down to the river, along the park, tried to do Internet stuff at the library but they did not have any computers to use. Had dinner out - fish soup and stuffed grape leaves!
In the morning we took off for the Stolby Nature Reserve. Stolby are these amazing rock formations and the park is huge - maybe 42,000 acres. We took the easy route, and decided to take the chair lift to the top (it is a ski resort in the winter). It was not nice weather any longer... started to rain. We got off the lift and hiked 2 kilometers to the impressive Takmak formations of Stolby. Very beautiful area and we enjoyed the hike a lot even though it was wet and cold. We had lunch in a shelter along with a Russian couple. They did not speak English and we have little Russian, but we laughed, used our few words, and had a nice time. By the time we got back to the ski lift and down, we were quite damp.
We took the bus back to town and went to the Krasnoyarsk Regional Studies Museum. This was fascinating. It has a unique Siberian natural history section that displays the flora and fauna of the region. There is also a very cool section on the indigenous peoples of Siberia, with lots of artifacts including clothes, housing, boats, tools, etc. Finally, there is a huge collection of contemporary artifacts, including a whole section about the Soviet era.
In the morning, we went to a huge market with fresh food, meat, fish, etc. Very interesting - it was reminiscent of Latin American markets - reminded me of Oaxaca, Mexico. We bought a hat for Angel and gloves for both of us... after all, we have entered Siberia in October! Then to the train station for Irkutsk!