A month on the road and 6 countires tagged (incl UK). That went way too fast !

Lydia (our host) made us an edible breakfast. Fried rice and sasuage. On the whole the homestay was a good (although odd) experience. In 30C heat we challanged ourselves to the bus into town. One good thing about the busses and subway in Russia – you pay a fixed price no matter where you are going.

First stop was the Mineralogical Museum. A private collection of the cool (but boring) rocks and fossils found in the Urals from where Yekateringburg gets its cash. We were the only patrons and the curator followed us arround turnig off the display lights as we went along – talk about energy saving 🙂

The old centre of the city is compact and has a pleasant atmosphere compared to Moscow – far more chilled. We strolled around passing the site where the Romanovs where executed. A big (ugly) church now replaces the original house that Yeltsin destroyed.

‘The A Team’ is showing (in Russian) but couldn’t twist V’s arm – instead she took to me to a photographic museum and gallery. Some technically interesting stuff. I miss my big (heavy) camera but am relieved we don’t have it on this trip.

We went shopping in the flea market for some baggy shorts for me to sleep in on the train and some tin mugs – no luck – we’ll manage. My strops were doing a great job wearing my toes in so we sat in a sqaure for a bit and watched some skateboarders and a dog show/competition (lots of of Collies and a Jack Russell that was more interested in the smells than the obstacles). We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around – was a great day out.

In the afternoon we had a long slog with our packs and train food to the station – should have taken a bus! We ate supper on the station steps (were not going to pay to use a waiting room) and waited there for a very, very long time.

Some Russian entertainment passed by. Two drunk guys engaged in a bloody fist fight. As soon as the first punch was thrown a member of the crowd appointed himself referee, making sure that when one guy was down the other did not mash his opponent’s face into the tarmac too much and giving them both a ‘fair’ chance. It didn’t take long for one to go down permanently and the ref ended the brawl pulling the attacker off. Of course the police were nowhere to be seen until it had ended !

So after all that excitement we now have 3 nights on a train. Should be interesting.

– Posted from my iPhone