Train - Irkutsk to Yekateringburg - Day 2

Park-like view from the train

By Thursday 2^nd, we woke to find ourselves in Barabinsk, having been through Novosibirsk during the night. The country is now the Baraba Steppe. The land is flat, with clumps of trees scattered into the distance. The land is clearly quite wet or marshy, so while the views are almost park-like, there is less sign of habitation and no cultivation. Apparently, many people have been lost wandering through this deceptive and featureless terrain.

The German couple who were in our wagon left at Novosibirsk to head for Almaty in Kazakhstan, so we seem to have the place to ourselves. We rattled across the flat country and by mid-morning we were back on schedule.

A long stop at the large city of Omsk gave us an opportunity to leave the station and buy some hot pastries and cold beer for lunch.



Omas station - the aqua colour is typical



After Omsk, the same flat country with occasional clumps or thicker forests of thin birch trees continued. Getting towards Yekaterinburg, the land seemed to rise gently and the frests were thicker.

Eventually, we entered the suburbs and then the city of Yekateringburg, arriving about 25 minutes late. We were met at the station by Vladim, who took us to our hotel (Hotel Ural). Like Vladivostok, Yekateringburg was a city closed to foreigners until the early 1990's, principally because it hosted a number of military administration, development and manufacturing facilities. Apparently, our hotel is owned by a general and was previously used for miitary accomodation - does that sound like a good recommendation?

Anyway, a post train shower was welcome and given that it was very late, we hit the sack.