Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt



Friday 14th of July

08.47 We just woke up here in our room at Mini Hotel Bristol (http://hotel-ab.ru/bristol/) in Ufa. I wonder if there is a Hotel Ufa in Bristol? The phone in the room just rang, how many times has it happened before? I answered and got the news that today's breakfast is ready. I was asked if we wanted to have it brought to the room? The answer was yes. Now, there's a knock on the door.

09.26 The hostess brought in breakfast on a tray. We got porridge, bread, coffee and also stuffed pancakes.

10.40 After breakfast and the general planning of the day, we will now get a few possessions and ourselves in order before we go out.

10.58 We have left the hotel behind us, and first went to the large roundabout that we passed yesterday evening. So far, nothing new has been seen. It was here that we went on the way to the restaurant last night. Now we steer our feet to new streets. There are, just like in other Russian cities, wide streets and long distances here in Ufa. We get plenty of exercise and a nice walk as long as the temperatures are OK.

11.29 A nice brown bench is taking good care of butts and backs right now. We are in a small park where there are pine trees around us. In front of us are the cars on Ulitsa Kirova. Behind us we have a large building, the concert hall Bashkortostan.

The shopping mall Tsentralnyy (Центральный).

Pamyatnik Mustayu Karimu (Mustai Karim-monument), Ufa.

Peter is having coffee at Chat House.

Interesting design.

A huge bee/wasp along Ulitsa Gafuri.

A bashkir yurta.

11.39 After our break, the walk continued. First, we have walked the short distance to a square with a statue of the Bashkir poet and play writer Mustai Karim. Behind him is the trade unions house.

12.17 Now we have temporarily stopped. The coffee thirst has grabbed us and we make a cafe stop at the Chat House Cafe, one of the cafes Christer read about on Trip Advisor. It is time for a minor rest and some refilling. We prepared to do our best and place the order in Russian. But it turned out that the guy in the café spoke excellent English.

12.53 We continued our walk, invigorated and well-rested. Now we have a new bench break in yet another park area by the street Ulitsa Gafuri. A short distance away, is a flower statue depicting a wasp. We are on our way to a vantage point that will be the turning point in today's urban hiking. From there we will hopefully have a view that is worthy of the long trek.

13.22 We left the bench after just enough philosophizing. On the way out of the park we saw a golden globe with padlocks. We went to yet another park. Here are some Central Asian tent (yurts), a fountain, two bridal couples, an equestrian statue with the Bashkirian hero Salavat Yulaev and views of the river Belaya. Here you can also buy Bashkir souvenirs, local coins, and eat the local food at the various stalls and tents set up here. We were also entertained by some musicians

A fountain is always popular on a warm summer day.

We are walking through Ploshchad Salavata Yulayeva.

A view of the river Belaja.

We arrived on this bridge yesterday.

The Salavat Yulaev monument.

Peter is sitting at one of the most beautiful spots in Ufa.

14.11 We have been at the lookout point and beautiful Salavat Yulaev square (Ploshchad Salavata Yulayeva) for quite some time now. It is peaceful here and there is nothing wrong with the view. There is however problematic to get the best views. There are many people who want to view and/or take pictures of the beautiful scenery. A girl sat for ages and took selfies at the best place. Soon it will be time for us to start the trek homeward.

14.25 It feels sad to go exactly the same way back so we have chosen a different street. We are now moving along Ulitsa Aksakova which will bring us towards the city centre and hopefully a restaurant for lunch.

15.12 During the walk back to the hotel we have been looking for restaurants. Some have been found but dismissed. Some not found at all. We have just sat down inside the restaurant Bazilico Pizza (http://www.bazilico-pizza.ru). Here, we finally found an empty table and have tried to place an order. Language chaos is total, but we have ordered something, however, no pizza.

16.27 Lunch, which turned out to be some kind of lasagne was consumed and paid for. Here at home in the hotel our previous visa registrations have been duplicated, copied at the reception. Right now the clothes I had during the day soak in the wash basin. They need to be washed.

19.05 Thunder and rain has passed by this evening. We are tired and lack energy. We had intended to visit a grocery store to buy food for tomorrow's journey but decided to do it tomorrow morning instead.

Ploshchad Salavata Yulayeva (Площадь Салавата Юлаева).

The railway bridge over Belaja.

Christer is enjoying the views.

Ulitsa Lenina (Lenin street) in Ufa.

A mailbox in Ufa.

The flag of Bashkortostan can be seen around Ufa.

19.30 It smells stuffy in our rooms despite the fact that we have opened the window. It is a bad thing. Out there it rains again. It is not much better. We need to head out shortly to perform the various necessary chores.

20.12 We started with a walk behind the Ufa Arena and saw a small ice hockey monument that shows the accessories of a hockey fan. A little later, we also saw a guy with a hockey stick, even though it is the middle of summer. Now we are back where we dined yesterday, at Cafe Mangal (http://cafemangal.ru).

21.24 After yet another delicious dinner, we went home. On our way home, we stopped in a small shop where we bought beverages. I forgot to buy laundry detergent, but there is no outright panic yet.

22.55 It is now clear who will meet in the final of the men's Wimbledon tennis. It becomes Marin Čilić from Croatia and Roger Federer from Switzerland.

The icehockey monument outside Ufa Arena.

Christer is having dinner at Café Mangal for the second evening in a row.


Saturday 15th of July

08.01 OK, the time has come to wake up and head for the shower. New challenges wait this weekend.

08.55 Soon it will be breakfast for the second time here at Mini Hotel Bristol. It is not entirely wrong to stay in a hotel when you think about it. Here in Russia it is sometimes lazier than usual when breakfast is brought to the room. We don't even need to go to a breakfast room.

09.44 Tray breakfast is good. Now, when it is completed, some things must be done before we walk towards the railway station.

10.29 We went out to shop for various things before the train trip. Backpacks, large and small, were left in the room. When Christer left the key, we got the question if we would check out. It had been a bit weird to travel completely without luggage. It went fine to shop at the low price store Magnit (Магнит). I finally, remembered to buy laundry detergent. Once back, they asked us to pay for today's breakfast. We apparently had not paid for it before. Now we are going to prepare the last before check-out.

11.06 We are almost ready for the walk to the railway station. What remains is to lock, leave the key and get the registration papers.

11.19 At the check-out from the hotel, I needed to sign on a number of places on two different sheets of paper. I wonder what I signed. Everything was in Russian.

Walking downhill to the railway station.

The roof of the railway station in Ufa looks almost like a UFO.

11.45 We are pleased that we didn't stay further away from the railway station. The last part of our walk was hot, tiring and tedious. We had in all cases downhill when we walked Ulitsa Karla Marksa down to the station area. Now it will be a bench break outside the station building. We are sweaty and need a break before the luggage is taken up on the backs again.

12.11 It was too hot outside on the bench when the sun began to fry. In addition, it is indoors, that we can resupply and get to the right platform eventually.

12.43 After a toilet visit each, we brought ourselves towards platform 2. It was from there the train would depart. We wandered, looked, and ran up and down stairs. One of the station staff referred us to the top floor. There was not a trace of platform 2 there. According to a sign we saw here were only 3-8. We asked an elderly lady in the staff. She muttered something and pointed to a door. The door was opened by us and there was, just a surprised man behind a desk. No platform 2 at all. We were wrong! I had to ask again. It was now all fell into place. The signs were for if the tracks 3-8. All of these belong to the platform 2. At the train we were showed to our compartment. Inside there were two sweaty gentlemen who moved around their luggage.

12.59 Today's long train trip is initiated. We have just left our autographs to a delighted man. Was he a fan of our diaries? No. Did he gather collect autographs? Not at all. He just checked the tickets and we had to write on a piece of paper. Our compartment companions, however, did not have to write.

14.56 It is becoming increasingly hillier outside the window of our compartment. We will travel through the southern reaches of the Ural Mountains today. It is although it is the mountain range pretty low so it's probably not going to be some impressive mountain scenery during this journey.

15.16 It is a handicap not to master Russian. The carriage attendant have been and tried to talk with us a few times. We can't respond much more than that we don't speak Russian. He however keeps trying. Perhaps we have learned the language before we arrive? A lady was just here. She showed two bottles of soft drinks. Did she want to give them to us, to sell, had she found them, or what? Our companions in the compartment are conversing in an unknown language. It can be a Bashkir or something entirely else. It is for sure not Russian.

Unknown villages can be seen through our window.

Russian countryside in the Ural mountains.

16.51 Calm waterways, small villages, green deciduous and coniferous trees, an oncoming train and other things are visible from the window. The views feel as retrieved from our home area. Out in the corridor a cat try to sound as a child. No, it's probably the other way around, or is it just screaming.

18.32 I have soon eaten the entire purchased snack. I just had a sausage with bread. In the bread, it was also shredded carrot and some kind of dressing. I also sipped on some juice, Pulpy Orange. Orange is by the way, called apelsin in Russian. We have the same word in Swedish the difference is that Russian spell like this Апельсин.

19.59 Boredom comes over me. The knowledge that it is at least two hours left is nothing to rejoice over. I think I'll take a train walk, in order to disperse the thoughts.

20.22 I don't know if the walk did as much for my mind mood. But I don't know how I would have felt if I had remained here.

20.33 We have just stopped in the town of Miass. It is the last stop before we reach today's destination.

21.40 There is twilight over the forests and fields. Soon the train will slow down and we will arrive to Chelyabinsk. This feels good.

22.20 Now we have arrived in Chelyabinsk in the Asian part of Russia. We are. from now on, in Siberia. The city has also historically been called the "gateway to Siberia". It is the home of, just over a million people. With our arrival it will be two more. To find the hotel the building went well. To get to the right floor went less well. First, we showed our booking confirmation for a man behind glass on the ground floor. He waved us on. A sign on the elevator said, reception on the 4th floor so we went there. Certainly, the reception desk was there, but it was for the hotel on the floor. Into the lift again and up to the 5th floor. There it was a Chelyabinsk Hotel on 5th Floor (http://goschel.ru). We are now checked in at room 520. Once again, we have in one day travelled by train in two continents. Last and first time we did so was at the beginning of the New Year trip last year. This time, it is also with the same train.

23.50 A major problem with the room is the fact that we had to plug it in and start the water heater. In addition, our AC has fallen asleep, come to a stop. It refuses to start again. However, we have a sauna. We shall it enjoy tomorrow before our check out.

We are finally in our room at Chelyabinsk Hotel 5th Floor.


Sunday 16th of July

00.13 We have listened to and watched a huge thunderstorm through our room window. Enormous amount of water has been released from the sky and the thunder was loud. It is, now when it has calmed down, time for a well deserved sleep.

08.34 A new day has begun. Our room is still strange. The AC is still sleeping, there is no hot water in sink and shower and our little sauna seem to out of order. It is perhaps best to ask at the reception desk. Our room has potential but everything falls when things do not work.

08.50 We have told the front desk about the shower water and other things that don't work. The young woman there, were here in our room, she turned on the water, and said, 5 minutes. Now we will see how it gets on with it. The AC and the sauna seem to be completely dead.

09.14 There was some temperature increase on the water but not all that amazing. It was possible to shower but not much pleasure.

09.59 We will have a late breakfast on this day. Breakfast is served between 10.00 and 12.00. We got this information at check-in. We got a card at check-in and it states that it is a breakfast between 08.00 and 10.00. The card must be shown so that we can get our breakfast.

This is what it looks like outside our hotel in daylight.

Our bathroom looks like this.

Our accomodation for one night.

Christer is having breakfast in Hotel Chelyabinsk.

Christer is walking towards more central parts of the city.

A Sunday in the park.

10.26 We took the elevator down to level 1, just as it says on the card. However, it was no breakfast in sight. Up to floor 5 to find out the truth. The answer was that on weekends. breakfast is served on the 4th floor, perhaps which is why it is different times. We were served yogurt, fruit juice, cheese sandwich, muffins, coffee, eggs and sausage in a small bar. Now we are back in our room again.

11.31 It has become time to check out after our short stay here at Hotel Chelyabinsk 5th Floor. We shall also ask about our visa registration papers and if we can leave the backpacks here until evening when our train goes. We´ll have time for a little sightseeing here in Chelyabinsk before the further journey. Chelyabinsk is an industrial city, where among others tractors and tanks were produced during the Soviet years. It is also famous for the large meteor that exploded in the air thirty kilometres above the city 2013. About 1000 people were injured in the blast, which, in pure energy, was almost 30 times stronger than the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

12.10 What an odd day. We have checked out before we have even seen the city. It was OK to leave the backpacks after check-out. However, there were no registration papers. Our stay is probably too short time to be worth the trouble to register us. Now we rest in the green beautiful A S Pushkin park.

12.34 We left the park and the wonderful environment there. A common tradition in Russia is to have speakers in the parks to provide visitors with a little music, or the opportunity to get to listen to a radio broadcast. So was the case here. We eventually got to Площадь Революции (Revolution square). Here we have looked at and photographed the symbol of the city, a camel.

12.58 American pop music is played in the speakers. We have stopped for a coffee break at yet another Coffeeshop Company (http://www.coffeeshopcompany.com). It is located at Prospekt Lenina 63. This might have become our new coffee chain. Is Starbucks time in the past?

13.10 One of the staff who were good at English came and informed us. We had ordered cheese and ham sandwiches. They were out of cheese, was it possible for us to have cheddar instead? Is not cheddar a cheese?

13.49 We believe that the thing with the cheddar instead of cheese is due to the fact that they had run out of the normal kind of cheese. Now we are sitting in the shade under the trees in the Aloye Pole park by the Alexander Nevsky church. This is peaceful and beautiful.

On a bench on Revolution square.

A camel is the city symbol in Chelyabinsk.

Prospekt Lenina, Chelyabinsk.

Coffee break at Coffeeshop Company.

The soviet statue Orlyonok about the summer camp of the young pioneers.

Sasha Kovalev will be remembered.

14.10 We have left our comfortable bench to get to see more of the city. The popular pedestrian street Kirova stretches out to the right of us. Along it we see shops, restaurants, statues and people.

14.20 A walk along Kirova has brought us to the banks of the river Miass. It flows slowly through the greenery. It also seems to have been affected by eutrophication or algal bloom. The water looks strange. We ourselves have reached the end of the line, of our walk around the city. It is soon time to embark on the return voyage. Next to us sits the composer Prokofiev as a statue. He also has a concert hall in the city. He has connections here maybe?

14.54 Our feet and we with them went back home. The broad street Prospekt Lenina was crossed by going under it. Under ground it was was commerce and movement. We went ever so wrong a few times before we came up above ground again. Here in the city is also the railway workers culture palace. Why? What is there? In any case, it sounds like a typical Soviet creation.

15.29 We have again ordered food, lunch, something to eat. We are at the restaurant Pizzburg (http://www.pizzburg74.ru), a play on words. The U.S city of Pittsburgh and the word pizza has met.

16.30 Once again, the waitresses lacked knowledge in English. Do you become a waitress in Russia if you failed English in school? A younger ability disappeared when we began to speak English, and a braver, more experienced girl took our orders. We ate and drank. After having fetched the backpacks at the hotel, we are now at the railway station. Christer is on away looking for kiosks, a toilet and an ATM.

17.16 Missions here at the station are completed. To find and get on board the train, oh yeah, just great! To get down my seat cushion, get the curtain to remain and to open the window, big problem! Peace, quiet and a lot of thought solved with CCCP written on it.

Alexander Nevsky church in the Aloye Pole park.

A peaceful rest under the leaves.

Ulitsa Kirova, Chelyabinsk.

Here you can buy the beverage kvas.

Miass river in Chelyabinsk.

The opera house in Chelyabinsk.

19.51 Slender trees strive upwards side by side of each other at the side of the track. The sound from the railway tracks is soothing. In the Wimbledon tennis Roger Federer has won his eighth title, most of all, by defeating Marin Čilić with, 6-3, 6-1, and 6-4. Thus, Federer is the first man since Björn Borg in 1976 to not lose a single set in Wimbledon. He is also the oldest to win the men's Wimbledon.

21.18 A lady has just paid us a visit. A blonde woman sat down with us with a note book. She said something; maybe she wanted to ask us anything. It might have been a survey? She understood that we did not understood what she said and went.

22.52 We have arrived in Yekaterinburg. The city was named Sverdlovsk during the Soviet time. Here were the tsar family murdered in 1918, and from here came the Russian former president Boris Yeltsin. After these three events, it is now time for the city to figure in our travel journal. Christer is right now buying drinks for us before we go to our next hotel.

23.04 The store Christer went to was really interesting. It almost looked like a pub with a counter with various beer pumps. Here people fill their bottles with new beer. Lucky enough they sold regular drinks too.

23.20 After a lot of walking, we are finally there, where the map on Booking.com says that it should be. We can't see our hotel. We are at a large sports centre and in front of it are some workers preparing some form of market place.

23.47 We kept on looking before we gave up and asked one of the locals, one of the workers. He could only speak Russian and did not understand what we were looking for. Another, younger man had other skills, including English. The guy who has just completed some form of training in the sports hall led us to the right entrance. Thank you so much! Now, we stay at Divs Hotel and in room 305.

Lenin is standing also in Chelyabinsk.

Chelyabinsk railway station.

We are stopping in Verkhny Ufaley.


VIDEOS


You can see 57 photos from July 14 in this photoalbum.
You can see 10 photos from July 15 in this photoalbum.
You can see 51 photos from July 16 in this photoalbum.


CONTINUE


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