RUSSIA

Location - Eastern Europe/North Asia; Capital - Moscow; Population - 143 million; Currency - Russian Rouble MORE RUSSIA

After a tedious day crossing the China/Russia border at Manzhouli/Zabaikalsk I caught another overnight train and headed for Chita - February 2011.

50 Russian Roubles

About the only thing worth taking a photo of at Zabaikalsk is the train station to get out of there

The 18th century Archangel Michael log church - Chita

Traditional wooden houses can be found throughout Siberia - Chita

The wooden houses can be very ornate (and also very dilapidated, like this one) - Chita

It's got character if not cleanliness - Chita

A cold Siberian dawn in Chita

Across the road from the train station is Chita's cathedral

Leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution and founder of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, aka Lenin - Chita

It's not just China's Harbin that has ice castles. These guys are dismantling one in Lenin Square - Chita

Lenin Square forms the heart of Chita

I met this friendly couple in a nearby restaurant - Lenin Square, Chita

In my deerstalker hat, two fleeces, long johns, jeans, Craghoppers etc. And no gloves - Chita

And I met this friendly guy in Lenin Square as well - Chita

After a 3rd overnight train journey in a row I fancied a bed and shower by the time I arrived at Ulan Ude.
This is a 'luxury' room at the train station, and very nice it was too.

Casually sweeping the snow from the train station roof - Ulan Ude

Ulan Ude, capital of the Buryat republic, is known for having the largest Lenin head in the world

It's located on Ploshchad Sovetov in central Ulan Ude

Yep, it's pretty big - Ulan Ude

Beyond the Opera House on the right is the Triumphal Arch - Ulan Ude

Walking down a pedestrian section of Ul Lenina, the main shopping area of Ulan Ude

The perfect outfit to keep you warm in a Siberian winter - Ulan Ude

On Ul Lenina is a traditional home of a well-off family - Ulan Ude

At the bottom of Ul Lenina is the 18th century Odigitria Cathedral - Ulan Ude

Close to the cathedral are rows of traditional wooden homes - Ulan Ude

The indigenous Buryats are a Mongol people, and there are several datsans (Buddhist temples) in and around Ulan Ude

Inside one of the two datsans a few kilometres north of central Ulan Ude

Money, biscuits and a Snickers bar are amongst the offerings - Ulan Ude

Prayer flags attached to a tree - Ulan Ude

The second Buddhist temple in the complex - Ulan Ude

If, like me, you can't get to Ivolginsky Datsan then this complex is definitely worth going to - Ulan Ude

The Buryats are noticeably Asian in appearance - Ulan Ude

Prayer flags are tied to trees all over the Buddhist complex - Ulan Ude

I met a great bunch of Russians from Krosnayarsk on the 61hour Trans-Siberian from Ulan Ude to Yekaterinburg

These guys had been skiing and snowboarding at Lake Baikal - Trans-Siberian from Ulan Ude to Yekaterinburg

A not very good photo of the dachas (small holiday homes in the countryside) that city folk retreat to for a weekend - Trans-Siberian from Ulan Ude to Yekaterinburg

Train station stall-owners load their 'ski trolleys' with drinks, beer and snacks to greet passengers - Trans-Siberian from Ulan Ude to Yekaterinburg

I arrived at Yekaterinburg at some silly time like 4.30 in the morning

A wooden house on Ul Proletarskaya, Yekaterinburg

'Love padlocks' chained to the railings above Iset River, which heads towards the TV Tower - Yekaterinburg

A statue of the founders of the city stand behind a water tower on Prospekt Lenina - Yekaterinburg

The mist is actually steam rising from the drains on a -22°C evening in Yekaterinburg

The Afghan War Memorial lies next to the Military History Museum - Yekaterinburg

The Soviet Union waged a war with Afghanistan for much of the 1980s - Yekaterinburg

Inside the Military History Museum is a small section dedicated to the U2 incident. In 1960 an American U2 spy plane was shot down south of Yekaterinburg. Initially the US denied the plane's existence, not knowing that pilot Gary Powers had bailed out and was still alive, captured by the Soviets. Above are some of the remains - Yekaterinburg

A church on Ul Maysheva, just west of the Iset River - Yekaterinburg

A statue of Lenin stands opposite the City Hall - Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg's most famous son, former governor of the city and first president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin

It wasn't easy climbing these steps. And 'climbing' was the right word! Yekaterinburg

Snow graffiti on the frozen waters of the Iset River - Yekaterinburg

I thought he was dead - Demis Roussos plays Yekaterinburg

The early 19th century Rastorguev-Kharitonov Mansion - Yekaterinburg

The Church of the Blood is built on the site where Tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered in 1918 - Yekaterinburg

The Romanov family were killed, supposedly on the orders of the Bolshevik government, soon after the Russian Revolution of 1917 - Yekaterinburg

Also in the Romanov death site is a chapel dedicated to the Grand Princess Yelizaveta Fyodorovna, who was also murdered - Yekaterinburg

The original house in which the royal family were executed was destroyed on the orders of then-governor Boris Yeltsin in 1977 - Yekaterinburg

The Romanov family was canonized in 1981 as martyrs - Yekaterinburg

The Church of the Blood - Yekaterinburg

Website and content Copyright © 2008-2011 Mark Wilkinson. All rights reserved.

LINKS

www.visitrussia.org.uk - Russia National Tourist Office

www.realrussia.co.uk - UK/Russia based company - visa support and train tickets

www.seat61.com - Seat 61's page on train travel in Russia, and www.seat61.com it's page on the Trans-Siberian

www.waytorussia.net

www.eng.rzd.ru - Russian Railways website, and more info here www.poezda.net

I am not responsible for the content of external websites.