Novosibirsk to Ekaterinburg

After leaving Novosibirsk we headed west to Omsk, a distance of 700kms with nothing but small farming cooperatives in between. We often leave the highway to explore these villages, most of the time we are viewed with a look of suspicion, no one smiles or returns our waves. Depending on the day we are often able to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables at their local street markets, we have been over charged a couple of times for fresh berries but when you take into consideration their lifestyle and how long it took them to pick the berries we feel that the 100 roubles (4.50 NZ) charged is worth it, even though we hear them laughing as we leave.
Omsk is in southwest of Siberia at a distance of 2,700kms from Moscow. It is situated on the banks of the lot of Kazakhstan traders come across to sell their wares. We parked in a hotel car park on the banks of the river which proved to be a hot spot for young Siberians making the most of the hot summer weather, lying on the “beach” river bank by day or strutting their stuff trying to attract the the opposite sex in the briefest little numbers imaginable and partying into the wee small hours at night. Vic’s first activity upon arriving was to take a stroll along the “beach”.
From here moved on to Tyumen (pronounced Chuman) a further 690 kms in a northwest direction. W we headed to our e looked for possible spots to spend the night but didn’t feel comfortable with anything so decided to park up for the night in a truck stop. After pulling in and going for a beer in one of the three bar/diners to make friendly with the truckers we headed back to Moggy to cook a sumptuous risotto washed down with a glass or two of Italian Chianti and play scrabble. By this time there were a number of long haul trucks and trailers. We slept well and on awaking found the whole area full of trucks, we fortunately had ensured when we parked that we had space to get out early in the morning for the last 290kms of this leg. We arrived in Tyumen at 3.3pm after stopping off in a village along the way to have lunch. Here we chose to stay in the centre of the town close to the historical area so we could ensure we see all the sites. Tyumen was the first Russian town in Siberia founded in 1586 by Feodor 1st of Russia. In the 17-18th centuries it became an important trade centre, especially for leather goods. In 1948 oil was discovered here and by the late 1960s early 1970s the oil industry became a vital component of the city’s economy. This is evident today by the cars people drive and the city it’s self. All the footpaths are paved and there are lovely gardens and flowered walkways throughout the city centre, it is also very clean. The population is only around 650,000.
We have visited churches, historical buildings and looked and the new promenade area that is being built along the river Tura. Our next stop is Ekaterinburg which is situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range and considered the centre of the Ural Federal District. It was founded in 1723, has a population of 1.3 million and was the city where Tsar Nicolas 2nd, his wife Alexandra and their 5 children were executed by the Bolsheviks on July 17th 1918.
We will write again before reaching Moscow. And put up more photos.
All the best to everyone love Michele & Vic