a city established by Russian Cossacks .
This was a pleasent city indeed with its mix of present and past.THere was a nice lookout point at the side of the Yenisey River.Walking down the main street , we found a travellers cafe which was obviously set up by people who love travelling.There were plenty of amazing photos from all over the world pasted in the cafe and guess what,the waitress spoke perfect english.Despite us trying to order in Russian , she replied in english.Wow.Siberia,you amaze me.We left the cafe ,contented people.
The weather in Krasnoyarsk was getting warm ,surging past 7degrees.And with a thick sweater like mine , it was unbearable.I was sweating.And i hate sweating especially when i have not taken a shower in 3 days and will not be taking a shower that day either.
THere were suppose to be beautiful churches in this city.But as we found out,it was nothing spectacular.They were really normal.The highlight was a little chapel at the top of a hill which overlooks the whole of Krasnoyarsk.
While walking towards this hill,out of the city centre,the view of Krasnoyarsk has taken a turn from cement buildings to wooden houses.we met an old lady along the way who was quite traumatised by the fact that we were taking photos of the wooden houses.Apparently , she insisted that we should take photos of the city centre because it was alot prettier over there.
Finding the way up the hill was a little tough from the Lonely Planet map but we managed after asking around for directions.THere was a cemetery in Krasnoyarsk which we decided to take a walk in.Unlike Novodevichi convent in Moscow , this cemetery had a heavy air surrounding it.Yes.THis felt like a real cemetery.There was a disagreement between Therese and Selma regarding taking photos in a cemetery.Should a tourist take photos of graves in a cemetery?Personally, the tombstones didn't look too eerie, they didn't have actual photos of the deceased on the tombstones like what we have in Singapore.But the idea of photos in a graveyard didn't sit too well with me.And I was glad to get the shit out of that place.
It was a 20minute walk up a hill to get to this chapel.And along the way , we saw squatters and more wooden houses.Kids , going home from school.Basically a normal day in a normal neighbourhood.I just don't know how the people stay warm in winter while living in squatters.It can get really cold in Siberia....I guess that's what vodka is for...As we were on our way up, we heard a loud bang.What the fuck was that?It wasn't some gun shot.It sounded like an explosion,followed by fire sirens.WHAT IS GOING ON.At that moment , I was thinking...could it be a.....terrorist attack?o well, i'm on a hill, far away from any possible terrorist targets any way.
The view from the chapel was not breathtaking.It was not mountains , green trees and rivers.It was a city, heavily constructed on the land.You see buildings , roads and a brown mountain further up.It was brown.really brown.but just being far away from that has its uniqueness.You up on a hill, with a small chapel surrounded by railings filled with locks.Locks which married couples put for a long and lasting marriage.It is that tranquility that made the stop in Krasnoyarsk ...oh so worthwhile!
As we were heading down the hill , there came a 2nd loud bang, looking out , it came from the mountains , perhaps people blowing up some parts of it to make way for development.Our next stop was the city's market .Where we chanced upon a soviet canteen selling pretty decent food at really affordable prices.Approx SGD5 for a full meal.
by this point of time , I was starting to feel a little weird of sticking out from the crowd.It was the kind of clothes the 3 of us were wearing.The Russians were wearing casual funky clothes, while we were all in hiking boots , sport shoes and bulky jackets.Yes.We were obviously tourists and we didn't look normal!
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