...but not for long

The 1830 train leaves Nizhny Novgorod bang on time, en route from somewhere in South West Russia to Severobaltaisk at the north end of Lake Baikal. Our journey is relatively short, twenty hours or so to Yekaterinburg (known for a while as Sverdlovsk, and now Russia's fifth biggest city). On the way, we pass kilometre post 1777, where an obelisk marks the entry into Asia.

In a way, this is the first time that the real frustrations and pleasures of travelling around Russia reveal themselves. The train is unbearably hot (35 degrees considered an acceptable daytime temperature). The coping strategy is to go and stand in the gaps between the coaches with the snow and ice to cool down every so often.

Arriving in Yekaterinburg in the Tuesday evening rush hour, we take the Metro and tram to find our hotel. Receptionist is clearly not happy in her work, but processes us efficiently into our adequate accommodation. Now noticeably colder, the snow ploughs are out, road traffic skidding and it is occasionally treacherous underfoot. That said, the substantial manpower and resources put into clearing the snow means that the city is kept moving. Indeed we understand that this is a warm spell, with temperatures due to drop to a more seasonal minus 29 later in the week. The brewery restaurant which we had heard so much about is shut, so we revert to a very pleasant Czech restaurant.

The following morning, we cross the substantial lake in the city centre on foot (very frozen) to find the memorial to the last Tsar, who met his downfall here. In contrast, a world leader who started his political career in Yekaterinburg was one Boris Yeltsin. I guess that it's difficult to design a Yeltsin statue that doesn't look humorous, but I think that this memorial does the former president justice.

The rest of the day involves exploring the city on the extensive tram network (all working fine despite worsening weather conditions). Finally a visit to the railway museum (closed) and to the supermarket to buy beers for the train.

Definitely feels like Russia now - despite its preparations for the world expo in 2020 and plenty of evidence of modernisation, Yekaterinburg appears to be resisting westernisation for the time being.