russia: tobolsk

Tobolsk was the last city I visited during my winter mini tour of Siberia. (And I've already decided that I'd like to see all the cities again in summer, or at least warmer weather, just to see how they look different.) Tobolsk is in the Tymen oblast, and has nearly 100,000 residents.

Wikipedia tells me Tobolsk is one of the traditional capital cities of Siberia, though I'm not sure what exactly that means. The city was first founded in 1590 by a group of Cossacks. It was the second city founded in the region, not long after Tyumen.

In 1708 Tobolsk received its first school, theatre, and newspaper; all of these were the first in Siberia. After the Battle of Poltava (now in Ukraine,) in 1709 some members of the losing Swedish Army were sent to Tobolsk as prisoners. There were so many of these prisoners that they made up 25% of the city population, some of them ended up staying for good, even after repatriation was possible.

Tobolsk became the residence of more prisoners after the Decembrist revolt in 1825. Some of these exiles also ended up staying in Tobolsk permanently.

Tobolsk lost some regional power when the main route of the Transsiberian railway built between Tyumen and Omsk didn't pass through Tobolsk. You can arrive in Tobolsk by train, but the train station is not at all close to the city itself, not even my crazy definition of walking distance would consider the distance between the train station and Tobolsk as walkable.

After the February revolution in 1917, the tsarist empire of Russia ended. The reigning tsar abdicated, and with his family went into exile in Tobolsk for a few months. (From Tobolsk they went to Yekaterinburg in 1918, where they were brutally murdered in July of that year.)

Wikipedia tells me the economy of modern Tobolsk centers on a major oil refinery and the petrochemical industry. Some traditional crafts, such as bone carving are also preserved. Tourism is also part of the economy, because of its historical importance, architecture, and natural landscapes.

I arrived in Tobolsk, and wanted to walk to town, only to realize that it really wasn't walking distance. That in addition to this being Siberia and it being winter made walking a no go. Even waiting for the bus in front of the train station was quite cold.

When I booked my hostel in Tobolsk, I decided to book a cell in what used to be a wing of the prison in the kremlin area. The address listed on the booking wasn't quite the actual location, but when I found the actual location I discovered that check in was in a completely different hotel, in a completely different location/building. Since I was cold and tired, I was annoyed by all this.

Several of the cells in the prison had been converted into hostel dorms, I think I was the only person in the whole thing during the night I slept there. 

Another of the former cells had been made into the kitchen, though it had only a kettle and a table. No real cooking facilities. Yet another former cell was the bathroom and toilet.

After resting up for entirely too long, I went out to walk. The prison I was sleeping in was in the wall surrounding a church and museum. I thought about trying to go in them, but discovered the entry fees and just wasn't in the mood for paying entry fees. Sometimes I'm happy to do this, sometimes not so much.

Not too far away from the prison gates was the main platz in the old city center. This is the part of Tobolsk that is in the middle of the old kremlin walls. I assume it is normally a rather empty area, but at this time of year it was filled with ice sculptures and a giant Christmas tree. I had fun looking at the different sculptures and loved that there weren't too many other people around. There were a couple ice slides, making me regret (yet again,) that I didn't have something to slide on. 

I really should've bought something in Kurgan or Chelyabinsk when I saw things available.

One side of the festival had giant bears, just like the ones I'd seen in Tyumen. I guess Siberian bears are a major stereotype of the region, and Russia in general, sooooo....

Also in the area is the Assumption Cathedral, which was the main church in the old kremlin area. I think part of it is under renovation, but I was still able to go inside, and I loved the interior. Lots of brightly coloured frescoes, a gold iconostasis, tall columns. 

The interior area wasn't very big, but there weren't too many other people around, so it didn't feel crowded.

After wandering all over this area, I decided to wander up one of the bigger streets in town and just see where it went. By this point it was already dusk, with total darkness coming fast. Obviously I'd wasted too much of the day relaxing in my hostel, oh well. What can I do to change this habit of mine, as I've lost way too many hours when I should've been exploring. 

While walking I saw the main WW2 memorial, complete with eternal flame. Due to the lack of sunlight, I decided to wait until the next day to take photos. I also decided to wait in taking photos of two giant murals on the sides of buildings. More photo waiting happened when I walked past some painted snow sculptures.

I walked all the way to the end of a cemetery, marked with a gazebo. The gazebo was covered in holiday lights, which were absolutely lovely in an otherwise dark area. I normally like to explore cemeteries, but I wasn't about to do that in the dark and cold. 

After taking photos in the gazebo I turned around and walked back to my hostel, with a stop at a supermarket along the way.

Getting back into my prison was more of an adventure than I wanted it to be. When I'd checked in, the lady told me that the main gate closed at 1800, effectively closing the museum and church to visitors. She gave me a code to open the gate if I needed to go through after hours. When she did this, the gate was open, so I assumed the code system would be easy to work.

It wasn't. I tried the code over and over again, but the gate didn't budge. I admit I got really frustrated, and started crying. I was cold, tired, and not able to get into my accomodation, argh. Fortunately, a guard inside the gate heard me trying over and over, and came out to see what was happening. He showed me how to open the gate with the code, and it included lifting up on one section, which I'm pretty sure the earlier lady hadn't mentioned. Phew. I wonder how long the security guards stick around after closing hours?

I slept like a rock. Even with the long sleep, and the knowledge that daylight was short, it still took me a while to get going the next morning. I packed up and checked out, leaving my pack at the luggage area of the hotel that had handled my check in.

I started my sightseeing on a gorgeous day (still quite cold, but a blue sky instead of dark gray,) with a walk around the old kremlin walls. The view at one end was out over part of the city, it was a lovely view.

My next sight was a memorial at one end of a park area. I'll admit I didn't pay attention at the time to the sign telling me what was being memorialized. Later on I looked it up, Google reviews told me the memorial is dedicated to the Ermak victories of the 16^th century.

I walked up Oktober street, past a monument to Dostoyevsky to Peter and Paul Church. It was small, but I don't skip many churches if I can go in. The inside wasn't very interesting, but the lady inside decided I needed to learn a bit about the church, so she gave me a few dates, as well as showing me the baptismal bath.

After leaving the church I went back to the main street I'd walked the day before, so I could take the mural photos and the war memorial photos and the snow sculpture photos. They were all way better in daylight, as expected.

Last night I walked to the gazebo, then turned around. This day I kept going, by walking around the traffic circle. Not much further along I found a small bakery which had tasty treats and a warm interior. I stayed in there for at least an hour, warming up my phone, my camera, and the batteries for both.

Not long after I left the bakery I noticed some runners coming up the pavement on the other side of the street. Not only were they running outside in -16C weather, they were in fancy dress (costume.) The ladies were wearing Snegurechka costumes, she is the granddaughter of Ded Moroz. The men were wearing Ded Moroz costumes.

After seeing the runners, I remembered that while riding the bus into town I'd seen a random building with unique architecture. I'd marked it on the map and decided to go back later. 

This seemed like a good time to do that, so I kept walking. A while later I got to the building, it was actually a government building! A state committee for something, I don't think there is an equivalent in the States, so the name didn't mean anything to me.

At this point it was sunset, which was a completely different experience with a non cloudy sky. Absolutely beautiful, and really quiet, if that makes sense.

I walked into every supermarket I passed on my way back to the hotel to pick up my pack, at least three of them. I can't help it, I'm always looking for yogurt or other snacks.

I picked up my pack, then found the bus stop to catch the bus back to the train station. There was a schedule posted, but it wasn't accurate, argh. I ended up having to wait more than thirty minutes for the bus I needed, but at least I had the time to wait. When I got to the train station I had a few more hours to kill, then boarded my train as soon as it pulled in.

Finding a place to put my pack in my area was a challenge, as one of the other passengers had a fake Christmas tree as his luggage. The tree took up the entire area above the beds, annoying me. He offered me the space below his bunk, which is the normal thing to do, but I was nervous because I was going to get off the train at 0230, and I knew he'd have to stand up at that hour for me to get my pack. Thankfully, he understood when I told him this, and it ended up being no problem at all.

I'd like to see Tobolsk again, in warmer weather.