Russian Orthodox christmas & Kungur ice caves

(Written 03/02/07)

Hey all! We thought that we would fill in some of the missing links in our blogs by adding pictures from our stays in Suzdal, just outside Vladimir, and Kungur near Perm.

We only had short stays in both places; we headed to Suzdal in search of a quiet few days before setting off on the Trans-Sib. A well known destination on the "Golden Ring" (a string of towns which once formed the cultural and religous centre of Russia) it seemed like a good place to spend the Russian christmas period. Had a great time, although it wasnt the sleepy town we expected! It was packed full of Russian tourists, but we still managed to chill out after our stay in Moscow. As the pictures show, we FINALLY got our white christmas!

Kungur, about 2 hours along the trans sib from Perm, is an even smaller town with no real attaction other than some famous "Ice Caves". The guidebook reccomended it, and as we still didnt fancy wandering around another city it seemed like a good option. Getting there was fun, but once we had arrived we found it really nice to walk around a proper Russian town. Obviously, they all thought we were mad; i think the tourists they are used to are rich Russians on the way to the Ski resorts. Us pair arriving on the commuter train with our packs doesnt really fit in with their idea of rich "American" tourists.
Anyway, the ice caves were cool, worth the visit if you are in Perm but the only real reason to stay over is if you arrive late (as we did). We had a great day wandering around in the first deep snow we'd seen and taking photos.

Once we had finished in Kungur / Perm (somehow managed to miss the Gulag memorial grrrrr) it was straight on to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal!!!
Hope you like the photos.....

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