Blogs from Khabarovsk, Far East, Russia, Europe

הקדשנו כמה ימים טובים בחברובסק לקניות, התארגנויות, טיפולים ושיפורים לקראת המסע. בסופו של דבר היינו מוכנים לצאת לדרך We dedicated a few days in Khabarovsk for shopping, arrangements, service and improvements before the journey. Eventually we were ready to go.... read more

"Wow this is the most expensive thing I've ever held in my hand" so says this 12 year old boy holding my iPad in his hands preciously on his way home with his grandma to Kazakstan. But before we meet him we make a tour of Khabarovsk. Khabarovsk is one of the prettier cities in Russia's Far East. Unlike so many places in Russia, the city has allocated and spent funds to develop its riverside, parks, monuments and walkways. Khabarovsk was founded in 1858 as a military post by Eastern Siberia's Governor General Count Nikolai Muravyov (later became Muravyov-Amursky), during his campaign to take the Amur back from the Manchus (the local indigenous people at the time). In 1897 the Trans-Siberian railway arrived from Vladivastok. Back in the 1920's the town was seized by China before ... read more

Khabarovsk was very hot and humid - 31degrees apparently. We found it to be a really attractive city centre, and enjoyed walking down by the river, which was more like being at the seaside. Cant imagine it with the river so frozen that cars can drive on it. We explored the Museum of Regional Studies to get out of the heat (meeting our new Aussie friends along the way). Unfortuantely hardly any English descriptions, but it varies from stuffed local animals, through local tribal history, to general russian history and household items. Not much else to see or do, but still worth an overnight stop. We stocked up on food for the train journey and as a noisy thunderstorm broke we again strugled for a bit to find somewhere to eat, before ending up in a ... read more

Finally after 50 hours on that damn train, which was hot and stinky, I had reached Khabarovsk, which turned out to be a pretty pleasant place. And maybe even the cleanest city I've been to since...can't remember. I stayed in the train stations resting room for the night then the following day walked the city. It lies along the beautiful Amur river, filled with loads of parks, tsarist era buildings (way better than soviet style to be sure) an amazing boardwalk area boasting many cafes and snack stalls. I walked to Dynamo park on the evening I arrived and watched as people strolled about. I got eaten by mosquitoes though! The next day I was up really early and walked to the nearby town center, where I saw historic buildings, and walked the gargantuan board walk ... read more