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In retrospect, I kinda forget what attracted me to Ekat, A city famous for the brutal murder of the Romanov family, the last Tsar and co, and a gang war in the early 1990's. And rocks if you're into that sort of thing.
On arrival at the Meeting Point (or place, I forget) Hostel, an excellent little place run my Katya, possible the nicest and most helpful hostel owner of all time I was amazed to find real Tea - none of this Russian Churney Chai much, proper British tasting tea, with Milk and everything! Milk tasted a little funky, but I guess some things will never be the same as at home!
Initially I hit the town for a find my bearings acclimatisation walk, which included my first and only attempt at Museum going in Ekat. I entered not really sure what it was a Museum of - Muysee on the front, thought I'd just see. I'm pretty sure the receptionist asked If I liked Lizards, but possible not. She was pretty friendly so i just headed on in and hoped for the best. The first room turned out to be about French- Russian cooperation. I don't really remember that ever happening, but 20 'Vive le Russki' dinner plates later I decided it must have...
The next room wasn't exactly regular museum fare... I found myself in the Middle of a lecture on something, in Russian of course. the receptionist appeared behind me as if by magic and walked me to a seat in the front row. right. this could be a problem... But no! Just then 6 Russian choir girls appeared and sang some lovely music. this might be alright I though, unusual but nice! But no. 15 mins later they filed out to be replaced by a bearded man, who was definitely only going to give a lecture in Russian. I think it was about funding for a Library... 10 minutes later, I decided it was definitely all in Russian, with me stuck on the front row, in the middle, with this bloody receptionist giving me encouraging smiles and waves, knowing full well I didn't speak Russian.
Deciding I couldn't stay, but after 15 min of listing attentively I couldn't really stand up and say I didn't speak Russian. Hmm...
One faked coughing fit later I was fleeing down a busy Russian street.
The rest of my say in Ekat was made by a combination of people, not places. Peter, an English art student from the West country (ish) who was traveling Russia in an attempt to learn the lingo - I say attempt, he was going pretty well as far as I could tell. He had carved out a niche for himself entertaining the local uni students and helping them learn English in return for Russian help. All girls of course.
In my first Couchsurfing experience, I met Yulia, a lovely girl who showed me around the city with the enthusiastic patter of a tour guide who really loves the city. she and her friends were great for showing me good places to eat and generally helping make sure I had a good time in the city.
Having seen the Church on the blood, marking the spot Tsar Nicholas was murdered, I ventured outside the city to the Boarder between Europe and Asia, as verified by science, and Gaiana Yama, a beautiful monastery in the Ural woodland not far from the city, marking the spot where the Tsars body was bathed in acid and thrown into a mine. Okay, so not a lot else happened here, but its still a pretty nice place.
The city is going through a bit of a boom phase at the moment, with new buildings going up everywhere. this highlighted a bit of Russian construction ideals to me - They aren't big on fixing stuff.. Everywhere you can see crumbling buildings and such, with huge skyscrapers going up all around them, but still they dont repair them. The norm seems to be wait until buildings just crumble away, the build something else in their place.
Ekat is also a place caught up in the Litvinyenko - Lugovoy Russian poisoning in London affair - In the ensuing diplomatic scuffle, British council and embassy staff were deported from Russian, mainly effecting Ekat. As such the British council is gone, and the consulate scaled back, meaning that the British cultural attache is now gone from the city. A shame given they seem to like us - there was a glut if themed English and Scottish pubs. I was warmly greeted in Gordons, a Scottish place where the staff all wear kilts. They even played Rasputin by Boney M:
Raa Raa Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine...
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Luke Skyscraper
non-member comment
Your genius
Lukey, loving the coughing fit. There is no way I coulda pulled that off. You must have the air of sickly about you. I bet they are devastated that they didn't secure any funds for their France-Russki library and adjoining cafe serving baguettes in the shape of hammers and sickles. Keep up the good work. Bully