On my way east from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, after Kazan and Ekaterinburg, my third stop was Novosibirsk. My main reason for stopping by was to head for a trekking trip to the Altai Mountains. Before and after this trip, however, I got to spend a few days in this city, too.
So far throughout my life, upon hearing the word Novosibirsk, I would always imagine a cold, grey, Soviet industrial city: the kind of place where the only movement to be seen in the streets is of heavily-dressed, impoverished workers going back and forth from the monstrous factory to the equally monstrous and monotonous apartment block of theirs, dragging along a bottle of vodka in their hand. Upon seeing it with my eyes, though, this time, I found it much different than I imagined it to be. I would say it is a rather colorful and vivacious city. And as for the weather, during my stay there I experienced the hottest days I’ve ever chanced to while in Russia, the temperature approaching 40ËšC.
I didn’t get to see the center much, as I spent most of the time in the south suburbs of the city, where I stayed with my friends Katya and Sergey. Other than a few hours I spent by the railway station after my arrival and before my departure, we only went once to the center, together with Katya, for a little sightseeing. Pretty much everything interesting that is to be seen over there is concentrated in a tight area around Lenin Square. Beside the square is the Park of First May and the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre, which is the largest theatre in Russia. Nearby is also the house of Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra, adjacent to Park of the Heroes of the Revolution. A bit further out from the center, we also got to have a nice stroll by the bank of Ob River in the Park of the Beginning of the City and Mikhailovskaya Embankment.
That was it for the city center. Around the district I lived now, in spite of it being but suburbs, I probably found my time there more interesting.
Close by my friends’ house lied Novosibirsk’s Museum for Railway Technology. Lots of various-purpose, Soviet locomotives and carriages were in the exhibition. There was a good number of them to which you could enter inside. Other than trains, they also had a good collection of old Soviet cars. The most impressive exhibit was a passenger train from the 19th century. One of its carriages was open for the public, where you can see its elaborate wooden interior, bench-like seats, oil lamps, and wood stove. I couldn’t help it not to daydream about a 19th-century dark night, flickering flamelight dimly illuminating the carriage, a man feeding wood to the stove, traveling across the unknown vastness of Siberia.
Another interesting sight in the south suburbs of the city is the dam of Novosibirsk. That was built in 1956 for generating hydroelectric power. During the process, a huge artificial lake was created, which the locals refer to as the Ob Sea. Beside the dam, a sandy beach is created which is a favorite spot for locals. It’s definitely not amongst the prettiest beaches you’ve seen in your life, but for being in the middle of Siberia, it is more than good. I went to that beach twice: once in the evening for a house party taking place there, and once in the daytime when I also got to try wakeboarding for the first time in my life.
So did my time in Novosibirsk pass by and, on a rainy night, I was boarding a train to Vladivostok. If you are going to be traveling to Novosibirsk and looking for a more thorough overview of the city, check out this Trans-Siberian’s city tour.
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