A Pleasant Surprise

Krasnoyarsk

Scrambled up one of the hills on the edge of town yesterday afternoon to see a tiny cathedral and a view of the city. Apart from a few old fashioned wooden huts clustered together waiting to be burned down, it's great big concrete rectangles to the left, right and straight ahead. The huge River Yenisey is a fine sight though, and in this morning's warm sunshine it looks great with the trees all around turning brown and yellow.

I can't quite put my finger on what I like about this city. It's a shame about the Soviet buildings and factories, but I've got so used to seeing them around I hardly notice anymore. The riverfront here is a great area and there seem to be more young people about than in the rest of Siberia put together. If Krasnoyarsk was in Europe and had some nice architecture it would be one of the great cities of the world. Unfortunately it's in the middle of nowhere - Krasnoyarsk region is the size of Saudi Arabia. So it'll just have to remain our little secret.