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It’s official – I’m in Siberia. In my head, Siberia has always been solely a barren, freezing, wasteland — but Krasnoyarsk, which is the third largest city in Siberia, is nothing like that. (I recognize that I’m in southern Siberia, which is a far cry from say, the northern stretches of the Lena River).

Chekhov called Krasnoyarsk the most beautiful city in Siberia — I can’t say that for sure, but it has its charms. To me, it looks how I thought a typical Russian city would look – big, sprawling, lots of buildings that blend into each other, each built to look identical to the last. But at the same time, the Yenisey River flows through the city, mountains lie just beyond, and beautiful Tatyshev Isle borders one end of Krasnoyarsk — it definitely has a sort of beauty to it. The last 30 hours on the train, from Yekaterinburg, was more of the same – thousands of miles of birch and pine trees, as well as long industrial stretches of Soviet-style architecture.

So, a few videos, and a few pictures from my jaunt on Tatyshev Isle, which is like a microcosm of the landscape from the last 3000 or so miles.

First, my route thus-far: (I head to Irkustk tomorrow).

Next, a few super-short video clips from the train ride — One, of the perpetual landscape, and one, of the common stretches of industry along the way:

Next, a few pics from downtown Krasnoyarsk and Tatyshev Island:

Typical urban scene in Krasnoyarsk, and a bizarre mural I happened upon in a park:

And, a few pics from Tatyshev Island:

Up next, Irkuskst!