Stolbi (Pillars) National Park in Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk is a beautiful city that is right next to the Taiga on the East side.  The River cuts through the valley and very close by is a group of rock outcroppings called Stolbi (or pillars).  This is an area that has been made into a national park, and which is an international destination for rock climbers.

On our way up to the Stolbi.  This portion is a nature trail with interesting information about the forest.

It is one of our favorite places to go, and when we were there this year, we made a trip.  Normally we have gone with friends from the city, but this time, we went on our own with the girls.  Babushka hurt her knee early in the summer, so she also didn't come with us.

The last long portion before the base of the Stolbi and the long staircase up to the pillars.

At the base there is a park that is geared toward climbers.  Our kids "resting" at the park.

More "resting."

We caught a bus right outside of the apartment and it is a bout a twenty-five minute ride to the entrance of the park.  The air had a lot of smoke and pollution in it over the city, but the higher we hiked up the road, the better the air got.  You need to walk up a road for about three miles to get to the base of where the Stolbi start.  Then there is a long staircase up to the first set of pillars and then paths around to the different rock formations.  We got to the base by about 11:00 am, had a quick lunch and then spent the next few hours hiking to, climbing on, and enjoying the views.

Hiking past the first of the rock outcroppings.

Adventure!

Climbing on the stolbi themselves.

Adventurers!

The Taiga, looking toward the city.  The air was bad.

The Feathers, our last pillar of the day.

We had a great time spending the day together with the girls.  We had quite a workout[1] but the girls didn't complain at all. We love hiking together and this is one of the favorite places for all of us to enjoy that activity together.

Hiking back down after a long day of climbing.

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[1] My fitbit clocked about 13 miles for the day and over 225 flights of stairs, or more than 2,000 vertical feet of elevation climbed.

Visiting the Krasnoyarsk Regional History Museum

One of the activities that we did while we were in Krasnoyarsk was to visit the regional history museum.  We went four years ago with the girls.  Babushka didn't come with us.  She said, "I've already been."  It turned out to be pretty true.  Nothing had been changed.  There are some nice exhibits, but without any temporary or new exhibits, there is not a big incentive to go and see it again.

The kids loved the animals and were also interested in the displays that showed the native Siberian tribes and how they lived. I was interested in that and the different displays from the revolutionary period.  Krasnoyarsk was a city that they sent a lot of exiles to in the Tsarist times and there were a number of camps outside of the city during the Gulag period, although that is not really part of the history that the museum shows.

A display of a primitive man.

Looking at the homes of some natives.

Looking at some of the large religious icons on display.

A display of shells as part of the animal exhibit.  The kids loved all of this exhibit the most.

After the museum we walked along the river for a little bit and then went over to the square and arch that commemorates the founding of the city.  Somewhere along the way Yulia realized she'd lost her fitbit. We went back looking for it, but didn't find it.  That was the tragedy of the day and of the trip.  I'll have to get her another one when I am in the US again in September.

Walking along the river after the museum.  The air was quite smoggy while we were there.  Babuska lives across the river near where the four large buildings can been seen.

At the square we were talked into renting bikes.  We each got a bike and we rode it across the pedestrian bridge to the Tatushev Island, which is another recreational area.  It is where we usually have picnics with the church when we are visiting.  The island had nice riding trails and a number of exercise areas along the way with people lifting weights and doing other exercises.  We rode for just under an hour and had a nice time.  It was a warm day, and sunny.

Just across the bridge and getting to the island.

On our ride on the island.

Walking in search of food.

 We had eaten a late breakfast, but by the time we were finished on the bikes it was nearly 2:30 and the kids were hungry.  We began walking and looking for someplace to eat.  There was a KFC that we knew about, so we headed that way.  Across the street was a restaurant called "Big Yorker."  We decided to try it out.  It turned out to be a Russian version of Burger King or McDonald's.  The workers were friendly, the prices were good, and the food was pretty good too.  The girls each received a balloon on our way out - and that made their day.

Kids eat Big Yorker!

Yulia and I enjoying our meal and each other's company.

It turned out to be a fun and adventurous day.  The kind we like!

The girls with their balloons.  Lexa's popped on a tree, so Sophie generously shared hers with her sister.  What a kid!

Walking to the Yenisei

Krasnoyarsk is a beautiful city with the Yenisei river running through it, flowing to the North. One of my favorite things about our visit four years ago was walking to and from the library on the other side of the river.  I would cross the Komunalny (Community/Сcommunal) Bridge.  The bridge spans across first to the "recreation island" where there are some sports stadiums, beaches, and other activities, and then across the main channel.  The main channel runs fast and deep and there are often barges going up and down it.  Sometimes they are floating logs down the river to processing plants.  The bridge is famous because it is on the 10 ruble bill.

The bridge is the symbol, along with the church, of Kranoyarsk

The bridge is noisy and dirty and heavily-trafficked but it is high above this deep, dark, beautiful river flowing north to the Arctic Ocean and I love it. Yulia and I took a walk one day across the river to the opera theater and fountains that are there.  We wanted to have a walk and that was where I wanted to go.

A selfie on the square after we walked across the bridge.  We took the bus back :)

On other days we walked south (upriver) along the embankment and watched the fishermen, the people out on boats and jet skis, and the ducks along the shore. Behind Yulia's Mom's house toward the factory where she used to work is a little reservoir area that was made by creating some levees.  It is where the ships were launched out of the factory before they were put onto the river.  The girls went there one day without me, and we all walked down there one evening together and spent an hour wading and skipping rocks.

Nika trying to figure out the skipping motion.  She never did quite get it.

Kids and water.  The recipe for contentment on any summer day!

Some ducks in a row.

One afternoon when we were walking along the bank going south (upriver) we saw a huge fish swimming close to shore in the shallows.  We had seen a lot of little fish, but this was was huge.  We couldn't tell exactly what it is, but we suspect that it was a sturgeon. You can see it in the photograph here in the middle of the frame as a shadow.  It was over two feet long, and probably closer to three.  We watched it for about 2 minutes before it swam out into the deep part of the river.  It was about 100 meters upriver from where there were four fishermen. I guess the fish won that day.

See her there about a third of the way up in the middle. She's a big one! 

It is often the simple things that are the best. Our little walks to, along, and across the river were one of the highlights of our visit to Krasnoyarsk this summer.

Traveling to Russia

The last time we were in Russia was four years ago.  The twins were half the age that they are now and I was in the middle of writing my dissertation. We have seen Babushka a lot since we lived in Kazakhstan, but it has taken us two years to get to Krasnoyarsk to see her.

The journey started in the US when the girls and I applied for Russian visas.  The law has changed since we came last time, and we were encouraged to apply for multiple entry three-year visas, which we did.  They are the same price, so it will save us money and time from having to apply again if we want to go.  We were able to get the visas with minimal trouble.  When we got back to Kazakhstan we had to renew our visas for here, so we couldn't book our travel until we had our visas and passports back.

We flew to Novosibirsk on July 18. The flight from Astana was about 90 minutes long and pretty smooth.  We overshot the airport on our first pass, so that was exciting and we had to circle back around.  The weather was rainy and the cloud ceiling was very low, so that made it a little more dicey coming in.  Once we landed it took us a bit over two hours to get through passport control.  Two flights had arrived and no one was getting through.  One of the border agents came out and announced that the hail storm had knocked out the computers.  When we did get through it was me and the four girls.  The woman who was processing our passports called her supervisor to see if we needed extra scrutiny.  We got through, though, and that's all that mattered.

Once we were through we got in a shuttle van directly to the train station.  Unfortunately our delay meant that we hit rush hour traffic.  We were standing still for much of the drive from the airport to the train station. We did eventually make it - and got to our train with about 10 minutes to spare.  It was just enough time to board and for Yulia to buy some water and snacks before our train left. We had a twelve-hour overnight train to Krasnoyarsk.  The kids love trains and sleeping on them, and this was a pretty nice train (clean and with a modern toilet system and nice conductor[1]) so it was a nice easy trip.  Our overall travel time from Astana to Krasnoyarsk was about 18 hours and it was easy travel compared to trans-Atlantic followed by trans-Russia air travel.

We arrived at a bit after 7:00, got right on a bus that got us to Babushka's house in about 10 minutes - the fastest we've ever been.

Eating once we were there.  For some reason I don't have travel pictures.

It was good to be there.  The apartment is still small, but it is fun for the kids to all be together and for Yulia and I to sleep on the balcony. It's as close to camping as I'd like to be most days, anyways!

Our first few days it was a bit rainy and we were stuck inside, but on Saturday we took a trip to Stolbi - the National Park that is just outside of town.  That will be the next post!

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[1] Apparently you pay extra on the trains with conductors who are not rude.  Standard tickets include rude conductors.  We were happy to have paid the extra.  It was really a pleasant trip.

Astana Days

We returned to Astana from our vacation in Utah (which we still need to do a lot of writing about) at the end of June.  July 6 is President Nazarbayev's birthday, and it is also a holiday (The Day of the Capital).  We missed the celebration last year because we were in the US.  We decided to go to the festivities that were held near Khan Shatyr (the giant tent mall that is one of the famous landmarks of the city).  We went with our friends the Petersons who were getting ready to leave the next day for the US where they took a new job.  We also met our friends the Stice family, so it was a good time.

The kids posing with an eagle used for hunting.

The square across from Khan Shatyr and the Opera theater was set up with tents, yurts, and stadium seating.  There was a lot on display - local crafts, local dances and singing, and eagles (for hunting) and horsemanship displays.  We looked around at what was going on for a few minutes, and then went and took seats for the horse show. We picked seats on the front row, and that ended up being a problem because it filled up and people stood, making our seats the worst ones.

The horse show was amazing - lots of acrobatics, shooting, and trick riding.  We really enjoyed it.  After the show, we wandered around and looked at the other displays for another 90 minutes and ended our day with a meal at Khan Shatyr.

It was a fun day and a nice way to spend our last day with our good friends.

And this post is mostly about the fun pictures below!

Kazakh folk dance on the main tent stage - we peaked in.

Women riders. They were part of a chase game traditional among Kazakhs.  If the boy wins he gets a kiss.  If he loses, the girl gets to whip him the next time around. Fun!!!

Demonstrating Falconry

Horse game traditionally played with a goat carcass.  This was a bundle of wool.

Taking turns attacking using spears and bows.  Thinking about Ghengis Khan sweeping across the Steppe with his cavalry.

One more with the lady riders.

Nika was interviewed for the local news.  She did well - her first television appearance.

Alexandra poses in front of some Yurts.

Lexa with her Mama - her favorite person in the world.

A booth with crafts - leather and wood.

The end of school year

We haven't been writing lately mostly because our life got super busy, and we were traveling but we'll try to catch up on our adventures.

The kids finished school at the end of May. All of them did awesome and overcame the challenges that came their way. Nika had to pass two final exams (math and Russian), and she got 5 (A) in both. She also participated in the National math competition among the 5^th and 6^th graders and she took 2^nd place. Somehow I didn't take any pictures of Nika at the end of her school year.

The twins finished the school year with flying colors and were ready for the summer break. 

The last day of school. Lexa and Sophie.

The last day of school. Sophie and Lexa.

Lina graduated from the 4^th grade and from the elementary school. This post is mostly about her graduation.

Last year Nika graduated from the elementary school and had a big graduation ceremony. This year it was Lina's turn. It was a bit of a pain in the lower regions for the parents to say the least. We had to pay for decorations, the flowers for the administration that didn't even show up to the event, for the choreographer who was supposed to teach the kids two kinds of dances including waltz but only practiced once with them, for the certificates of achievement and other things. They also give teachers big presents at the end of the year (and a few times during the year), and of course the parents had to pay for those as well. With all of that they allowed only 10 parents from each class (there were seven 4^th grade classes with 30 kids in each) to come to the graduation. Ridiculous! After all the money they asked us to put into this thing, they wouldn't even allow the parents to see their own kids in the program! They were afraid that too many people would show up, and they didn't want their VIP visitors to have a bad impression. Well, it turned out that none of the VIP visitors came, and 2/3 of the hall was empty because the parents thought they weren't allowed to come. Things like that happen all the time here, and it makes me really frustrated.

The kids though put up a good graduation program, and those that came enjoyed it. I am really proud of their accomplishments. Here are some pictures.   

"Good bye, Elementary School"

Lina in her ball gown, all ready for the graduation.

Lina with her 4th grade teacher, Kseniya Viktorovna

4 "V" class

Dancing waltz

Dancing flash mob dance

Our little graduate

Looking at her school pictures

Good bye, 4th grade!

Lina with both of her teachers (Aizhan Alpysovna taught her last year, and Kseniya Viktorovna  taught her this year)

Last day!