Khabarovsk (June 14-16, 2019)
Khabarovsk (Kah-BAR-ovsk) is a large city (605,000 population) in the Russian Far East, situated on the confluence of the Ussuri and Amur Rivers. The Amur is one of the great rivers of the world, over 4,000 km long, and it forms the border between China and the Russian Far East, and that border is only 8 km away. We are doing the travelogue thing here because not many Westerners get there unless they’re in the logging, oil, or mining business. Khabarovsky Region is in the center of the Russian ‘Far East’, which is bigger than any of the biggest European countries of France, Spain, or Germany. (Russia is divided into 3 areas: the Far East, Siberia, and Europe) The scenery ranges from permafrost to snow to subtropical forest. There are 55,000 lakes (yes, you read right) and over 120,000 rivers. The region is rich in coal, gas, oil, tin, iron, platinum, silver, and gold. This is one of the most economically developed regions in the Far East. There are 1.3 million people in this region of 305,000 square miles. One of its sister cities is Victoria, B.C., since 1990.
This city has the unglamorous title of the “world’s coldest city of over 1/2 million people”. Having said that, it’s SUPPOSED to be hot in the summer.
It’s a lovely city. It was founded in 1858 as a military post for East Siberia. The Trans Siberian Railway arrived in 1897, which quickly made the little town into a medium-sized city. The train station resembles the old parliament building. Today, the city is more of a university town with lots of young people, and along with the young comes a great nightlife..not that we ever saw anything past 9 pm.
To view a photo full-size, simply left-click on the image.
A view of the Amur River. It is a working river – a big, big river.
Our Airbnb has got to be on the windiest corner of the world, right up there with Winnipeg’s Portage and Main. Step away a 1/2 block and little to no wind, well, almost. These Airbnbs are something that has just surfaced in Russia in the last 6 years or so. People are still in the process of supplying them with appliances, etc. Our guy gave us his daughter’s phone number (she speaks English) in case we needed anything. Although they are all supplied with washers, they do not have dryers, so drying racks are needed. We called asking for one, and he was there with one within the hour. I was impressed seeing how he took his time in meeting us after telling us he would be there waiting for us. As we traveled through Russia, this was not an isolated incident!
By now, Steve has a Russian SIM card in his phone, which is great because he can use Yandex, the Russian version of Uber, to order a taxi from the train station and avoid being violated by the predators in the parking lot. First time out for Yandex – app crashed. So we once more threw ourselves into the jaws of the taxi drivers and eventually got to our apartment. Except we didn’t. No one, taxi driver or local business people, or passers-by, could identify where the front door to the building was, exactly. And it was raining. And cold. And really windy. And the Airbnb guy who was supposed to be there wasn’t. Eventually, he showed up, and the door was like 30 feet from where we were waiting, and he took us up to a very nice, large apartment on the 9th floor. At least it had an elevator. Whew. Glad that worked out.
The view from the top of the Ferris Wheel, which is I think a legal requirement in every city in Russia.
A word about phones. Russian data plans are ridiculously cheap. We both had Megafon plans with unlimited data for 30 days for $12, including the SIM card. Since both Google Maps and Translate have features that don’t work without a connection, this is essential unless you are fluent in Cyrillic. So get one, it’s a lifesaver. Oh yeah, and then Yandex works, and getting a taxi becomes really easy and really cheap. If you ever wondered if we really need Uber and its ilk in BC, the answer is YES!
One of Khabarovsk’s bus routes stops about 1/2 block from our door, and it travels in a big circle from our place to a big shopping center, the train station, downtown, the riverfront, and back to our place. And its cost is about 25 cents, and a nice lady finds you and takes your money after you get on.
There are a lot of things to see in the city. It has six or eight major museums, a nice downtown area, and two major league cathedrals (Russian Orthodox) with gilded onion domes (who paints those things, and how do they keep from falling off?).
Komosomolskaya Square. This blue top Cathedral is called The Cathedral of the Domination of the Virgin… built in 1886.
The great Savior Transfiguration Cathedral is the 3rd largest (95mtrs) cathedral in Russia..after one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg (photo’s of those in future posts)
This is the Far Eastern State Research Library. It is the largest cultural institution in Khabarovsk and Pacific Russia. It was built in 1894 to be used as a guest house for a top-guild merchant. Today, as THE library, it has approx. 4 million books, documents, newspapers, magazines, etc and there are 6 additional buildings. Beautiful.
They have a beautiful, wide walkway that runs for about 3 kilometres down the center of town towards the Amur River, where the park is. It was the riverfront that kept drawing us back. There is a lovely riverside promenade a couple of kilometers long, a swimming beach, and it is backed by beautiful parks and green spaces.
This little beach is referred to as Russia’s version of The French Riviera. It ain’t, but it’s what they got.
Never thought I liked Ferris Wheels until I got hooked on them in Russia. However, the ones in Russia are glassed in and go really, really slow, and there is room for the whole family to sit and enjoy. Some even had a little table in the cars.
The long walkway. Were our feet ever sore. There were days we walked 15 – 20 km. So much to see.
There are city ponds that we were listed among the most popular tourist spots but unfortunately, we ran out of time. But if you go, it is a ‘must do’ as it has a Laser show, cascading ponds, spotlights, classical music, and water jets. Sorry, we missed that.
There are kids’ parks, a large Ferris wheel, lots of eateries, and that’s where the summer and winter sports stadiums and the museums are as well. We spent most of Saturday down there, and the place was really busy with families out doing what families do. Very nice indeed. Found a little place that made take-out barbecue that was excellent. I’m adding quite a few photos here because it was such a cool park.
Cow races and cow hats.
They can pickle anything that can’t outrun them – makes my mouth water just looking at the photos. At 50 rubles to $1, you can see how much these would cost. If you can grow it, you can pickle it, and these ladies know their business. I was surprised to see all this food in the park and I thought it was great. Get your groceries while at the park..cool. But this big guy was pretty cool with the chopping block and axe.
Its not every day you get to see a snail costume
This is just down right beautiful. I was tempted to buy it but how the heck could I get it home. I had a back pack and a carry on suitcase..what do you think my chances of it making it home in one piece was? I think its called a samovar.
Just one of the most beautifully made play houses I have ever seen in my life.
I love this photo and laugh every time I see it. The glassed in Ferris wheel ride provided great opportunities for great photo’s.
Sunday was the Regional Museum, called The Khabarovsk Territorial Museum, which is kind of like the Provincial Museum in Victoria. It was built in 1894. It was the best Museum Deb had ever seen. Lots of natural history, but also political, cultural, and indigenous history. The best propaganda posters against Germany with great cartoon characters. It had a great section on Native people. And after seeing that, yes, I do believe our First Nations came from that area over the ice bridge from Siberia to Alaska. Khabarovsky krai is home to more than 20,000 indigenous people.
An incredibly beautiful ceremonial native dress.
This is a tapestry made from Reindeer Hide. How did they do that? The white parts look like its where the hide has been scraped off.
Musk Deer..yes, those teeth are real Grandma.
Keta Salmon.
Dragon fish..cool
The Amur Tiger: BIG CAT..BIG CAT. They feed on any hoofed animal and are well adapted for winter. From head to tail, approximately 4 meters and 380 kg. There are between 29 and 52 in the Khabarovsk Territory, but they also live in other territories.
Then there were the hand-woven rugs: WOW
Mikhail Kalini…worked for & with Stalin
Lenin
The work that went into these rugs is truly amazing.
And what the Soviet Union used to look like. Quite a bit ‘smaller’ now, but not small at all.
This dress was spectacular, and it’s made out of paper. Apparently, the world’s first paper dress. I like the nice touch of the violin and the hand saw
Yes, all you quilters out there, this was… well, the words fail me. I looked at it for a long time because it is so intricate..amazing!
As near as I could figure it out, this a how a wig was cared for.
And then there were the political cartoons from the Great Patriotic War. Sometimes the Germans are depicted as rats and cockroaches, sometimes werewolves… It was a brutal war for the Russians.
Then there were the rocks..posted here is the biggest gold nugget found and a beautiful piece of petrified wood.
After we spent a few hours in this museum, the young lady at the info desk, gave us a disk about the museum. She said it is narrated in Russian but we would enjoy it anyways. That was a nice thing for her to do and she also gave us a box of matches. We took them but left them in the apartment because we don’t smoke. We gave her a Canadian key chain with a little teddy bear.
Lenin and the Mongolian Leader. I could not read the Cyrillic, so I don’t know who he was. But throughout Russia, there are thousands of Statues of Lenin, and the biggest Bust in the world is of Lenin (and we saw it, but you will have to wait for that post)
This says ‘Toilet’…remember that! It is the 1st thing I look for in every new street. Thank goodness the Russians believe in public washrooms. Now, if Canada would just get on board.
This topiary was so cool. Just had to check it out. My lip fell when I discovered it was plastic. Oh well, I want one anyway.
We were having lunch, and this lady kept looking at me…staring at me. Ok, what’s up? Maybe it’s because we are speaking English. Anyway, we get up to leave, and I notice she does also. Then she follows me. I stopped so she could approach me. She wanted to give me this chocolate bar. It’s special. It’s made in Khabarovsk, and it’s special chocolate, and it’s salty. I’m getting good at charades, but wait, pull out the phone with Google Translate and you can say anything. I thought that was so nice of her. (Notice the layers of clothing I had tied around the waist.)
The Amur River is spectacular, and it is what mainly attracts people from all over Russia and the world. It is called “Amur – the father”. Apparently, it has no equivalents in all of Russia for history, scenery, or fishing. I would love to explore this river. It has 130 different types of fish.
We fought the weather every step of the way. Out of three days in the city, we got maybe 1/2 day above 20 °C, and the wind was often really difficult. Unusual weather for that time of year, but you go with what the weather girl gives you.
We ate dinner in two different restaurants, and the food was excellent. One was Georgian and Russian, the other a city-class restaurant with an extensive menu. We were surprised at the wide range of dishes on offer, but Russia is a big country with a lot of different cultures, and the restaurants seem to reflect that.
Steve: It’s a cool city. I’d go back in a minute. It really sucked not to be able to spend some time in the country, as it is wild and the fishing and hunting are world-class, and I’m sure the birding would be spectacular. On the other hand, they have tigers. Big tigers. So maybe not.
Deb: I would go back in a minute also. What a laid-back community, and even though there is a large population, it didn’t have that rat race feel. There was a little city pond, in the city we did not get to. So much more to see. It is chock-full of history, buildings, scenery, etc . Lots to see and do. The river definitely got my attention. I think the Columbia River here in BC is spectacular…well, this is even bigger and better.
