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We were getting picked up by Anatoly's wife from the station so we waited on the platform for a bit until someone came and asked if we were the famous Luke and Adam ;) It was early in the morning and it was very very cold, this was mainly due to the humidity in the air making the temperature feel a lot lower than it was. We threw our stuff in the car and drove back to Anatoly's house on the edges on Krasnoyarsk.
We were going to do as much as we could in Krasnoyarsk so we were going to be heading out the same day to hike around the Stolby Nature Reseve. Anotoly was getting back from his job at mid day so we had a few hours to sleep which we needed as the train journey to Krasnoyarsk wasnt very good sleep wise. We drove around town with Anatoly for a while as he explained the history and sights around Krasnoyarsk and then we drove out to the nature reserve. The reserve was next to Brobrovy Log Ski Resort also so we could see what was on offer as we wanted to do some snowboarding while we were in town :)
We walked up a fairly steep hill through the forest to a small view point overlooking Krasnoyarsk and the ski resort. It was very clear to see that there was a lot of pollution over Krasnoyarsk, the colour of the sky above the city was a dark grey. Anatoly explained that this cloud of smog will move around depending on the wind and that day it was sitting right over the city making the views not that great towards the center. The ski resort looked great by the way but we will talk about that later.
We carried on walking around the reserve stopping at lots of different viewpoints along the way with Anatoly giving us some great info on the surrounding areas. The views were getting better and better as we reached higher points and soon we were at Takmak Rock which gave us amazing views over a large area of Stolby reserve, check the photos! It was still winter remember so a lot of snow was around, and this snow was averaging 1.5 meters deep so it was a laugh when you wanted to jump of the path and dissapear chest deep in snow ;)
We carried on around the the rock to the other side where it was possible to climb up..... althuogh it was pretty snowy so didnt look that easy and Anatoly asked if we we wanted to risk it... this is Luke and Adam remember, he didnt need to ask us again ;) we started the climb hanging on to the edges of the rocks tryig to find grip and every now and then looking on the other side at the huge drop down to ... well... it wouldnt be a nice ending, lets leave it at that (sorry parents but this stuff has to be done!) We soon made it across amd got more nice views and took some cool pics standing on the edge of the rock trying not to look down behind us!
After the climb back again we walked around a bit more and were greated by a pack of dogs that seemed to be trying to warn us of their area, they seemed more like a pack of wolves but as we got closer they soon ran off..wimps ;) We slowly headed back to the car performing our best acrobatic skills into the deep snow on route, great fun!
That evening we went to the supermarket and bought lots of food that we (Adam i mean) could cook up in Anatolys kitchen (thatnks to him for letting us take over for a while haha). After a nice dinner we both went to sleep to rest as we had to be up early for another trip out to Anatolys Dacha the next day.
Up early and greated by some great smelling pancakes that Anatolys wife had made us we were soon ready to hit the road again to spend the night with Anatoly in his dacha. We had opted to go for the cross country skiing method of getting there so the first thing we did was go and rent the skis. After that we drove 40 km out of Krasnoyarsk before strapping on the skiis and just going for it. Neither of us had ever tried cross country skiing so this was going to be a funny experience ;) Anatoly gave us a crash course in what to do and we set off. It was easy enough and we soon were moving along at a decent speed adn then we came to a hill :)))) suddenly both Adam and I thoght we were pros so tucked in the ski poles and launched ourselfs down the hill. The snow was really deep so we were happy to stop using the falling over technique ;). We both did it very well ... the falling over bit i mean, to be fair we both did pretty well at the skiing part to and Anatoly told us that he was impressed how quick we had picked it up. We got to the dacha and helped Anatoly get the basics set up, water, fire, quick check over of bits and bos. We then had some free time while Anatoly prepared dinner so we grabbed our skis and walked back to the start and practised our skiing a few more times. On one of the runs I managed to hit a particualry deep patch of snow and my ski sank and flipped me over snapping the ski in the process. I had to retire... for 2 mins because Anatoly gave me his skis to try... now these ones were professional skis, not the old wooden ones i had. Instantly as i strapped them on i could feel the diffeerence, i was sliding all over the place, these things felt like they were going to be fast!! So back to the top i went and back down the hill i cam only time it was twice as fast woop! After a few more runs i wapped with Maher so he could feel the speed ;) great times and now we were both hungry so back to the dacha for some grub we went.
Before dinner Anatoly sat down with us and gave us what is a traditional snack when living in the dacha, apparently a russian can live on it along with vodka all day when working at the dacha. Its called Salla and its basically frozen pigs fat. It tasted so good and you wash it down with some vodka of course. We had a talk about Russian history like we have done with all the Russian friends we have made anlong the way, its so good to gear peoples stories and their views on their Russia. Over dinner we drank more vodka and ate more great food and had some really good in depth conversations about life. After the talking Anatoly taught us a Russian card game called Daruk. It was brilliant, really good fun game, look it up because im not going to explain it all here! After a great night in the Dacha it was time to head back to the city. It was nice to get away from the busyness and out into nature for the night. Our next activity was to chack into the hotel down the road from the ski resort and get some snowboarding done!
We moved from Anatolys into the hotel, and then went straight out to have a quick 1 hour lesson at the ski resort. It was just to get it out the way and afterwards we had some dinner and went back home to get some sleep as we would be snowboarding all day over the next 5 days. The next day we were up early and had our breakfast and then went to catch a bus to the resort. We arrived at the resort and went straight onto the intermediate slopes. After a few slow runs down trying to get the feel for it i became inpatient and thought it was time to stop being a wimp and start to learn fast. After a few bumps and falls, within an hour i was linking my turns and able to get some pretty decent speed. Considering i had only been snowboarding for about 3 hours now i was pretty happy with my progress. On one of the runs i came flying past the instructor who gave me the lesson the previous days, his face was pretty funny as he couldnt believ i was going down the hill like that after only 1 lesson. After lunch we went back onto the slope and on the fist fun of the afternoon i stopped halfway down the hill to wait for Adam to catch up. He came down towards me and slowed down but didnt stop... The outcome was that he ran into me, i fell awrkwardly and stapped the ligament that holds the clavical to the shoulder blade... ouch. After a visit to the medical room it was no more snowboarding or anything that involved using my arm for the next month :(((( to say i was pissed off and gutted would be an understatment as we had paid and planned for 5 days snowboarding.
The next day we spent hours rushing around town trying to find a hospital or clinic that sold shoulder supports. The medic at the resort had given me a prescription for what i needed and it took a toltal of 6 hours, driving all over Krasnoyarsk to many different clinics before we finally found the support i needed. The next few days i rested in bed letting the pain go down and hoping that it would heal quickly so that i could go snowboardng again in Mongolia. I had become addicted to it after such a short time and couldnt wait to get back on the slopes! Adam got me breakfast in bed for the next few days which was a plus haha ;)
Next stop was Irkutsk and another trip, we were a bit worried about my shouldner as i couldnt lift my bag or carry much weightbut we managed to get o the train and would just go with the flow.
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