In Russia – with love. Tobolsk. Upper and lower

Friends often ask me: where to go in Russia? Except Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi. They know that I have already circled our country far and wide. People who are accustomed to traveling around Europe have encountered difficulties, to put it mildly. I also liked hanging out in the cozy towns of France or Switzerland, but at the same time I managed to travel around the vast Russia. Everywhere there are pleasant and interesting places. Another question: what is the infrastructure like? And is it worth it to go for your own, and not for business trips. Let’s try to evaluate the many pros and cons. Let’s start, for example, with Tobolsk.

The former capital of the huge Siberian province, stretching from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean, appears in the distance when you drive up the highway from Tyumen. A stunning view of the high, sloping bank of the Irtysh opens up. Then there are two options – to enter the city from below or from above. Top – faster, bottom – prettier.

There are really two Tobolsks. In this place, the rocks recede from the banks of the great river, and a place for life appears. And so it happened – the settlement under the mountain, the Kremlin – on the mountain. The Kremlin, by the way, is the only one in Siberia. And he alone is worth it to get here.

I would not recommend wandering around the lower Tobolsk for a long time. It would seem surprising, but there is a church here. It’s amazing if you don’t know the history. And if you remember the unsuccessful Polish uprising of 1830, then everything falls into place. About eighteen thousand Poles were exiled here.

We will rise to the upper Tobolsk. Any guidebook will tell you about the Kremlin, but it is necessary to see this beauty and grandeur with your own eyes. You can make two circles along the paths and inspect all the details. Inside – a complete order. The Kremlin is at the disposal of the Diocese, so there are no administrations here. Exceptional clergy.

Next to the Kremlin is the famous Tobolsk transit prison. Everyone has been here – Decembrists and populists, raznochintsy and Bolsheviks. Now it is a museum, made with a reverent attitude to the gloomy castle.

It is better not to look down from the Kremlin walls. Nizhny Tobolsk looks unpresentable from a height – a dilapidated village. But on top – as they say, brocade and velvet. But this might not have happened. Ten years ago, the whole of Tobolsk was quietly aging and falling apart, like many county towns. But then Sibur came and began to build the second stage of the Soviet chemical plant. A curious phenomenon arose, which the locals call “the wives of Sibur”.

Many bored women appeared in Tobolsk, whose husbands work and earn good money. Beauty salons, fitness rooms, shopping centers, children’s clubs, restaurants and other joys that brighten up the harsh female lot began to open. The city came alive and sparkled with lights.

Now about that very infrastructure. All of the above is. Last year, they even rebuilt the airport, launched direct flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Soon these flights disappeared somewhere. It’s a pity. Agencies could well organize numerous weekend tours. But for some reason, fellow citizens are still drawn to overseas pearls.

Now it is more convenient to get through Tyumen. Planes fly here regularly, tickets are inexpensive, the flight takes two and a half hours. From Tyumen – exactly 250 kilometers on a very decent road. It is also being intensively repaired, and a significant part has already been turned into a four-strip.

On the track, by the way, there is also an attraction. This is a Tatar village where women bake fantastic pies. Along the road there are completely dead, rickety sheds, in front of which samovars are displayed on the tables. And they are wrapped in baskets under the blankets – pies. I have never tasted anything better.

As for sleeping places, not everything is safe here either. When I entered the Azimuth Hotel, I had the feeling that just yesterday a big long-term booze ended here. Yes, knowledgeable people told me, once it was the most haunted place in Tobolsk. The old hotel was picked up by the Russian network, put things in order, but the rooms desperately need repairs. There are several other hotels in the city, quite decent, but obviously not meeting the prices set in them. Lack of competition, lack of a large tourist flow. From Tyumen you can go round trip in one day, without spending the night.

So to create a full-fledged infrastructure, someone else’s wives will be needed.

Alexey Vishnevetsky.

Author’s photo