Russia. Khanty-Mansiysk, Surgut, Novyi-Urengoi - July

The next stop on our trip was Khanty-Mansiysk, about an 8h bus ride from Tobolsk. KM is famous for its archeopark with mammoth statues, a mountain in the city center, and giant mosquitos.

That's the mammoths:

One of the notable attractions is a museum showcasing the life and culture of the indigenous people:

Another museum focuses on the exploration of oil and the lives of geologists:

Local beer is sold in extraordinary quantities:

Northern Soviet brick murals:

Another reason we came here was to explore cheap boat trips on northern Russian rivers. Surprisingly, there are a lot of routes used by local people every day. For example, we took a boat from Khanty-Mansiysk to Surgut by the Ob river (hello, Novosibirsk).

Not this (but looks cool, eh?):

This one. New Valdai 45P:

And that’s how it looks from the inside. Not bad:

The boat stopped at small piers along the way, allowing passengers to embark and disembark. In theory, if there was a regular service, one could reach my hometown of Novosibirsk in a couple of days (perhaps 4-5).

Surgut welcomes you with a broken pier and a big empty square saying “I Love Surgut”:

The only interesting thing there was a historical district depicting old Surgut:

And the Big Ben of Surgut:

The sign says that 30 let Pobedy street is finally renovated!

And mosque. Surprisingly there is a big Muslim community there.

A postcard invites you to come to the Ugra region more often!

Our journey continued to Novyi Urengoi, a city built explicitly for workers involved in natural gas exploration. I had initially planned to reach Novyi Urengoi by train, and while searching for tickets, I found a website where you can read reviews from other passengers regarding each train route. And that's really funny. I've never seen such bad reviews. Take a look if you understand Russian:

Well…it was not that bad because we opted for a first-class (СВ in Russian) compartment suitable for 2 people. On this route, it is quite reasonably priced. Most passengers were "shift workers" who didn't mind enjoying vodka and letting loose during the journey. It was funny to see police at some stations dragging drunk individuals out of the train.

1st class compartment:

The far we went north, the more sand was outside. As a result, the scenery no longer resembled a typical Nordic landscape:

Also, you can see enormous gas flares dominating the landscape:

In Novyi Urengoi, everything reminds you about the natural gas infrastructure:

Even the pizza. Says:“Oil & Gas”

The Gazprom company headquarters

The tomb is to be opened on 15.02.2072:

And finally, traveling back home: