We stepped off the train in Perm and what a depressing welcome it was. Raining, wet, grey, drab and miserable. Oh, and cold. We hiked down the platform to the tunnel under the platforms and there was water everywhere. At one point a puddle so large there was no going around it. The trusty guidebook had said trolleybus number 5 runs from the station into town. We didn't have too long to wait and we were on said bus and watching the blue dot on google maps inch closer to the accommodation pin, which was placed half way to the city centre. We arrived at the accommodation and were greeted by a young Russian lady. The key details all explained in efficient Russian. We got the feeling we were no longer going to come across English speakers in Russia. The large room was massive, a little kitchenette and a nice bathroom. Clean and modern. At least if it was going to be miserable outside, we had a nice little haven.
After getting ourselves sorted, we got back on the bus into town. We attempted to find the tourist information office, apparently one existed, but to no avail. We picked up some supplies and headed to dinner. We realised we had not really had lunch on the train and were starving. Upon sitting down for dinner we realised that we felt a little off, like we were still in a moving carriage. We had train sway! Something we had laughed at when Bevan's brother first told us about it.
We had also realised that there was no fridge in the room to store the usual milk and yoghurt we keep in constant supply. Not to worry, we actually had a rather sizeable cool room. Running the length of the room was another room, a balcony, a sunroom, the smoking area or for our purpose the fridge. This room also had double glazed glass to to outside world but it would have been about 5-6 degrees out there. Another layer of double glazed glass and inside our room is was a comfortable 18-20 degrees.
We had nothing planned for the next day, our only goal was to organise how to get 100km out of town to visit the former Perm 36 gulag camp site. We slept in, lazed about, catching up on emails etc in our PJs. Holiday bliss. The weather had improved and after midday we walked into town to a cafe for lunch. The sun was out and everything,looked so much better. It was still cold and a little windy though. While sitting at the cafe eating lunch, Steph looks across the road, and there it is, the tourist info centre, it does exist. The ladies in there gave us a map and some printed instructions on how to get out to Perm 36 on public transport. We then walked around town a little bit and went to look at the river. We walked back to the hotel through the parks and felt more of the disgusting first impression of this town dissipate. We took advantage of the availability of Uber for getting to and from dinner. A few dollars each way, totally worth it. We went to Trip Advisor's and Lonely Planet's top pick of restaurants, Montenegro Grill. Bevan enjoyed a variety of grilled meats while for Steph it was the mixed vegetable grill. Both with a side of fried potato and totally delicious.
For the following day, we actually organised a local guide and driver to take us to two of the attraction of the region - Kungur Ice Caves and Perm-36. Mikhail was a top bloke, the voice of Harrison Ford and definitely had the silver fox look. He picked us up at 7.45am for a big day of driving and touring. We first travelled 123km south-east to Kungur. In the town centre, Mikhail took us to a church with a bell tower that we could climb for a view. In the church, the monks were singing in a low hum and a nun up on a mezzanine level chanting. We sat & took it all in as Mikhail placed a candle and said his prayer. He then took us up the tower for a view of the town and surrounding area and telling us various details. Around the corner was a small public square, with an orb displaying distances to major cities of the world. Sydney - 16100km. We are a long way from home!
Back in the car for a few kilometres out of town to the ice cave complex. We hired big jackets to keep us warm for the duration of the tour. Mikhail handed us over to Anna, a guide with the ice cave and we set off underground. The network of caves stretched for about 5km and about 2km are open to visitors for exploring. The first few grottos are adorned with ice formations, frozen waterfalls and ice sculptures by local artists. The rest of the grottos showcase the beauty of nature with unique rock formations and serene underground lakes. The reflections in crystal clear water tricks your eyes into thinking there is no water there at all. There are lights all the way through the complex , that Anna would flick on and off for each section we passed through. In one of the grottos, there is a Christmas tree. The conditions in the cave are the perfect balance temperature and humidity, that they only replace the tree every 10-12 years. In all, we spent just under 2 hours exploring g the cave network.
Mikhail had arranged lunch for us at the cafe after our tour. A traditional Russian lunch - salad, followed by 3 plates. He even organised for special vegetarian gluten free versions for Steph with the kitchen. And whet we first thought was iced yea, we learnt was boiled fruit water, delicious!
Fed and watered, we piled in the car for the 2hr/185 km drive north to Perm-36 site and museum. Bevan sat up front with Mikhail, listening to his stories and information, while Steph dozed on and off in the back seat.
Whilst Bevan enjoyed talking to Mikhail, he was also harbouring a genuine concern for the standard of driving in Russia. The roads are very bumpy and whenever Mikhail gesticulated with his hands to emphasise a point, both his hands would leave the steering wheel! Bevan grimaced....alot! Added to this was the many occasions of not even questionable, but insanely dangerous driving by Russians, passing on an uphill, and on many occasions watching oncoming traffic rushing towards you, in your own lane whilst hoping that they will get back on their side of the road! Bevan's anguish was quite apparent at times, and at one point Mikhail noticed Bevan squirming, to which he nonchalantly said, " this driving in Russia, it's normal...." OMG we are going to die!
When we arrived at Perm-36, our first thought was "thank goodness we didn't try and get public transport out here by ourselves". We were in the middle of nowhere, a few km's off any main road. We went inside and were greeted by the staff of the museum. Mikhail was our translator as 2 of the staff lead us around for a tour of the site and the museum exhibitions they have set up.
Gulag camps were labour camps for dissidents and those deemed to be work-adverse. Being late for work was sometimes reason enough to be shipped off to the gulag. At Perm-36, countless artists, scientists and intellectuals spent years in the cold damp cells. They worked at mundane tasks such as assembling fasteners and survived on measly portions of bread and gruel. Soviet gulag camps were built of wood and most of them have simply retreated back in to the taiga and tundra. However, Perm-36 has survived, mostly intact. There has been some restoration work and a small museum set up with information on the gulag system as a whole. This was a somber lesson of what life was like in the Soviet Union. And to make if feel even more real, we learnt from Mikhail, that his father spent 10 years of his young adult life in a gulag near Magadan, in the east. He shared with us stories from his father and other former prisoners that he has met.
When we returned back to the outskirts of Perm, Mikhail said we had made it back in good time and asked if we wanted to see a display of Russian artillery & tanks. Bevan's eyes light up. Yes! The little museum was closed but the yard displaying all the big toys is always open. From rocket launchers to missiles and the tanks. What an impressive sight! There was a young family with a little boy who climbed up on one of the tanks and declared 'pow pow pow!' Boys are the same the world over.
Mikhail took us back to town, and we made the first of two dinner stops. Southern fried chicken for Bevan and a vegetarian cafe for Steph. Both super cheap eats. We collected our bags from the hotel and took an uber to the train station.
In the end Perm turned out to be pretty good. We were glad to learn about the gulag system and go to the caves. Now for a quite overnight jaunt to our next destination.
