Travel notes

I've just thought that Ural is worth notes, I haven’t written about it yet because I live here.
Ural has beautiful places, but they are not very popular as tourism is not the main industry here. Some details of old Soviet service are still here. In summer I visited Terenkul lake (Sfera hotel): there are the same small houses there, one old glass in the room. Small coffee-shop. Waiters save napkins, sugar as their salary is about $100. One napkin for one cup of coffee and nothing more. But that is not important as we travel to enjoy nature.

We go here both in summer and in winter.
Here are some notes about our New Year trip or shashlik-trip .

We lived in private apartment between 2 lakes Kisegach and Terenkul. I come here often. I don’t see anything new, but new-byes are always impressed. There are very many lakes in Ural and here there are about 10 lakes which you can come around on foot. The building where we live is between two lakes and both of them are seen from the windows. Here is this building, the view from Terenkul lake:

It has 5, 6 and 8 floors for different parts of the building as the building is situated on the hill between the lakes.

You can go around Small Terenkul lake during an hour. An many people do walk around, it’s also a track the for those who get treatment in Kisegach health resort. In summer people gather mushrooms and in winter they ski on the lake.
Those who has nothing to do often walk around the lake.

Smaller Terenkul

Wind is strong and you need warm clothes. The temperature is 11 degree below zero. It’s not too cold for this area, but the wind is strong.

In winter birds have nothing to eat and come to hands if you offer them seeds or something else. In summer they don’t come as there is enough food, I checked that.

Here are the forest birds: tits, nuthatchs. Bullfinchs also can be seen.

Tit

Tit feeding

This is a nuthatch. I feed it with one hand and take photo with another. This photo is taken by 50mm lens.

Tits are fearful and fly away from foto click.

These are deck-chairs near deck-chairs Small Terenkul.

These deck-chairs are for sun baths and I prefer to be near water.

Small Terenkul

Not far from here near Elovoe lake you can try mountain skis. And there is ski resort Solnechnaya Dolina 15 km away from here with real big tracks.

Solnechnaya Dolina near Miass

In winter you can walk in health resort near old buildings which were hospital building during World War II. There are lights along the lake in the evening and the landscape is fairy. It’s not a modern European resort, but it’s something better. There is a little people in workdays and you can meet nobody along the lake. Only moon, fresh snow and lights.

There are colorful boxes on the lake – fisher’s boxes. In the morning fishers go on foot in the center of the lake, create hole and sitting near it all day long.

Kisegach

Вдали виднеется островок посреди озера, летом туда можно только доплыть, а зимой за 20 минут добираемся туда пешком.

Way to the island on Kisegach lake

Fishers concentrate around this island. Although I can’t see anything intresting on this island – only stones and some trees.

Island on Kisegach lake

Be careful going near this island , especially in spring. Ice is thin there. There is little snow this year yet and we see naked ice and try to look down

Ice on the lake

You can see that ice is thick actually, at least 0.5 m. Wind is blowing directly on face during our back way that’s why we go back quickly and don’t take photos.

Someone put the tree here, a good idea. New Year.

We cooked shashlik on the shore of the lake very quickly because of the cold. We brought mulled wine but went back. We fried the second part of meet at home.
Recipe of shashlik for 3 persons: slash 2 kg of pork into pieces. Salt and pepper each piece. Slash 5 -10 onions into pieces and put all into pan. Add fresh juice of two lemons and leave for 3-15 hours in a cold place

Row shashlik

And cook shashlik. It’s important to have big pieces

Grilled shashlik

But don’t make fire in grill (only warm from coal) otherwise you may burn the meet (like a bit here). And drink mulled wine with it if the weather is cold.