My first real Trans Siberian trip was a relativly short hop of only 30 hours before i had my first stop at Yekaterinburg. I arrived at about 10pm at night managed to find a hotel and go out and get a bite to eat. On thing i found slightly strange was that all rains in Russia run on Moscow time. Iam already two hours ahead of Moscow time and will be 6 by the time i Leave for Mongolia so the time tables are going to make less and less sense the trip goes on. Anyway Yekaterinburg, capital of the Ural's Region Famous for two reasons as the site of the Execution of Tsar Nicholas the second, and also very close to the offical border between Europe and Asia. in fact Yekateringburg is 17km into Asia, i only spent 24 hours in the city but i managed to see the 3 main sites that everybody comes to see. first of all the huge church that was built on the site where the Romanovs were Executed and where lenin took overall control. the house it's self was demolished in 1977 (the comminists were woried it migfht become a pilgrimige sight) but a new very grand church has now been built on the spot and Nicholas II has now been canonised as a saint. i still think new churchs look a bit odd but no doubt this place was very impressive. i always invisaged that the palace thay were killed in was out in the country side but in fact the church id very much in the centre of town i am not sure if this is because the city has grown in the last 90 years but the location of the church was a bit of a shock. next i took a bus out to see the place where the bodies were dumped after the Murders this really is in the middle on nowhere. 16km from the city in a forest area once used for mining. the actual name of the place is Ganina Yama and has now become a site of a monastery with a collection of churches being built in the forest using old techniques. the actual mine shaft it self it's actually quite a moving experience to walk around it. The russian people do seem to have forgotten what an incompetent tsar the guy actually was! Any way after my Romanov overdose in the morning i headed out to visit the Asia/Europe border. the oblisk is right next to the motorway but is still very interresting to see for the token photo opportunity. The land mark is also a very piopular place to take you wedding photos and while i was at the site a stead stream of brides and groomes joined me at the site. each one more staggering as without fail each couple would consist of the Most stunning woman and the ugliest man ever imaginable. as my time in russia would go on this would become a constant theme. anyway after visiting this world landmark i went back to the city to explore however soon the heavens opened to i went back to the hotel for a bite to eat and to prepare for my 52 hour train trip to Irkutsk for my isit to the 'Perl of Siberia' Lake Baikal