The last weekend

Due back in UK Friday 3rd February, but travelling back via Moscow on Wednesday & thursday as we have to report to HQ on our activities for the previous month.
So the task this weekend is to complete our monthly report ready for translation Monday. Get a bit done on Saturday, but it's over to the 'clubhouse' for a couple of hours billiards to pass the time, then cook tea, have a beer and watch a film.


Russian TV was supposed to be showing Man Utd v Liverpool in the FA cup but there was boxing on instead so that was a bit disappointing.
Sunday we finished off the report and decided to have an early dinner, so Al B goes down to the kitchen to start and meets 3 Russians in the kitchen who are having a liquid lunch. Friendly guys one of whom speaks a bit of English and before you know it he's had a few vodkas. Al G turns up, introductions all round and he's catching up via the Russian hospitality. Before we know it, there's an international billiard tournament arranged and it's over to the 'clubhouse' after dinner. Another bottle of vodka appears, top thrown away as it's not needed!!! Our hosts show us the proper rules of Russian billiards and it's a game of in offs and straight downs., so now we know the proper rules. Host says we now drink more vodka & beer downstairs, have some raw fish and then into the sauna where we can be naked together and beat each other with birch twigs. At this point we decided an exit strategy was in order as an all night session beckoned, so we had a few more drinks and then bottled out and left them to it!!!! Lucky escape as they were still at it at 01:30. Seems the 'clubhouse' is hired out for private functions and they get to use the billiards & sauna etc, these guys were regulars as the hotel ladies seemed to know them well. No doubt we'll meet again!

Colder

It was -31 this morning. When you go out in that temperature you have to cover up exposed areas around your face, head & neck as it gets painful after about 10 mins.


You'll note the thermometer stops at -40, local knowledge says we need one that goes to -50!!!
You get told off by the Russians if you haven't got a hat on or your big coat on when you venture outside and they know best.
We spent about 20 minutes checking out the freezing on the cooling tower today, and even the russian guys were running back to the warm office afterwards. It was the coldest I've ever been. I felt it in my hands and cheeks, although I had a balaclava on and gloves?


I think the fact that we were in a bit of a draft and there was a windchill factor accounts for it.
They send a team out to knock the ice off when it gets too much- rather them than me.
The walk to the canteen takes about 10 minutes, this is the road we go down. Nothing like a brisk walk in the fresh air to work up an appetite.


By the way, the road surface of packed snow & ice is typical of all the roads around here. Our driver has complete faith in his studded snow tyres and we are learning to have faith in them as well! I'm amazed at the amount of traction they have.

Turn me over.....

........ I'm done.
Hotel ladies noticed us with a bit of a chesty cough so virtually threw us in the sauna.


This is one we didn't know existed and is on the floor below. Half an hour was enough and another highlight was the space age shower with it. One of those with floor to ceiling nozzles, neon lights, LCD control pad etc. Full of surprises this place.


The door at the end opens onto a vertical drop of around 3m. We reckon its onto a swimming or plunge pool and they haven't got round to building the platform or steps into it. You'll be glad to hear it was locked - like I said, full of surprises!!!

Taste the coal

Bit of a random visit to the coal plant of the main site - "do you want to taste the coal?" they said. Anyway, trip to the stock pile which is in a long strip virtually the length of the site. Overhead grabs, mobile plant, dozers, various other augers and drills which we think break the frozen coal out of the trucks which come 1000km and two days by train from further east Siberia.


That's about 3 feet of snow covering the stockpile.





Beautiful clear sky, not a breath of wind, but around -22.

Tea time

Tonight the hotel ladies decided that our cheese & onion omelettes will not be enough to keep us fighting fit and offered us to help ourselves to what was on the table. The large jar has a lard type substance that was scooped out with the tea cup thus allowing you to dip the raw onion & shallots and garlic cloves into. The other option if fish is your fancy was the bowl of anchovies. Making sure of our five a day is the shredded pickled carrot with some black slimy stuff in it - I think it was sliced mushroom - at least that's what I've convinced myself what it was.
We picked up a pack of cheese yesterday - we reckon it's a safe bet to be Edam.


Ambient temperature update - we cracked -30 deg c first thing this morning and didn't get above -22 all day.

Home from home...

Well sort of! A bit about where we are staying.


It's called the hotel Usbada, which translates as Manor House.


This is the view from the hotel driveway back towards the village. Yayva is basically a couple of dozen of these apartment blocks arranged in a grid pattern of streets. Shops etc occupy the groundfloor on half a dozen blocks and there is a district heating scheme with a network of 18" pipes above ground distributing hot water all over town.
The hotel only has 8 rooms, we are in rooms 4 & 5 which take up all the second floor. The rooms are actually a suite with sitting room ( fridge, microwave, kettle , tv settee, table & chairs), bedroom and en-suite.





Very clean and comfortable but no restaurant facilities or bar etc!! Heating is on all the time, controlled by us opening windows if it gets too hot - which it does, even though -15 or less outside. It's self catering and they have given us the use of their kitchen downstairs - Al B is chief cook, Al G head bottle washer. With self catering, we are regulars at the little supermarket in the village and doing wonders for their turnover.
Out the back their is a log built building which appears to be mainly used for private functions. It has the billiard table ( kept us occupied for 4 hours last Saturday), a banya- a Russian sauna & plunge pool, and a kitchen/dining room. We can't quite work out the etiquette for the banya so haven't tried that yet - need the lowdown from the locals to not commit the equivalent of peeing in the pool or getting chased down the road for going in on ladies night!! The bear lives behind the log cabin. Amazingly there is also an outdoor barbecue - we saw it being used on the first weekend. BBQ in 3 foot of snow and -15, we'll give it a go when we get back to UK in February - not sure it will catch on.


Found this in the kitchen the other night- answers on the back of a 500 ruble note as to what its for - we have no idea and are really baffled as to what it translates as!!!!!!
The other thing about the digs is no wifi, broadband or any of that western decadence. Limited Internet via dongle or mobile phone tethering. Expensive, slow and intermittent. This is Al B in optimum position for best signal.


The Turkish warranty engineer sorted us out with a fast wifi connection at the site - great guy. To get it to work Al B managed to get into the modem and ended up changing the password, hence weve had a procession of guys trooping in to see us having got wind we have an unrestricted wifi connection and asking for set up details!! Got to be careful with that one.

Its not more grey hair..............

........on my 'tache, its icing up!! Personal record low for us at -28degC this morning, Russians say thats normal, last year was -46 so man up!!

Just given our regular update to the Chief Engineer this afternoon about what we've been up to and just about to have conference call with our boss Steve in the UK to touch base with him.

Little bit more involvement with stuff, but as ever translator availability holding us back slightly. Translator is just as frustrated as we are and its one of the issues we've raised.