Russia Ural Mountains / Yekaterinburg

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Route:	Yekaterinburg
Code:	YEK-004
Duration:	4 hours
Date:	year around
Discounts:	%40 (2 people); %50 (3 people); %55 (4 people);
Difficulty:	Light activity
Cost:	198 USD per person

Find out why residents of Yekaterinburg city insist that they are citizens of both, Europe and Asia. Anthropologists and Geographers have been arguing for centuries about the true geographical border between the two. The only thing they agreed in the past is that the border lies in Russia, somewhere east of Moscow. Western scientists proposed it along the Volga River, but Russians settled it further east, along the Ural mountains. But why Ural mountains? Nobody knows exactly. It is evident that landscape factors played significant role, the ethnic composition, wars, agreements, but one of the defining moments were probably human perception and unwritten laws of local cultures. It was particularly underlined by the Russian noblemen exiled to Siberia for their revolutionary views. On the way to Siberia, prisoners established a "goodbye" tradition when they were crossing the Ural mountains. This is where they felt the end of Europe and beginning of the Asian order of life. It was an emotional moment accompanied by a prayer and collection of small samples of soil. In 1837, the Russian Czar built a monument near Yekaterinburg to mark the border and perhaps to send a harsh reminder to prisoners that they are leaving their motherland for a long time, may be forever. The original monument with Czarist regalia's was destroyed after the revolution in 1917, and rebuilt again in 1926 by Soviet government. With years, the popularity of the site has grown significantly. It was expanded recently by a modern composition made of granite and metal. The city administration is considering building a tourist complex nearby. And, there is a new tradition. Newly weds couples make a stop here just for the sake of tradition, and ironically, good luck...

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