Russia in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

First impressions of the largest city of Sakhalin.

As a resident of central Russia, I would never have thought in my life that I would be able to get to Sakhalin Island, this travel experience turned out to be invaluable and I think it is mandatory for every resident of the western part of the country.

The trip around the island began with the new Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport. Our flight turned out to be the first to land at this terminal.

The airport building itself is very beautiful and deserves a separate post, now I will only say that it is a technological building, in some aspects ahead of the capital's air terminals.

At the exit from the airport, I noticed that although you are still in Russia, you immediately notice differences in people's lifestyles. for example, there is a completely different row of cars on the roads, and there are no familiar network brands on the streets.

After arriving at the hotel, I experienced a very strong jet lag (the discrepancy between sleep and daylight), which made me incredibly sleepy at 10 a.m. local time. This experience has taught me that when flying long distances, you need to take into account the arrival time and plan your sleep.

Due to jetlag, I had to spend a day acclimatizing, but the next day, early in the morning, I went hiking around the city.

My walk took me along one of the main streets of the city - Mira Avenue.

The first thing I did was go to a local store to see what I could get to eat.

It was difficult for the eyes to catch on to something, since almost half of the goods are unfamiliar to the eye.

Due to the remoteness of Sakhalin, many goods are more profitable to bring from abroad than from the central part of the country, and due to the low population there are practically no federal chains of shops and restaurants.

After the store, I went towards the main attractions, and on the way I met the Central shopping center, which visually resembles the new cinema buildings in Moscow.

Right behind this center there is a Square named after A. P. Chekhov.

It houses many sculptures and monuments related to the writer's work.

After walking through this square, we come to the Regional Government and the Chekhov Theater.

In general, there are Czechs almost everywhere here: on the mountains, buildings and streets. More about this in the next post.

Next, I walked past the old Japanese building of the Museum of Local Lore. The building itself looks incredible, but inside it is unremarkable.

There is a small park around the museum with captured equipment of the Japanese army, memorials and monuments dedicated to the city and the war with Japan.

Not far from the museum there is a Park named after Yuri Gagarin, which was founded back in the days of Japanese rule, and I went there.

The park is very well maintained and clean, during a walk I saw dozens of people mowing grass and collecting garbage in the early morning.

Compared to most regional parks in Central Russia, this park is just perfect in terms of neatness.

The tracks of the children's railway run through the park, where children learn railway-related professions during the school year.

The core of the park is a pond, which, despite its organic shape, is artificial.

There is an island with a gazebo on the pond. Now this island is called the Island of Lovers. On the island itself, you can find a Japanese monument on which the Japanese name of the lake is written - "Oji ike".

A little later I decided to walk along the mountains and came across the famous building of the Victory Museum.

The historical center and the main temple of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands - the Nativity Cathedral - are located next to the museum.

These buildings were built no more than 20 years ago, but due to their unusual architecture they were in a lot of regional and federal news.

Despite its small size, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is very interesting as a tourist location. The cultural and economic features of the region create a feeling of being abroad, which gives pleasant impressions.

As one of the residents of the Far East told me:

I have yet to visit Kamchatka, but I can say with confidence that a trip to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Sakhalin in general will find its place in your soul.