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PHOTO : DMITRIY TELNOV
There are some larger towns en route as well , such as Yeniseis . The sign as we enter reads : the “ Father of Siberian towns ”. Four centuries old , a few years ago Yeniseysk was listed as one of the top 10 most beautiful regional towns in Russia , and it really is a very nice place indeed . The first thing that catches your eye is the myriad birds of prey on the streets — a truly fascinating sight . You can walk around the town in a couple of hours , visit Lenin Street in the centre with its restored merchant houses that resemble Old Arbat in Moscow , check out the museum of local lore ( Yenisei A . I . Kytmanov Historical and Architectural Museum ) containing exhibits that were selected with love , or even a museum about hand planes .
As we leave the town , a herd of cows basking in the sun blocks the road , as if we were in India , and not Krasnoyarsk Krai ! Krasnoyarsk appears on the GPS , and the uninhabited landscape is replaced by a land dotted with villages . Lesosibirsk stretches like a snake along the coast . The town lives off the forest , and logs , wood chips , and piles of wood shavings abound . A little further on and we arrive at a real mecca for urban explorers - the secret Yeniseysk-15 , an underground city with an abandoned Soviet-era radar station .
And now we arrive at the capital , Krasnoyarsk . After spending almost three weeks in the wilderness , the city immediately makes my throat hurt . And though the locals recommend we go bar-hopping in the theatre quarter , I head for the embankment , to which all the city roads lead . This is home to Ploshchad Mira Museum Centre ( the largest centre for contemporary art in Siberia ), and a pedestrian bridge leading to Tatyshev Island , a favourite leisure spot for residents of Krasnoyarsk . The first thing that catches my eye is the sheer number of people , and all of them are on the move . Skateboarders , rollerbladers , runners , cyclists — they are all here ! Even pensioners are on the move — there are as many elderly people with Nordic walking sticks as there are young sports lovers . It ’ s also unusually clean , with no empty bottles , cigarette butts or other litter on the ground . Incredibly tame marmots scurry around ; ducks approach me , totally unafraid .
Stolby National Park is another must-see . Located on the outskirts of Krasnoyarsk in a vast area of dense forests , it is famous for its dramatic rocky landscape . Many of the rocks look like giant monuments , and locals have given them nicknames such as “ grandfather ”, “ elephant ”, and “ mitre ”. The rocks have given birth to a whole subculture in the city called “ stolbism ” — for more than 150 years , residents of Krasnoyarsk have been climbing the rocks without any safety net . At first it was a hobby for a small group of enthusiasts , but after a huge sign “ Freedom ” was carved in one of the rocks , which tsarist policemen tried and failed to destroy , the entire city fell in love with stolbism .
At first glance , it may look like Soviet-style rock climbing , with completely different equipment to that used by rock climbers today . For example , galoshes are used instead of modern-day climbing shoes . But stolbism is actually a philosophy , which has given rise to an unbreakable love of the native land that is rare to find anywhere else .
All this is explained to me by Andrey Didukh , a speleologist , yogi , and stolbist . Near the rocks called “ feathers ”, he guides the public every day , descending down a steep crevasse . For all his youthful fervour , he looks as if has been wandering around these rocks since way back when the word freedom was carved into them . He has a grey beard , uses many old words in his vocabulary , and wears traditional peasant ’ s clothing . This chance encounter completes my trip to the Yenisei , turning it into a real fairy tale with a happy ending . Yes , since ancient times people have been exiled to this land , yes , in many villages life and struggle are still synonymous , but the most valuable word in Krasnoyarsk Krai remains the word freedom , and the strength of spirit and will of many of its residents are comparable to the power of the Yenisei itself .