Up in the Kras

Krasnoyarsk was a big surprise. For a lack of a better word, Baikal was hick and we were beginning to wonder if the entire country was that way. But the track suits, sandals with colorful socks, and mesh t-shirts of Siberia were only in the east and the Kras, as we like to call it, is a modern city of fashion that flipped our whole perspective on Russia on its head.

The streets were clean and the sidewalks were patterned and as we walked down the street we listened to the array of music that was constantly being played out of speakers on the lamp posts. Russian enjoyed coffees and beers sitting in outdoor cafes and sleek cars rolled up and down the strip.
Girl's in the Kras were ridiculous. And by that I mean that they were both ridiculously good-looking and ridiculously dressed. Bras and thongs were constantly visible as were, well, breasts in general. Heels and extremely short skirts were common and black and white stripes were obviously one of the hottest fashions around. The only thing to beat it was tight white pants which were worn as frequently as Americans wear blue jeans. Animal prints were also high on the list but whatever the women wore, the wore little of it and the wore it TIGHT.
You can never guess the characters you'll meet and one day while trying to procure a spoon I was befriended by a tough looking Russian named Victor. He spoke less English than we did Russian which means that he nearly spoke no English at all. But that didn't stop him from making new friends and continually try to communicate to them. With such a big language barrier it was hard to know anything about him at all. All I know is that if a fight started, I want him on my side.
Our time in the Kras was short lived. After a single night in town we headed back to the train station and awaited our train to Moscow. As with everything else in the Kras, the train station was the most beautiful we had seen in Russia and we gladly spent an hour in the square outside before boarding our car.