Tomsk, Smartest Town in Town

Relaxing in Tomsk, ahh perfect

In the days of old strong soviet Russia, when social engineering was in full flight, the leaders decided that there should be towns devoted to universities. These would spit out intellectuals and having them all gathered in the same place would let their minds combine to create new and wonderful technologies that would destroy the capitalists. One such creation was Tomsk, a small city a few hours drive from Novosirbirsk, its big ugly industrial sister.

Another great moment with the man Lenin

The streets were lined with autumn trees; leaves slowly falling to the ground, the hazy orange/brown glow contrasting the green fields of parks. The architecture is stylised wooden two storey cosy homes unfortunately not maintained and left to the moving muddy ground to slowly topple. Along the main street large classical roman styled university buildings are sided with cobble stone path ways, containing modern contemporary sculptures which seem to be meandering along the adjacent Tom River. Arriving into our cheap hotel (TGU Hotel) that we managed to intellectually find by only sending two of the team out while I looked after the bags in the train station, we were welcomed by a newly renovated room well superior to a lot of other places we’d stayed at, at a margin of the price. It felt like we were one with the university crowd, well looked after, deserving of prestige, and with a hope given to us to achieve great things.

The cabbage patch kids came from Tomsk

The two days we spent here were too short, and the time was well enjoyed. The weather for one day was a balmy 15 degrees which meant t-shirts, and sunglasses were a necessary accessory. After having a rather wild time on the train prior to Tomsk, a day of relaxing in the park and visiting local cafes and restaurants was a perfect way to wind down and re-energise. The favourite pick of all joints was the pop art café on the corner of the main park along Lenina Prospect. With its array of tooth decaying sugary cakes and cheap small portioned meals it made an excellent excursion from the comfort of our hotel.

The River Tom floats on by

Aside from the fantastic relaxing feel of the town, there were a few things that were found to be unexpected here. The night we tried to go out to have a drink at a bar was rather difficult. We found somewhere to go, but it was more a restaurant than a bar, and was somewhat spoiled by the terrible lounge singer who we were forced to pay 50 rubles each to hear. But upon leaving we realised where the actual partying of the youthful town took place. The main avenue was littered with people out in the dark drinking and hollering on the sidewalks many benches. This was quite interesting as you’d have thought that such a young vibrant population would be filling the typical trendy drinking holes found in any other city. But instead the intellectuals have realised that brews can be bought at all the street vendors along Lenina all night and at a fraction of the price compared to the same tipple in a bar. Unfortunately our flash hotel had a terribly policy of a midnight curfew (although it was probably just a rule the receptionist of the night made up so she didn’t have to man the door).

Autumn is a beautiful time to travel in Tomsk

Tomsk seems to be a city with a good future, as long as the youth stick around. It is managing quite well without being on the main trans-siberian line. So if they just bring in a strict building code so that all the buildings stop falling over, (it seemed our hotel was renovated by high school students, with door handles on backwards, and bathrooms that were as sealed as a punctured tyre) then there is no doubt that Tomsk will be one of the great Siberian cities.

The classic wooden architecture, example is not falling over