I wonder who came up with the color scheme for Air Siberia.  At least the air traffic controllers will have no trouble seeing the planes.

I got to fly JAL business class a few years ago from Chicago to Tokyo (12 hours).  It wasn't the 787 but the seats were big and comfy and food and service was great.  The downside is it makes it tough going back to cattle class on future long haul flights.

The winter street scenes remind me a little bit of Winnipeg where I am headed soon for the holidays.

The pics are great.  Thanks for sharing.

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There was a good mix of different vehicles. Some were European, many were Asian. Similar to what you see here.

Due to the proximity to China, I even saw a Chinese make or two. It was remarkably nice and comparable to a Hundai or KIA.

Quite a few jacked up and rodded SUV's. A few pickups. VW's, etc..

I even talked to one guy driving a Dodge Ram pick up. He was out to dinner at my hotel (which had a very good and popular restaurant) with his wife/girlfriend and spoke very good English. He seemed in his mid-30's and some sort of successful business type. I've got his email address and he says if I come back in the summer, he's got a wake boat for touring the local waterways or wake boarding on the Amur river. 

I believe I saw a Chevy emblem as well. But American makes were generally scarce.

The only Subaru I noticed looked like an Outback. May have been the model you referenced. I'm not sure. It was on the other side of the parking lot.

I saw a couple of what looked like old Soviet models as well. They looked like antiques from a bygone era. But most were driving modern cars or SUV's.

The place was modern and the population well educated. Besides the language and minor cultural differences and of course the extreme weather, it had a remarkably familiar feel to it. 

They even had a Harley Davidson cafe/bar/restaurant. 

It's in the underground part of a building, downtown, just off the main street. The place was a riot. Everybody dresses like a cowboy or cowgirl, or a 1920's flapper. I asked for a menu and they asked me in broken English if I wanted 'the meat'. I was a little confused. I said 'what is the meat'. The guy says for 500 rubles, from 6pm to 3am we bring you all the meat and vegetables you can eat. It's the only thing on the menu. 500 rubles is less than $10.

I said, 'yeah, give me the meat'. And the servers kept stopping by my table with slabs of beef, chicken, pork, fresh vegetables and bread.. I sat through about 30 minutes of this and I was stuffed.  It was great.

Meet the Doctor.. 


That's all you get bro.

I have been on this site a while. on so many fronts this is by far the best thread ever. internet forum at it's iconic best.

Hmmmmm .....  Just lookin' for a profile or a sly smile with a cossack hat on .... Something to support the "back from the USSR" theme. I don't think the Beatles got much past Ukraine.

Comonnnn .. It's Christmas! 

You want to know how cold this place gets..

Tomorrow morning at 8am the low temp is forecast to be 32 below zero. 

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Yeah.. Just another day in paradise. 

I hope the Doctor has her long johns on and consumes a little raw salmon before heading out for her morning walk. 

I read recently it was voted the coldest city on earth of a 1/2 million people. 

I understand they cancel school when it gets 40 below zero.