Chelyabinsk is somewhere I’d been looking forward to for a long, long time. Originally when I planned my trip I intended to travel with a bike and sidecar, which meant I’d be able to get through China. The route would have been roughly Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Europe. After leaving Kazakhstan, the first place I’d come to in Russia would be Chelyabinsk.

Of all these places Russia always held the most attraction for me, so I’ve spent a lot of time looking at Chelly on the map.

A welcoming sign was a good start, to what’s essentially a mid sized grey city – full of former soviet era big buildings. The kind I’ve seen in so many other places, I’d almost call it a typical Russian city.

Despite this there was no disappointment. I’m in Chelyabinsk! After all this time and effort just being able to say that makes it all worthwhile.