Mari El

The City of Yoshkar-Ola in Mari El Republic

Where can you visit Prague, Italy, Brussels and Moscow in one day? The answer may surprise you! All these cities and more you can see in a city full of replicas, the city of Yoshkar-Ola in the Republic of Mari El 762 kilometers east of Moscow. Yoshkar-Ola caught my attention when in summer a Facebook friend from Kazan posted pictures of her holiday in this small city with pictures of replicas of Moscow’s Savior Tower, Bruges embankment in Belgium and other landmarks that looked straight out of Italy. I instantly looked at a map and found that it was not far from Kazan, so I figured there was no way I could miss it!

My cab

I had two options to get to Yoshkar-Ola, either I could take the twice a week elektrichka (electric commuter train) for only a few dollars or I could hire a taxi for $50. If I were to take the elektrichka it would take around four hours, if I were to take a taxi it’d be about two. Having taken the elektrichka to many different places I knew travel on it was not easy and being that the train only departed twice a week I figured it may be rather crowded and miserable. So I opted to pay $50 and hire a taxi. True it was more expensive, but the price really was not that bad considering it would be a two-hour drive.

So, I logged onto Yandex taxi service and ordered a taxi. This time there was no drama as the driver pulled right up in front of my hotel. He greeted me and repeated the destination address to me. I confirmed saying it was in Yoshkar-Ola. He looked a bit surprised and said “Yoshkar-Ola….really”. I answered yes and he said “let’s go”. The drive north was not too eventful, we stopped for gas once, which gave me a chance to grab a candy bar and pop. It was snowing but unlike in Seattle where a little bit of snow sets people into a full scale panic, in Russia it’s business as usual.

We arrived to Yoshkar-Ola just before 4pm and the sun was already down. I paid and tipped him and dragged my stuff into the hotel. I only had about 24 hours in Yoshkar-Ola so I knew I couldn’t just sit around the hotel and rest. Therefore when I arrived I quickly unpacked my stuff, got back into all my layers and headed out on the town. No way was I going to waste a second here!

Having seen the pictures of all these replicas and since my hotel was in the center I expected everything to be nearby. But nothing was what I expected. I walked out of my hotel and there were just the usual assortment of low-rise buildings mixed in with apartment blocks. I wandered around for about 15 minutes expecting to see something familiar. Where were the row houses, where was the replica Savior Tower? I had google maps and remembered from the pictures and a TV show I saw about it that everything was located on the river. I looked at my map and headed toward the river. I got to the river and still nothing, only an ice hockey/skating arena. I was at a loss. I decided to turn right and sure enough I wound up in the right place.

Savior Tower Yoshkar-Ola

One of the six theaters

Puppet theater

I eventually started walking along the Bruges embankment with its row houses, which looked exactly like what I’d expect from Amsterdam or Belgium. I spent about two hours in the cold and the snow walking around taking in all the sights. The city was amazing, everything was nearly to scale and you’d never know you were in some small town in the middle of the Russian forest. Many of the buildings, especially the Puppet Theater, looked straight out of a fairy tale!! I eventually reached the city’s Savior Tower (The Kremlin’s most famous clock tower) replica. It was incredible! Although it was not quite as big as the real thing its chime was nearly the same. I was shocked at how such a small city could have so much going for it. But replicas were not the only thing unique to this city. Being such a small city of just shy of a quarter million people, you’d think they might have some culture but probably not a lot. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact the city has not one, not two, not three, but SIX different theaters! I always so appreciate Russia’s love of culture. The US could learn a lot from Russia’s intellectual and cultural life.

The next day my goal was to see the replicas in light. And they did not disappoint at all! The amazing thing about the replica row houses that were copied after Bruges embankment was how they were actually occupied. I thought when I first saw them from a distance that they likely were just empty shells, almost like a Hollywood set. But it turns out each one had some type of purpose, many home to different republic ministries and government organizations. I spent hours just walking along the frozen embankment and even enjoyed walking across the river. Who said you can’t walk on water?? It’s always soooo much fun when you can walk across frozen lakes, ponds or rivers.

Bruges Embankment

After walking around the Bruges embankment, I visited the Yoshkar-Ola kremlin. Yoshkar-Ola’s kremlin is one of the youngest checking in at about 100 years old. Much like its bigger cousin in Moscow it is also red. There was no charge to enter and that day there was a farmer’s market of sorts going on inside it. The kremlin was tiny compared to Kazan and especially compared to Moscow. One of the best parts of the Yoshkar Ola Kremlin was being able to walk along a sort of catwalks that hugged the side of the kremlin. 

Inside Yoshkar Ola Kremlin

The donkey and icon

 My next stop would be Nogotkova-Obolenskovo Square next to the Mari El National Art Gallery. The square and building looked something straight out of Italy and had a beautiful clock tower, which every hour on the hour would chime. This was no ordinary chime but the Mari chime and within a few seconds of the chime out comes a small little path with moving figures and a donkey carrying an icon from one end of the clock façade to the other. Quite a cool sight, which always draws a crowd!

My view from the Ferris wheel

I continued my day by walking over to the Park of Culture and Rest a common landmark in every Russian city. And just like nearly every Park of Culture and Rest the one in Yoshkar-Ola had a Ferris wheel. And of course wherever I see a Ferris wheel I have to take a ride. But you’re probably thinking how would a Ferris wheel be working in the middle of winter and in the middle of a snowstorm? Luckily the Ferris wheel had heated compartments so it was business as usual on a Sunday afternoon. From my cabin I could see all of Yoshkar-Ola and all the replicas. It was well worth the several dollar price I paid for the privilege! 

Eventually my ride came to an end and I would set out in search of food. My goal was to reach a café that I learned about on a Russian travel show called “All The Way”. The café was called “Café Sandal” and served traditional Mari food. I was looking forward to trying the puffed up bliny (thin pancakes). I wanted to make it there badly, but I had walked so much and it was so icy! I walked a bit further and passed a McDonald's. No way was I going to go to McD's, but hunger and fatigue got the best of me and I eventually surrendered to the Golden Arches aka McDonald’s. Yes, I was that desperate!!

I regretted my decision the moment I walked in, as the place was an insane mess packed to the gills with children and their parents. I eventually found a place to sit, but a parent eventually came along asking if her kid could sit down at my table. I said yes…..and then the entire family sat down at my table, kind of inadvertently kicking me out. I eventually found a free place all to myself.  

I later tried again to get back to Sandal Café. Although I did not have a lot of time I figured I had just enough time to have a good dinner and get back in time to catch my train. So I brought up Maxim car service and ordered a car to take me to the café and then I waited, waited and waited some more. I waited about 15 minutes until it popped up there were no cars available. I gave up! I guess there must’ve been a reason I didn’t get there or maybe I needed to save up something for next time. Eventually I settled for Russian pelmini (dumplings) at the hotel restaurant, which were fine but not puffed bliny :( !

The view from my room

Having finished up a nice dinner I went upstairs to pack. My bag was overflowing but eventually I got everything packed up. I was all ready to go to the train station to catch my 7pm overnight train to Moscow, all I had to do was go downstairs and check out. Easy…….! WRONG! I walked into the elevator, the door closed and I pushed “L” for Lobby. The elevator was not moving…….hmmmm…I thought, what was going on?

My hotel, Ludoviko Moro

Then a little digital message appeared above that read “elevator not working”. I quickly pushed the open button…..no luck….I pushed the close button……nothing!!! Then I pushed the emergency button and the call button saying I was trapped in the elevator. They responded that help was on the way. Five minutes went by and nothing. Time was ticking, my train left in only a short time. Then ten minutes went by! At this point I was panicked and told them I had a train to make and was worried about missing it. I started thinking out alternative scenarios about what happened if I were to miss my train. I basically came to the conclusion that if I missed my train I was utterly screwed! They assured me help was on the way. Eventually after about 15 minutes (it felt like easily 50) they somehow forced the door open manually. I was relieved, I would make my train after all and my trip would continue without interruption. To say the least my trips are never without drama and today was no exception!

Yoshkar-Ola train station