From an outsider's perspective

After living in a place for more than 2 weeks, first impressions begin to fade and it's very difficult to recognise the differences. Well, to some extent.

Here are some photos of the city that Dave took on the taxi ride from the airport. Note: Sakhalin is not always this overcast!

A wooden Dacha (cottage) along the road. Families often own a dacha- they are out of town, and usually don't have electricity, water, sewerage... families that live in town use their cottages as vegetable gardens and day-time or holiday get-aways. But many people do call a dacha their home. Picturesque, but terribly prone to fire.



The hospital at the top of our street.


An apartment block in less than the best state... but there are a lot of such buildings around.



View of apartment blocks from the kitchen window. Usually Russian apartments look pretty crumby on the outside, but inside can be very comfortable.