Standing with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia has a certain appeal that transcends the geographic imprecision of the exercise. The main Europe-Asia border obelisk sits about 40 kilometres west of Ekaterinburg on the old Siberian Highway, at the point where the Ural Mountains watershed is crossed. The monument — a pillar with "Europe" on one side and "Asia" on the other — has been a traditional photo stop for travellers crossing Russia since the 19th century.
The site draws a steady stream of visitors and the ritual is consistent: photographs straddling the line, brief contemplation of being at the edge of two continents, then usually a drink from a flask and a return to the car. Tour operators in Ekaterinburg run excursions that combine the border monument with a visit to the Ganina Yama monastery complex, the site where the Romanov remains were hidden, which is in the same direction. The drive west from the city gives a good sense of the Ural landscape — rolling forested hills, wider and greener than you might expect, with the sense that Siberia begins on the other side.