At their insistence the government agreed to move the imperial family away from the summer palace. The new exile was to be the former capital of Siberia. That is incorrect, because the place can only be reached by river. Al-Ahram adds further details. There are no parks and no hotels.
Transportation comes to a standstill at night because the city is only lit by the faintest lighting.
In the centre of the city is a formidable prison which one trembles even to look at. The prison, at least, was not where the czar was to reside. But nor was the fortress that towered above the city and which served as the residence of the local governor. Rather, as Al-Ahram reports on 12 October, the family took up residence in an ordinary home, with no garden, which made them an easy object for the curious. In fact, so troublesome were the inquisitive inhabitants that the czar asked to be moved to one of the nearby monasteries, a request that was duly met.