Trans-Eurasia 2005 Part 9
Trip Start
May 20, 2005
1
8
14
Trip End
Aug 05, 2005
Beijing,
China
Monday, July 4, 2005
in the morning. It's only a couple hundred kms to Barnaul so I'll
probably just pass through and see how far I get. From some advice in
Ulaan-Bataar I've decided to take the South road from Tsagaannuur and
go through the Gobi. I would have preferred the Northern route but it
is completely washed out until after rainy season whenever that is.
I only got stopped once yesterday which is nearing a new record. The
cop showed me the radar gun showing 78 kmh and I have no idea what the
speed limit is. Anyway they showed no indication that they want to
write me a ticket, just tell me to be careful and ride slower (I
think).When I stopped for lunch I parked the bike in front of the
window and then watched as some guys climbed all over my bike twisting
the grips, touching the carburators, looking inside the sidecar. I was
outnumbered so I just watched. Fortunately nothing got damaged and I
was good to go after lunch.
Riding along the road for miles at a time I couldn't help thinking what
would I do if I broke down and couldn't fix the bike. No Russian
language, not even a clear idea where I'm headed. Geez, I hate to even
think about it. I finally took out my MP3 player, plugged myself in and
just listed to music as I rode along the most mind numbing road I've
ever ridden. Thankfully before all the songs are played I reach
Novosibirsk. I covered 660 kms (I think) in about 10 hours which is
also a new record for me. Road signs are funny here. When I left Omsk
the road sign said 660 kms to Novosibirsk. Then after about hald an
hour the road sign said 670 kms to Novosibirsk. Then a few
hundredmeters up the road another sign said 651 kms to Novosibirsk. And
this has been the way the roads signs have been all across Russia.
For the first time in a long time, I didn't ask a taxi to show me a
hotel. I found the river and just cruised along the banks. The first
hotel in Novosibirsk looks brand new and very nice. It's huge but
completely full. Unbelievable. So down the street about 1 km there is
another hotel, bigger, but not as nice. I then ate in the hotel
restaurant where the waitress speaks English. The meal was good too.
Poached fish, tongue and vegetable salad, caviar and bread, and ice
cream. What a treat! After dinner, I look for an internet cafe. I ask
around, and internet cafe is the same in Russian as it is in English,
but 2 of them are closed already. I find 3 students sitting around
drinking Czech Republic Beer from a 2 liter Pepsi bottle. They lead me
first to 1 internet cafe above a bowling alley but it is closed. They
then find another one nearby. They insisted to pay for the taxi that
brought us there. Really nice people. Gave me a warning about walking
back to the hotel when it's too late and said goodbye.
Only after I'm checked in at the hotel do I discover from www.waytorussia.com
that there are resort types hotels further on up the river. A nude
beach as well. But I've got alot of work to get done on the bike and
it's hot, and there is no air conditioning anywhere in town. Don't
blame them what with maybe 6 weeks of warm weather and 46 weeks of cold.
The women really like to show their skin here during the warm breaks!
This city looks like it was layed out during the Soviet era to populate
Siberia. Huge apartment blocks everywhere and big factories in the
downtown area. This is quite different from all the smaller towns I've
passed through out here, where the majority of people live in single
family homes made of logs or wood.
Cars seem to be common nowadays everywhere I've ridden throughout
Russia. Most common is the Fiat 124 based Lada and you also see them
parked on the side of the road, hood up every 4-5 kms. I've also seen a
few sidecar rigs stopped on the road. I've stopped for every bike, but
I'm waved on by every owner. Bet they don't realize I have a full tool
kit in my sidecar!!!
Most of the Japanese cars in Siberia are right hand drive. Amazing,
probably 75% of them. You also see quite a few BMW, Mercedes, Audis,
and VW products. A fair number of Chrysler products too with the PT
Cruiser being the most common model. Saw a couple of Hummers too.
I just read my 2 previous posts... I really need to proof read what I'm writing!
Well, back to work on the bike and just 2 more days (hopefully) and I'll enter Mongolia.
