Slow, fast and then very slow.

Well its nearly a week since my last post and the "plan" I described there has been a work in progress.  I didn't make Ulan Ude in 3 -5 days predicted and I'm still 700km west of it somewhere in the outskirts of Chita at my most overpriced and generally uninspiring hotel of the trip.  Just over a $100 night for a very average room which is modern anonymous  'western' style and whilst the plumbing is good it doesn't have the amusement of being old soviet.  Theres a strip club next door which says something about the area its in;  but on the plus side there is secure parking for the bike and free wi-fi.  The funny thing is this is the first place I've used that is a recommendation of a fellow traveller I met on the road - in future I shall more deeply enquire as to what they consider to be the assets of a place before blindly following advice.  As soon as I got here I knew it was going to be a bit of a dud but I didn't have the energy to go chasing alternatives.

 

[caption id="attachment_208" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Lovely lady selling produce at the side of the road"][/caption]

The days up to here though have been very good.  I left Blagoveschensk on Monday (today is Saturday) and within 5 minutes had a minor run in with the police - I didn't see them signalling for me to pull over for a document check so they despatched a car, lights flashing, to chase after me. Anyway after they did the check and made a couple of tut tut noises they were friendly and I was free to go on my way.  For the first couple of hundred of kilometres I followed old back roads until I re-joined the Trans Siberian highway.  The old roads are fun because they pass through little villages so whilst you can do 90 kmh on the highway sections you are for ever dropping back to 60 or 40 (seems to be no logic - just obey the sign).  Their downside is achieving an average with petrol and 'chai' stops of more than 60 is hard work, hence they are not very good for fast westward progress.

Late afternoon I rejoined the Trans Siberian mainly because there was no alternative: it is the only road east-west in this section.  Up until a few years ago there was no roadat all - just a 600km gap in the road network.  Russia is reputed to have spent 10% of its entire road budget over a whole decade getting this connecting section done and when you see it you begin to understand where the money went.  The highway sits several, sometimes many, metres above marshy ground on huge stone embankements.  They must have quarried and moved many millions of tonnes of gravel to build it.  In most places it is still silky smooth though occassionally you come sections the road has settled unevenly where they didn't get the footings quite right  giving a sometimes severe roller coaster ride.  Even now the road crews are still out doing the finishing touches, but it is a spectacular, if after awhile a bit boring, achievement.

 

The scenery it passes through is a bit like the Australian outback, in that it is often seemingly unchanging but always with some interest and often with spectacular views and vista's - most of which of course photograph disappointingly badly.  You will have to take my word that the scenery was fantastic.

 

 













[caption id="attachment_217" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="...and sometimes  the Bridge Dept and the Road Dept just can't agree on priorities"][/caption]



That first night on the road I ended up pretty much in the middle of no-where near dusk, at whilst I could probably have got a dormitory room at one of the truck stops (cafe's) that are every 100 km or so I chose to tent it.  Slightly easier said than done in that the ground all around is marshy and finding a suitable spot out of sight of the road took a few false starts.  When I did find one, it was picturesque being in the woods, and full of mosquitoes - hence the tent was put up with me still in full motorcycle gear including helmet - these were hungry animals.  Later the night was further enlivened by a dramatic thunderstorm overhead - but fortunately the tent stayed watertight.

 

I got about another 800 kms down the road that night and was about 200km from Chita (this felt quite an achievement when the first sign I sawsaid  2100km) when at a small town, Chernishensk, I bumped into another motorcyclist 'Doug'.  I actually knew of Doug as he is one of the characters of our little corner of the internet regularly posting stuff.  Doug was heading in the opposite direction so we decide to stop where we were, find a hotel, and compare notes.  Despite this being Doug's third trip to Russia his language skills were about on a par with mine, but he was possessed with that envious self-confidence some have and simply walked up and down the street going 'Gastinitsa' to everyone and eventually we found a small guest house.  It was an interesting lesson in technique for me.

 

 

 

Since at this point I had re-appeared in the land of back roads the next day I decided to  wander back off the Trans Siberian and see what I could find.  In the end I did about 200-300 km that day mainly on dirt back roads and had an absolutely fantastic days riding.  There is something about being on a dirt road that makes everything seem much more exciting, exotic and remote.  It was also during the day that I realised I had now moved into a Buddhist region as stupas and shrines began a regular appearance around the countryside.





[caption id="attachment_221" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Cars and trains take turns!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="377" caption="Rotting "Collective Farm" equipment"][/caption]

That night (we're now Wednesday) I ended up at a hotel, found using Doug's technique, in the town of Aginskoe.  A great place, spectacular foyer, lovely restaurant  and a basic shared bathroom with dodgy plumbing and no door lock.

 

Aginskoe is in the centre of the Buryat peoples region.  The Buryats are apparently originally from Mongolia and moved into Russia in 13th or 14th centuary with Chengis Khan.  They are very distinct and have what we would think of as Mongolian facial features.  Their  town was attractive since somehow it appeared tohave missed out on the standard Soviet appartment blocks (except for one discreetly tucked away) and everyone still lived in traditional wooded houses.  There seems to be a building boom going on and there were whole new suburbs of these houses being set up.  The houses are simply built of large logs de-barked and stacked on top of each other with beautiful dovetail joints at the corners.  They seem to be all of the same size and I was later told this was because the trees they are made of are plantation grown and harvested every 3 years giving you a standard log size.





My guide book had mentioned there was a national park about 150km south of Aginskoe and then when I was searching for the hotel some kids also told me enthusiastically about it (Martins lesson number 1 - if you want to find someone who speaks at least a little English then head for the teenage kids, especially the girls).  So next day on a whim and only a vague idea where it was, I headed for it.  I found the town the park was named after easily enough and  a few locals gesticulated me down a dirt road when I asked about it.  After twenty kilometres I was about to turn back when I came to a police check point that turned out to be the entrance.  There the fun started.

 

The policeman there spoke zero English and couldn't cope with my Russian, but after lots of smiling he copied all my visa details painstakingly into his ledger.  I then offered to pay the entrance fee, which I had managed to translate from a sign whilst this was going on,  but he refused it and indicated as a foreigner I could go in free.  Not knowing what was actually there I went around a few corners and found myself heading into a large campsite.  It wasn't like any Australian campsite - think several hundred tents spread higgledy piggledy other several hectares of forest, with little cafe's and the like set up amongst them.  Anyway there was a large building labelled "Administration" so I headed into that - again no English and general confusion as to what to do with me.  After awhile when they had established I only wanted to stay one night they took me to a pre-erected tent with bedding in it and indicated I should use that, my Russian obviously not having achieved the explanation that  I had a tent.  Again I offered to pay and they initially said 200 roubles (about $8) and then had another quick conversation and again waived the fee.

 

I was quickly adopted by two Buryat familes who were next to me.  There were nine of  them and I never quite worked out all the relationships but they were incredibly friendly and hospitable.  I knew from the guidebook that the park contained some holy buddhist areas but didn't know the details.  I soon found out: I was bundled into a car and driven down to a ritual bathing area where the process is to plunge yourself into a stream.  Yes I was expected to do it, so yes I did - and yes it was cold.  My hosts held themselves in the water for about 20 seconds so in true competitive fashion I made sure I did the same.  Having survived that I thought fine - then found out one  needs to do it a second time.

 

 

 

It was then back to the campsite for dinner - cold meats, and things I wasn't quite clear on but were lovely, followed by ritual vodka toasts. The next morning I was told (all this via sign language and dictionary) we were going for a walk in the park to see some of the holy sights - but first we had to have breakfast.  So around 10 we started on salami, cheese, bread and copious amounts of tea.  So far straight forward, but we didn't stop, after that the marinated meat for the 'shaslick' (think kebabs) came out and we moved straight into cooking those.  All in all breakfast took 4 hours.  After that it was off for the walk - and this turned out to be no stroll.  The Buddhists had scattered their holy sites all over the hill (supposedly the 5th most important one in their world according to Lonely Planet) and so we had six hours of scrambling up and down scree  slopes by vaguely formed paths.





When we finished it was back in the stream again and since it was now nearly 9pm I made a strategic decision that I was going to stay another night at the park.  My tent of the previous night was now occupied so I quickly stuck up my own - and then just as quickly was dragged over for dinner which had been prepared by one of the group who had not gone on the walk.  We started with ribs - horse ribs (really nice) and then moved through various things for a couple of hours.  Then after an a hour or so of chat I indicated I might go to bed.  No I was told we've only just started and they indicated a big pot that had been boiling over the fire for some time - thats "meso" its special and its next.  Meso turned out to be large lumps of meat (horse?) boiled with vegies and we had that at about 1am followed by water melon at 2am - with a couple of vodka's in between.



What was interesting was the whole camp site followed this sort of time line - get up very late but then stay up to the small hours.  As we ate and talked lots of other groups did the same and loud music at 1 am seemed to be perfectly accepted.



After all of that today was a bit of an anti-climax.  A 250 km drive to Chita from where I plan to finally move onto Ulan Ude tomorrow.