Back to the vodka

Time to cross the border again - always a moment of trepidation.  It actually went nice and smoothly if slowly - I arrived there just when the Russians were shutting up for lunch - but after lots of obligatory paper shuffling and tapping of computer keys in various offices I was let back in with a smile and a welcome.

This border crossing was actually a series of crossings; first the Mongolians had their offices about 5 km short of the border, then you drove down the last of the dirt road  until you reached a gate on the border proper where a bored Russian soldier let you in and the tarred road began, after that it was another twenty kilometres to the Russians customs station, another kilometre to their immigration office and finally 10 or twenty kilometres down the road to a regional check point.

All this took about 4 hours so it was late afternoon by the time I was free of it.  I was now in the Altai Mountains region of Siberia and the scenery was stunning; the trees were changing colours so there was riot of yellows, golds and reds, the rivers were deep turquoise and in places this was backed by snow capped mountains.  This went on for 300 - 400 km's.  I can't do it justice in words so here are some pictures.



 





 



 

The first nights camping, which was by this river was the coldest yet- several layers of clothes needed in the sleeping bag that night.



 

And if anyone wonders what I eat when I camp - here is the standard one pot dinner.  A can of tinned meat or fish, some pasta and some fresh vegetables - beautiful and warming.

 



On this part of the journey I passed the scariest car bridge I've ever seen - simply 6 tensioned wire cables spanning a gorge with planks laid across them. It swayed alarmingly - I met one driver about to use it and he had to have two cigarettes simply to calm himself before tackling it.  I didn't need to cross it so restricted myself to walking it.





 

In this area I was following what is known as the Chuysky Tract which crosses over the mountains at 2600m.  There was a lovely section of 7 km of hairpins on the way up and 5 km on the way down - smooth tar and no traffic.  The picture below, as ever, does not do it justice.



 

After this the scenery got more wintry - trees starting to be bare, the first rain I'd seen in 6 weeks and temperatures not getting above 10 degrees all day.



 

After 800km I got to Novosibersk, which is my biggest Russian city since Vladivostok.  Population of a million so the fringes spread for many kilometres - but the centre was remarkably compact and pleasant feeling if a bit undistinguished and bland. It is however supposed to be the geographic centre of Russia - and this chapel marks the 'exact' spot.

 



My hotel was an ugly lump of soviet era concrete - but inside was nice which shouldn't have been a surprise as it is the most expensive of the trip so far.  However in compensation for its price it has the best breakfast buffet i have ever come across so I can feed myself up for the day there.



 

During my first (of two) nights here I was adopted by some Thai businessmen who were motorcycle owners back in their home, in town to spruik their tourist resorts to the locals.  Apparently Russian tourism to Thailand is big business with three planes a day going from Novosibersk alone during the season.  The reason for Thailands particular popularity is there are no visa's required in either direction.  Being adopted meant joining in many toasts to Russian - Thailand-Australia relations; a great night was had but everyone was a bit flaky in the morning (not as bad as Kharbarosck though).



I think this lady was just walking through the lobby at the wrong moment - but she joined in the spirit of things for a few minutes!



The view from my window on the 12th floor isn't up to much, but it gives you an idea of the traffic and if you look carefully just how flash and expensive many of the cars are; a very high density of BMW's, Audi's, Lexus's etc here.



Down at street level things were prettier - the girls here are numerous, often very beautiful and dress to impress.



 

Anyway thats all my news and its now time to pack my bags again and move on.