Astrakhan rest day

Couple of things I had to to today … new tyres for the bike, and a haircut for me ….

After a late evening spent increasing the receptionists English vocabulary, I woke to the hotel breakfast.... a knock on the door and it came served on a tray. It was cold mashed potato and sausage … quite an ordeal first thing in the morning.

So, hooked up with Jeremy and we retrieved the bikes from the “lock-up” and rode around to the the bike shop. Now I assumed that as they sold a plethora of bikes, the shop might have a workshop somewhere … no ! 

Jeremy had decided to carry both his tyres and change them at a later date, but for me, I had to do the front, and would carry the rear. Influencing this decision was the news that due to some major flooding in Tibet last week, many bridges had been washed out and our mileage in China might increase dramatically. Hence the plan now became to enter China with as much tread as possible.

Anyway, the bike shop cleared me a space and I took the front wheel out, where we carried it to a bunch of monkeys in a local car tyre place. They had not got a clue about changing bike tyres, and half way through attempting to change mine, I lost my rag, and took over. They were trying to fit the tube after both beads were on, using a powered machine.  The rim tape had already been dislodged, and the tube was about to get mullered ... like I said, Monkeys.

So, all done to my satisfaction, back to the bike shop, refit the wheel, then back to the hotel for a shower. Now for the haircut ! Rode around, and you can not believe the amount of cops just waiting for a chance to pull you over … I mean I counted 7 cops on one 4-way junction... waiting. Like a tiger stalks his prey.

And then there are the Yellow Minibuses … just like Thai Tuk-Tuks, but bigger. A right pain in the arse, and a law unto themselves.... and of course, bigger than me, so they get the right of way !

Anyway, no dramas with the hair … found a hairdresser, gesticulated a bit, and it was done … £4. Can't complain. New tyre and a new look … mission accomplished.

More grasslands

Not much to say about today ....

The Bike Post hotel, was not a good experience and there were better options in the City .... its just this was the only one on booking.com at the time.

Of minor interest to some is that they had a very old BMW motorcycle in the lounge, but it really was in the "early" stages of renovation.

Got on our way and it was just more of the same barren scenery.  In fairness, the sun was shining, the roads empty, and I had a fresh set of MP3 tracks blasting away in the headphones .... quite enjoyable really.

Then in the middle of no-where, we just might have gone through a speed trap ... Jeremy did the talking this time.... or rather didn't.  The constant shrugs, and not understand gestures got us off with a warning (I think).

So head down for 3-4 more hours of this....

... until we arrived in Astrakhan, to find the Safari Hotel ... although the rooms were nice, it was not in one of the best locations.

Jeremy was worried about the bikes, but they did find us a lock-up garage 100 mts away, which helped.  Returning back to the hotel, I noted 2 Jacuzzi's in the basement, complete with waterproof Karaoke machines. Now that intrigued me!

This was the city where we both had ordered a fresh set of tyres.  The bike shop had moved since we placed the order, fortunatly only to a new location in the next street to our hotel. So we paid them a visit, and peering through the window, were pleased to see our tyres there and waiting.

The dilemma now is that we both still have a lot of tread left on the existing rubber .... carry or fit ?  Decisions, decisions ... something to sleep on.

Mini-Thailand

After a decent breakfast in the hotel again, left Piyatigorsk, heading for Elista....

Slow roads, lots of traffic.

And then it opened out.

Straight roads, barren countryside.

Selfies while riding.

Water stop.

And more of the same in the afternoon.

Until we reach our destination, Elista.

Strange, is that a Buddhist temple ?

Kids seem happy to play with sticks.

Go for a walk in the evening ... more temples.

Walk through this park full of statues....

.... but at least with Russian connotations.

Highlight of the show.

Not sure if funeral or wedding at first.

Bit of a break dancing competition going on.

And the celebrations went on into the evening  ... fireworks too.

All a bit strange .... after walking around, I could not get over this place .... it was just full of Chinese-Thai looking people, but all speaking Russian.  There were no guys to be seen, but loads of pretty young mothers & kids.  I could not work it out - it was so different to the Russia we saw yesterday ... smiles, happiness, laughter.... just like Thailand !

So, talking with Jeremy, turns out Elista is a sort of enclave that Mongolian, (or Kalmyk to be correct) people got forced to settle in by Stalin in the 30's, then got exiled to Siberia a decade later.  They returned in the late-50's to give the city the feel it has today, and explained the Thai feel ... at least to the unwise, such as me !

Found a Cafe to eat in and as the menu was completely in Russian, enlisted the help of Google Translate... for those who are technically naive, it allows you to hold your phone over the menu, and its translates what it sees.  However, the end result can often be, well, quite entertaining.

The beef in Thai sauce didn't taste like beef, and the Thai sauce turned out to be Chips !

Finished the night back at the "hotel", which was a sort of converted house, used as a Biker bar at times, but sadly empty on this Saturday night.  Had a beer with Jeremy, and he mentioned he had seen a disco 5 minutes away, so after he went to bed, I went to investigate.

One of those "in hindsight, I should not have bothered" occasions .... 3 people there at 11pm, one hour later, still just 3.  Then a load of arrogant Russians walked in (must have come from another city!), stole my table & chairs while I was sitting there, and proceeded to speed up their lung cancer process.

Using the smokescreen as cover, I made an exit, and to bed.

The dreaded day .... entering Russia

Woke to a overcast sky, which by the time I checked out, was actually light rain ....

Highest point on the pass - 2300 mts.

Stopped to take a few pics amongst the clouds, then descended from the high point of the pass to the valley below where I would meet Jeremy again.

The sun was hinting at coming out.

The old tunnels have been supreceeded by a road running parallel to them ...

... but you can still ride thru ... eerie !

Regrouped, we rode the last of the Georgian Military Highway, to the Russian border, and the legendary queues.  And 15 km from the border, the lorries waited patiently, while at least the cars (& bikes) shot past.  I really felt for these truckers ... it's not a nice job at the best of times, but to be stuck here for days on end, just because of the incredible inefficiency at the border.  My heart went out to them.

The lorry queue - like Operation Stack in the UK.

Within 5km of the border, the road enters a sequence of tunnels, at which point overtaking is impossible as the tunnel is physically only wide enough for 2 vehicles ... so we joined the back of the queue, as "British Gentlemen" do....

But not the Russians ... suddenly about 4-5 cars shot past us and into the tunnel, completely oblivious to what the consequences of meeting an oncoming vehicle would be.  At that point, I changed nationalities .... "Follow me" I shouted to Jeremy and tucked in behind the last car, fingers on the brakes.

All well, until the inevitable happened, and the cars we were following met oncoming traffic in the tunnel, and it was gridlock.  Nobody would let these cars in, and effectively we all were blocking the entrance to Georgia... it got nasty at the front, cars pushing each other, then contact ... drivers all out, photos, shouting ... we just kept our heads down and as soon as the fracas subsided, shot ahead again.

I learned a few Russian swear words that morning (from the drivers stuck in the queue), but undaunted we carried on, until .... well, to continue would have been suicidal.  Re-joined the queue a lot closer thinking it was the best we could achieve.  I would have waited there until some sexy Russian girl in black leathers, riding a sports bike, alone, pulled up from behind.  She gave us a smile, as if to say, Follow me, boys.  That was all the encouragement I needed, so dodging the oncoming vehicles by riding up kerbs and through lay-bys, we followed until our panniers prevented us from squeezing through the last dozen so cars to get to the front, and to say thanks, of course !

And there we waited .... for about an hour ! That was their processing speed .... about 12 vehicles/hour.  I can't do the maths, but a 5 km line of cars, 12 per hour .... those poor buggers at the back probably had a 2-3 day wait.

So, we confront the immigration first ... seemed to go OK, until one asked me for money ... turned out he was just collecting coins from different countries, so I gave him 20 pence (10 baht) just for being pleasant.

Then there was the customs ... fill out a form (in Russian) but at least there was a translation on a notice board.  We did our best, oh but then, fill another one the same as they need two copies.... I suspect there would be a good market here for a photocopy machine salesman if anyone is inclined to forward on this lead.

So that's another hour, and finally we are on our way ... about 3 hours all told ... just thank God/Buddha, I ride a motorcycle !  Just more more little wait ... insurance.

We had heard it was not available at the border, and the scam was the police would pull you for a document check, before you had a chance to get any. I'm pleased to confirm this little lady was open.

Lada's everywhere.

And into Russia ... well, it was drizzling rain all day, flat, boring, with a lot of traffic.  I took the lead and setting a brisk pace came to three lanes, controlled by a single red light above the middle one ... the road layout and marking implied you could filter through the most right lane (or was it a bus stop).

Anyway, clearly you could not as the five Policemen that pulled us down the road confirmed.

The humble pie approach failed me on this occasion and I after relieving myself & Jeremy of our passports, I was marched off for, what I though was a bollocking.

Grim country, grim weather.

Of course, its Russia, so lets call it more of a "negotiation".  They started at £120, but eventually I got them down to £30 each ... they seemed to take delight in burning the "ticket" in front of me, and the enthusiastic wave from them as we left, probably meant I paid over the odds.

Say what you want, 5 coppers, with guns, and attitude ... the odds were always going to be in their favour !

We rode on, as opposed to cracked on... Yup, we were now the only people in Russia sticking to speed limits and obeying signs.  Must have been overtaken by 500 trucks & cars that afternoon !

Both went for the pasta.

But as a pleasant end to the day, I had stumbled upon a nice new hotel, and once we were past the poor attitude of Boris & Tatanya on reception, the rooms were great, and the evening meal in the restaurant, superb.

A good nights sleep, and with the weatherman saying no rain tomorrow, what more can go wrong ?

Onwards & Upwards

We said a late goodbye to the delightful Tamara, at the Red Fox GH, and headed for the hills...

Once clear of the Tbilisi sprawl, the scenery steadily improved, as the road started to snake up into the mountains.

Stopped for a coffee, and Jeremy tried his Georgian on ... she spoke perfect English, so that was that.

And then the road just got better and better ... and higher and higher.

Finally at 2000 meters, we found a petrol station, and I started to look for my hotel.  I knew it was close, as was in the middle of a ski resort, and I could see the empty ski-lifts.  Of course, without snow, is was hard to envisage the place at the height of the season.

So checked in and waved Goodbye to Jeremy as he was staying in the next village, 40 km on.  The studio room was very well appointed, but I could already see why it was cheap ... everything around was closed.

New Guadari Hotel

The Studio room

Sleeping in the clouds.

For dinner, I did manage to find another hotel close by that was serving a buffet dinner to their hotel guests, and blagged my way into that.  Just paid the hotel staff £5 in their hand ... no questions.

And then no other options ... bed by 9pm to catch up on some sleep.  Russia tomorrow.