Author: livinthedreamtoo

For those who don’t like to read….

<a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2abtXZ9lvxY&amp;feature=share”>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2abtXZ9lvxY&amp;feature=share</a&gt;

To recap, since arriving in Vladivostok I have ridden over 3,000 kilometres to Ulan-Ude

Over the last week I have ridden out to Lake Baikal and Olkhon Island

Which as you will see is absolutely spectactular.

For those who didn’t Google Lake Baikal here are a few facts;

Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 Million Years) and largest freshwater Lake (by volume) in the world, it holds around 20% of the worlds fresh water, it is also the world deepest Lake with a maximum depth of 1642 metres.   The Lake has around 2000 species of animals not found anywhere else including the Baikal Seal and the Omul fish which is smoked and sold in small roadside stalls around the lake.   In winter the lake freezes over with ice up to 2.5 metres thick and can be driven over by car.

Before leaving for Lake Baikal I had 3 days to see the sights of Ulan-Ude so I left the bike parked in the Hotel’s secure parking lot and toured on foot.

Some new building going on but a lot of the centre of the city has old Timber Buildings some are no longer used.

Not sure how they go with OH&S with that timber ladder?

One of my first stops was the Mongolian Embassy where it took me all of around 3 hours to get my Mongolian Visa approved and at $ 70 US it was less than half the cost than it would have been in Australia.

Hotel Buryatia, great rooms at a really good price and they organised to have the Bike secured in a parking lot around the back.

May the 9th is Victory Day in Russia where they celebrate Victory over the Germans in the Second World War, some other nations including Australia would go on to fight in the Pacific for another 5 months.   It is very similar to our ANZAC Day memorials with Military parades and people march with photos of relatives who were involved in the conflict, there was a large crowd turnout and it obviously means a lot to the people.

Every City seems to have a Lennin Square and Statue, this one boasts the largest Lennin’s Head in the world.

And they finish off the night with a Fireworks display.

With my 3 rest days over I headed west towards Lake Baikal and after 3 fine days it decided to dump down some rain and sleet on me.   So nothing left to do than ride on…..to the nearest Café with a heater.

After the rain stopped I headed back out where I ran into this couple from South Korea, they are headed west through Russia to Moscow and need to buy some warmer clothes along the way.

Lake Baikal is pretty much surrounded by Mountain Ranges particularly on the south and west shores, the temperature dropped again to around 3 degrees as I got closer to the ranges.

Unfortunately more Road works, not so bad but it turned into this further on where a Semi was bogged.

So as it got colder and darker I stumbled onto a Ski Lodge where the rooms were very cheap and the dinner of Fried Pork, Potatoes and Onions was delicious and I was the only one there.

Parked my Bike under the chairlift…..where else?

The following day the weather fined up and it hovered around 10 degrees which is good compared to what it has been.   So the highway headed back up into the Mountains towards Irkutsk (major City) which unfortunately I couldn’t avoid.   After dodging the traffic in Irkutsk I travelled back towards Lake Baikal where I stayed the night at Listvyanka which is a small tourist town…with not many tourists at the time I was there.

The following day I packed up and headed back again towards Irkutsk, unfortunately as hard as I tried there was no roads which lead directly form Listvyanka to Olkhon Island which would be my next destination.   After braving the Irkutsk traffic and road works for a second time I was finally on my way to Olkhon Island ( the largest Island in Lake Baikal).

I think this guy just drove through the Irkutsk traffic….

I arrived at the small village on the banks of the lake and waited for the ferry to take me to the Island.

Olkhon Island is a narrow Island which is around 72 kilometres long and has a single dirt road running from the Ferry to the only town situated about half way up.   This ‘road’ is a rutted mess and shakes you endlessly and as an added surprise has soft patches of sand to grab your front tyre if you are not concentrating so all along this ‘road are diversion tracks which run either side made by the locals so they don’t have to drive on the ruts, so ‘when in Rome’.   As I made my way towards the north of the Island I was met by some ‘not so happy’ National Park Rangers who told me that the National Park at the Northern end of the Island was closed and that I needed to turn around, which I did….until they passed me then I turned around again and headed north.   Just before the gates to the national Park I met up with Robin who had been on the island since the previous day so we looked for a place to camp….and we found this…..

The entire section of water between the Island and the western shore of Lake Baikal was still frozen which had its benefits…..

So what better place to pitch the tent than on the beach, not too sure about an afternoon swim though.

So as the sun went down it was time for a fire and some dinner, no better way to end the day.

And yes it was a cold night but I’m getting used to those now, but when you wake up to this it all seems to not matter..

Notice how much of the Ice had melted overnight, we were lucky to see this as it will be gone in a day or two.

So now it was time to explore the Island (without the National Park bit).

The riding was so much fun, the sandy tracks run off in different directions and you always get a surprise at the end of them, this place is spectacular and is one of the highlights of the trip……..so far.

So after a full day of riding around it was time to get back on the ferry and head back to the mainland, where after a few hours we found a nice campsite with our own horse.

The next day I made my way around to the Eastern shores of Lake Baikal to explore further.   As you can see it is flatter and less dramatic and even resembles some of the Bay Side beaches we have at home….without the Ice.

I stayed the night in a Guesthouse in Sukhaya.

Where I met this fantastic couple from Crimea who kindly invited me to join them for Barbequed Shasliks and Sausages.   We had a great night trying to understand each other and swapping photos of kids and home and eventually went off to sleep at around 1 a.m. This kind of generosity and hospitality has been very common from the Russian people and they can’t seem to do enough to please you, more about this later in ‘thoughts on Russia’.

So the next day I headed further up the East coast only to find sleepy little towns and villages with not much happening, I suppose it is the ‘Shoulder Season’.   The busy times around the Lake are during Winter when there is snow and Summer when the lake is warm enough (and not frozen) to swim.    So I headed back towards Ulan-Ude to prepare to cross the border into Mongolia.

Small road side cemetery very colourfully decorated and a derelict factory on the way back to Ulan-Ude.

So I’ve spent to last day and a half here in Ulan-Ude getting organised to leave my third country and enter my fourth.   Laundry is done, bike maintenance is done, this blog is done and I’m ready to go, although it is now 8.50 a.m. Thursday morning and the clouds are gathering outside my window, I’m hoping I don’t have to leave Ulan-Ude in the rain….again.

Thoughts on Russia;

Firstly do not believe what you have been told about Russia (mainly by the media) the country here is Siberia is vast and absolutely stunning, yes its cold and can be difficult but that is what makes it interesting.   The cities and towns were a bit of a surprise when I first arrived, particularly the larger cities like Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Chita and Ulan-Ude all need Infrastructure upgrades and I suspect they have seen better times.   I don’t mean that these places should be turned into western cities but the buildings, architecture and character of them would benefit from some rejuvenation.

The roads can be dangerous and again are in need of serious repairs but they are really no worse than those we have at home and particularly when you get used of the driving habits here you can easily and safely get around, in some ways its safer than home as you don’t have erratic Marsupials and large birds trying to kill you when you are riding.

I have found it very safe to travel and camp providing you take care as you would in any other parts of the world, I have had no issues while camping and have felt completely safe, again with no snakes and spiders around also helps.

The people have been extremely friendly and helpful and can’t do enough to help, I have lost count of how many people have approached me along the way asking about the bike, showing me photos of their bikes, kids and their homes and they genuinely want you to have a great experience in their country.   I have enjoyed my time in Siberia and I would love to return and travel on the Trans Siberian Railway from Moscow to Vladivostok as that would be an experience (when I’m too old to ride).   The only things that could have improved my trip here is the complexity of the Russian Visa system as I would love to be able to spend more time here or ride back into Western Russia and I really wish I could speak Russian as it would have been so much better to communicate in the local language, maybe to go on the to do list.

Ok that’s it from Siberia, I’ll see you in Mongolia.

We rode out of Khabarovsk on Monday the 1st of May, my 50th Birthday and the whole town came out to celebrate.

Not really it was the Mayday Parade an annual Celebration in Russia.

We fuelled up at a Petrol Station on the outskirts of town and I left Robin behind (he will catch up with me later)

I punched the next major town of Chita into my GPS it promptly told me to turn left in 2039 Kilometres……..

West of Khabarovsk the traffic is a little lighter and today the sun was out, a few hours down the road I was basking in 21 degree sunshine

As it was my birthday I found a crystal clear lake to have a break and enjoy some Russian Chocolate.

So far the Russian people have been very friendly and always want to do anything to help, I met this crazy guy who was amazed when I told him I was from Australia, within minutes selfies and Facebook friend requests were done and off he rode flat out up the Highway.

I had seen this town on the map earlier in the day and I was sniggering to myself all day until I got there, you see in English the town is called Progress and I have waited all day to say “I finally made Progress”.   I know small things amuse small minds……

With daylight running out it was time to find somewhere to sleep, I thought about booking the next Hotel that came by but this was what was left of the nearest Hotel, something tells me its been like this for some time.

So a slight detour off the Highway and this is where I ended up and the Sunset was spectacular.

So Melbourne has nothing on this place as the following day started out at 2 degrees and rose to a stifling 6 degrees.   As I climbed higher the air got colder down again to around 3 degrees then the sleet came and it made the riding a little tricky.

So just west of the tiny town of Hebep I started looking for somewhere to camp, this mainly involves taking a small side road off the Highway then a smaller track off this until you find a quiet area to set up before it gets dark.  This gets difficult when the roads are laid over permafrost (permanently frozen ground) as they are in Siberia because a heavy bike sinks quickly and is a nightmare to turn around if you need to.   This one was good and I ended up at the ruins of an old town and a few hours later Robin caught up so we got a fire going and it was a good, but cold night.

The following day (Wednesday) Robin got an early start as I would later catch him down the Highway and the weather was cold again around 5 degrees most of the day.

After a long day on the road I stopped at Chernyshevsk to wait for Robin and look for something for dinner and possibly somewhere to stay as the weather was looking nasty again.   I had ridden out of the Pine forests into bald hills where the wind was at its worst so I stopped at a roadside Café then the rain came down.   After unsuccessfully finding any accommodation I headed west out of town to find a place out of the wind to camp (although Robin found a hotel in the town later).   I finally saw a sign to a Hostel so I turned off the Highway and headed towards Nerchinsk and it looked like someone had torn up the road.

And to make matters worse the Hostel was no longer operational.

So with the wind doing it’s thing and darkness quickly approaching I rode around the back of the hostel near the River and quickly set up the Tent, I had had dinner so I could easily spend the night here and head off early the next morning.

Well during the night the wind whipped up again and what I thought was heavy rain  pounded the tent until lunchtime the following day when I got a chance to stick my head outside to find this.

So with a few minutes to get out and do ‘some things’ the wind and sleet started again, this was not the pretty snowflakes drifting down to earth either the sleet hit your face (and other body parts) like ground up glass and I could see the single dirt track I had come in on and it was covered in snow so it looked like I was staying another night.

The following morning I could here a Grader clearing the track along with the noises my stomach was making after around 40 hours with no food (I have to learn to keep emergency supplies).   After what seemed like hours trying to get my fingers working enough to pack up the tent I gingerly rode out onto the track, my temp gauge on the bike was showing -2 degrees and the Ice Warning light was flashing madly but the scenery was spectacular.

So first stop was a café to get some warm breakfast and now I had phone coverage I could answer the messages from Robin and Kinga who thought I had disappeared.

And some more riding in the cold (max 3 degrees)

Until I was caught up in a traffic jamb from an earlier car accident, they have a rule here where they can’t move the cars until the Police turn up, then when they arrive they take a million photos and videos and painstakingly measure the scene while I sit teeth chattering in a line of traffic that could have easily fit around them…..

Robin had caught up to me here and we made a few more rest stops to warm up (and see the café dogs)

We stopped for lunch at another Roadside Café and this nice Russian lady and her daughters helped me order Lunch (she could speak some English) and the lunch was good.

Later in the day after a short supply stop and dodging angry dogs in Chita we found this great Camp Site beside the River where it was the coldest night yet, my Water Bottle completely froze, and it was inside my tent……

After a very very slow morning we packed up and headed off at around 10 a.m. when the temperature on my bike flashed 1 degree again.   Later though I did see my first partially frozen Lake.

Then a few hours later I saw my second partially frozen lake, what’s the chances of that….well pretty bloody good around here at this time of the year.

And another café dog, he wanted to come along with us though.

Now I don’t normally photograph my food but this is the first time I’ve had Borscht (Soup with ? meat and Vegies) and when you are cold this does the trick.

And I thought this was an Aussie thing, seems like the Russians like to make useless things from old tyres too?

So later in the evening we were riding around trying to find a place to camp when we made some new Russian friends.

They were very nice blokes and wanted us to camp with them and have ‘just one’ Vodka.   We were on a tight schedule to make Ulan Ude the following morning and armed with the knowledge that a couple of the guys had started Vodka with breakfast and Russians don’t understand ‘just one’ we politely said nyet and retreated back to the highway where we found this camp as darkness was falling.

The following day Robin went back to the River where we met the Russians to look for his phone he had lost the night before, no luck though so it looks like a new phone.

Then it was an easy ride into Ulan Ude under clear blue skies and…get this 19 degrees.

Next update from Lake Baikal (Google it you won’t be sorry)

After around 24 hours on the Ferry we arrived straight into a dreary, cold and grey Vladivostok afternoon.   

Once through Customs and Imigration we were met by Yuri and Svetlana from Links Ltd, our Russian Shipping Agents who handed us a mountain of Russian paperwork requiring signatures, thank god they were there as this would have been a nightmare to do by yourself.   Shortly after we headed off in their van to purchase some Russian SIM cards for our phones which is significantly cheaper than international roaming, Svetlana set both our phones up and we could communicate again.   I was then dropped off at the hotel I had booked which looked nothing like the photos on Wotif but it was a warm and dry place to wait for our bikes to clear Customs the following day.

At 9.30 the next day Yuri picked me up from the hotel and we all (Kinga and a Japanese couple) were taken out for breakfast and a quick tour around Vladivostok.   

After lunch we all met up again at the port to collect our bikes, this Japanese couple are planning on putting their 50cc Scooters on the Trans Siberian Railway and taking them to Moscow where they will then ride around Northern Europe, and people said I was crazy…..

So here we collected our bikes from the Port, then it was off into the Russian traffic to orientate ourselves.

After a few hours getting lost on the streets on Vladivostok Robin and I returned to our Hotel where we stored the bikes for the night as far out of site as we could.

Then it was off for a walk to a local restaurant for dinner.

This was our view over Amur Bay from our Hotel room.

And the next morning as Robin and I prepared to head north.

Kinga was going to join us but her riding gear was not loaded with her bike when it was originally sent to South Korea and it still had not yet arrived in Vladivostok, she would no doubt catch us along the Trans Siberian Highway at some point as it is THE only Highway through Siberia.   

So we headed off into a cold overcast morning back towards Russkiy Island to get some video (where we rode to yesterday) then  It was onto the Highway destined for Khabarovsk, the next major city around 760 kilometres north of Vladivostok and this is what we saw along the way;

Siberian Fast Food, Shaslik shop but he wasn’t open, dam, so we found our first Camp site along a dirt road just off the Highway.

Well it was very cold that night (0 degrees) and it rained heavily all night, so the dirt road we came in on turned to this.

But we made it back to the Highway without any falling off.

Then it was heads down into the cold and rain for another day on the Trans Siberian Highway.

After another camp, this time not as cold and only a little rain.

We rolled into Khabarovsk again in the rain and found a great little Hostel called the Kakadu Hostel (just couldn’t resist) and these kids thought our bikes were cool.

So after securing the bikes in a locked Garage nearby we went off for a great meal, finally got those Shasliks and they were great then sleep.   The following day (today) was a walking tour of Khabarovsk;

So travelling on the Trans Siberian Highway has been interesting so far, the drivers are ok but the centre line is optional and they will often pass at the wrong time even trucks and buses and you either slow or pull to the right so they can get past, once you know about it you can prepare in advance.   Roadworthy is not part of the Russian vocabulary as most vehicles are in poor condition and some of the trucks only travel at 40 or 50 KPH on the Highway which causes massive traffic jambs until everyone just pulls out to pass all at once, the Highway speed limit is 100 but again that is optional for some drivers.   Warnings for roadworks is also non existent you will just turn a bend and they will be right there fixing the road, we rode through a long stretch yesterday where it was just 3 or 4 inch deep mud and slush, no signs or Stop Go lights or people you just make your own track and make sure someone coming the other way sees you, I found it easier to ride in the truck ruts as it was stable and not as slippery but my bike is now a grey mud colour instead of red.

The weather has been cold 8 or 9 during the day and 0 overnight and we have had some rain as you would expect for early Spring but it’s not that bad if you are prepared for it and travel to suit the conditions, we have just learned that tomorrow (April 30) will be 6 degrees and rain all day, we have booked another night at the Kakadu…….

Ok so this first post will be a little soft and touristy as I promised my daughter Sarah that we would have a look around Japan while my bike makes its way over the ocean to South Korea, sorry no bikes yet but I promise there will be trains, more trains and a lot of people.

So after a little more than 12 hours flying and sitting around in airports we landed in Tokyo pretty much sideways due to bad weather, then had to wait another hour on the runway for a spot to park.   So after running the maze at Narita airport for a while we finally found the train to the centre of the city, took awhile when you don’t understand the language but most signs are also in English.   Once in the city though it was a free for all trying to get to Nakano where the hotel was, the trains are great but it’s fair to say a little crowded, we went from this,

To this;

But we eventually found where we were going, and you can’t complain when you have a view like this and a massage chair like this.

So the rest of Tokyo looked like this;

Then it was on a Bullet Train bound for Osaka.

Tokyo was busy and Osaka wasn’t much quieter, after finding the hotel I went for a walk to see Osaka Castle, very touristy but at the moment I’m a tourist so it’s all ok.

And these are the arty versions with a filter added.

Found this place called the Umeda Sky Deck, again very touristy and not cheap at 1000 yen ($12aud) but the view was too good to refuse.

The following day what else but a ride on a Ferris wheel on top of a 5 story shopping centre.

And another one of these to Hiroshima

Well Hiroshima is a beautiful city, well laid out and relatively easy to get around and these things may be familiar to people from Melbourne.

I had to walk up to the Hiroshima Peace Park which is part of the memorial to the many lives lost when the first Atomic Bomb was dropped here in 1945.   The Bomb detonated around 600 metres above the Hiroshima Industrial Promotion House (Domed building below), it flattened the entire city but left this part of the structure remaining.

The American Pilots used this Bridge which is shaped like a T to pin point their target and it ended up very close to the mark.

Some more images of the Peace Park.

The following day we travelled out to Okunoshima Island which is off the coast of Hiroshima.  

And on this Island we found hundreds of these.

Oh and in amongst all the fluffy Bunnies there was the ruins of a Poison Gas Plant used by the Japanese during World War 2.

Except for that it was a buetiful little Island with small white beachs and hardly any tourists but as the day went on the weather closed in and even though it rained heavily it really set the scene.  

In fact it rained all the way back to Hiroshima and most of the night.

What a great day ( no sarcasm intended)

So today (Tuesday) it was back on another Bullet Train destined for Fukuoka, this is where I will board a Ferry to Busan in South Korea to pick up my motorcycle and Sarah will fly home, we are both getting used to getting around here now.

Thoughts on Japan;

Firstly we didn’t really have enough time here to make too many detailed conclusions but the country is beautiful with a lot of history, the south (we didn’t go north of Tokyo) is slightly more mountainous and the Bullet Train zips in and out of tunnels before you can get a shot of the villages hidden between, it is very easy to get around once you figure out how to use the Trains and pick up a few words of Japanese which can take some time.   

It is clearly a very industrious nation as there are factories and retail centres everywhere and coming from Australia the one thing that stood out was when you leave one city there is industry of some type all the way to the next, no open farms or empty paddocks like we see at home, every inch is being used.

The cost of travelling here is on a par with Australia and it can be expensive if you don’t stick to a budget, food can be difficult for the fussy or those with different diets but what really made it for me was the people, they are extreamely polite and helpful, reserved and well mannered and they appear to do every job as if they owned it from the rubbish collectors to the business people, we could learn a few lessons here.