This leads (I have no idea how but it does) to my eating habits while on the road. My last 3 dinners have consisted of 1) a tin of sardines and a packet of strawberry biscuits 2) a cup of jasmine tea and an apple 3) a bag of almonds and a chocolate. I have no idea how this happened but I just don’t seem to get to a town where I can get food and am usually shatter so just crawl into the guest house and hide in my room. I’ve managed to have the odd omelette or hamburger patty with mash potato for lunch at the dinners, however just occasionally. It seems that while riding on my own eating has not been a priority and it just doesn’t happen as I am just not conscientious enough. However now that the cash flow is an issue I am worried about feeding myself. I have no idea how I get myself into this mess as I never seem to carry enough cash, or when I do it’s in dollars. Ah well let’s see what tomorrow holds, time for bed…

So up early and I hit the cash machine, VOILA MONEY WOOHOO you cannot even image what a relief this is so it wasn’t my card but the ATMs for the last 500kms have been off line, not that there are many of them in Siberia. Now the problem is the machine spits out a single 5000 rouble note. In Russia the shops, including the hardware shop that runs the guesthouse, only open at 10am. The night watchman opened the gate to let me take my bike out and I did not see another soul and he mimed I need to wait until the hardware shop opens if I want to see the lady owner. Hmmm it’s now 7:45 I cannot get change for the 5000 note and I cannot wait until 10am I need to leave I have 758km to ride if I want to get to Chita. SO guilt ridden and doing a runner I hop on the Dizzy and head out of this one goat town.

I actually met the goat she kept me company while I packed up my bike and then ate all my almonds. She then stood on her hind legs putting her front legs on my stomach looked me in the eye and said “are you sure those are all your almonds lady” OK I haven’t quite lost it she didn’t talk but I can tell you that was the exact expression on her face. I polity told her I had no almonds and before she got angry rode away.

On the road I bumped into a German couple doing a 2 month trip from Germany to Vladivostok. It’s incredible how much seeing another biker on an adventure lifts ones spirits. 758km I arrive in Chita and decide I need a nice hotel for the night, what a mistake. After they checked me in and took my CC payment and sent me to my room they called me back to discuss my passport. All hotels photocopy your Russian visa and I really had a hard time trying to persuade them that yes although my visa had expired it was not my fault as my bike broke down. I literally had to beg almost on my knees. The lady was quite nice (maybe she wasn’t Russian) and EVENTUALLY said OK as long as I am out by 8am PHEW

I am now panicked that I must avoid big cities and hotels until I get to the border. So either it’s camping or flea bitten beds in one goat towns… well I made my bed I guess I have to sleep in it now

One goat town

beautiful Siberia

one goat

There are a few things that kept me interested and wake on the M59 besides truck drivers, the scenery and bumping into the reindeer herders, the chipmunks. These little guys run across the road often stopping half way, turn around and run back. I love seeing them as they are quite cute and more of them seem to have come out after the rain. I could however not really figure out what they were up to i.e. why did the chipmunk cross the road? Soon I began to figure it out… chipmunk Russian roulette that is the only explanation, I’m not joking what else could it be. They could be suicidal chipmunks but there are too many for that and I find it hard to believe that life in beautiful Siberia would lead so many chipmunks to try top themselves. I think that if I looked hard enough in the bushes every time I missed one of the little buggers running across the road I’d see a whole bunch of them with mini chipmunk roubles betting on the outcome. Well I’m glad to say I never squished one 🙂

The one thing I am really finding is that Russia is a whole lot more expensive than expected. The minute you walk into a guest house the price triples. Now I know that this happens everywhere, but although a small increase in price for tourists is expected in Russia it states to take on the ridiculous. After leaving Yakutsk with 6000 roubles (about 150 USD)   I thought I’d be fine until the next big town, I could however not find a working ATM in Tynda so not too worried as I also had dollar son me I head off again to Chita roughly just over 1000km away. The first part of the road about 250km is the usual M56 bad dirt road with friendly people who assure m I am on the right road (the GPS isn’t working and the map got soaked so is almost illegible and of course the FEW road signs are in Russian, so navigating is not easy, hence the reason ). Well eventually the M56 turns into the M58 and it’s a beautiful smooth (yup no potholes this is like the Ritz of roads) tarmac highway. I am in heaven and just let the Dizzy go and WOW the sun starts shining this is going to be a glorious day.

Well the interesting thing about this road is that the odd (very few) dinners have very few people in them and the owners are not friendly and the road does not go through any towns you must turn off about 2 to 3 km to get to a town and the people are not very friendly either. I found this so strange. I also could not find a working ATM I am convinced this is not my card as I have 3 and none of them are working and I know I have money in them. I fill up use my second last 500roubles to do so and my lat 500rooubles to get a room in yet another flea bitten place. I have managed to persuade the not so nice of an owner that I will get to the ATM tomorrow and get her the rest of her money as she won’t take dollars. What is interesting is that the room was originally 500roubles, but once I actually pulled out the money the price went to 700 but I’m desperate, and 200 short.

I know the tiny bank won’t exchange dollars or give me money out of my visa as I already tried but fortunately they closed just as I was walking out so the guest house owner has no clue I was there already. I just hope I can get money out tomorrow or I am seriously up shits creek. The owner is the least of my problem what worries me is getting gas to get me to a big enough town with a decent bank.

chipmunk (pic stolen off the net)

As I sit here (on my bed bug infested bed in a dive of a guesthouse) writing this post the stench from my bike boots is almost unbearable (you’d think I’d be used to it by now) I’ve put them in the window but it’s not helping. I’ve also noted that my feet are almost rotting (ok this is an exaggeration but they are NOT in a good state) DAMN I need to get out of this wet country and back to warm and dry Kazakhstan. Also because the stress of being caught by the police is starting to get to me.

Every time I see a cop or a guest house owner asks for my passport I panic as my visa ran out about 3 weeks ago. Well the thing is it was a choice of riding quickly from Mongolia through Russia (on my transit visa) to Kazakhstan or doing the BAM….erm not a choice the BAM was calling like a drug and like an addict I totally ignored my better judgment and the law and stayed in Russia.

So now I am basically just trying to get out of Russia as quickly as possible but that is easier said than done. The M56 is long and tedious and bad and I hate it more than one could possibly hate a road. I am also getting used to riding with heavy panniers again and alone. Every time I look ahead or in the mirrors I expect to see the other bikes as then get a really sad feeling when they are not there. Ah well I wanted to do this on my own ‘so buck girl and get on with it’

The good thing about riding alone is that it’s just you and your bike and you ride according to your own timetable. The other good thing is that you get to meet the locals and experience more. Each time I stopped on the side of the road at least one truck driver would either stop or ask if I was ok, or slow down put a hand out in an ”are you alright” gesture. I’d give them the thumbs up they’d give me one back and voila you are not really alone.

Over my 2.5 day ride from Yakutsk to Tynda I kept bumping into the same truck driver, Serge (spl?) He was really friendly and at one point gave a lift to an English speaking Russian woman. We all happened to stop at the same diner for a snack and had a few minute chat. The woman explained that her car had died and Serge was giving her a lift back to her town about 3 towns before his trucking trip ended. Serge did not speak a word of English but asked me to meet him for coffee later on the road. I said thanks but no thanks, time to move on deadline what not etc… well after 10 min of this miming act with him giving me explicit instructions of which dinner to meet at I just said No problem mate whatever you say da da (yes yes)

Now I must say (before you all panic) these diners are on the road and full of people and Serge was just genuinely concerned for my safety riding alone on the road (or so the English speaking Russian woman explained) It was all very nice but I seriously had no clue where he wanted to meet me and really didn’t have time or much interest in having another miming conversation (they get SERIOUSLY tiring after awhile and we’ve all had many of them while on the trip) so needless to say I stood poor Serge up and high tailed it to Tynda not stopping in the hope that he would not catch up with me again. It was actually a hell of a last day I did 450km in 12 hours about 10 actually riding. It rained and I mean torrential downpour with almost –ve visibility. I was cold and wet and just desperate to get off the road but had to make it to Tynda and guess I was doing no more than 40km an hour max uugghhh what a day I hope I don’t have any more of them

The M56 yes it’s a highway

Since I had gotten so confused about my days it seems like my planned day to get things for the bike and go to the post office was a Sunday. This meant I had to do these things on Monday before I left. So quickly after the post office I went to the area where all the mechanic and trucker shops were to try find a spanner (I had lost my wheel spanner, a damn important tool) the bolts to fit my pannier (they had vibrated off on the BAM) A couple of shop owners just said no, others very carefully measured the bolt and then said no. I was panicking a bit and went to the same shop where I had got some cable ties. They guy studied the bolt mimed wait a minute and went to the back for ages. I could hear him scrabbling around what sounded like a huge box of steel bits. He came back and presented me with 2 bolts and a frown indicating that they might fit but he was not sure. I took them outside and voila perfect, I had my bolt and a spare. I asked him ‘skolka’ how much and he just smiled and said nieto. He was also the guy who had just given me a bunch of cable ties a couple of days before. Yet another example of how nice and helpful the Siberian Russians are. If only he knew just how important it was too have those bolts and how grateful I was.

Needless to say all this plus changing my tire and fixing my panniers and packing my bike took me until 2:45pm DAMN and I wanted to leave at 12. I decided that I still needed to push on as the hotel I was in was expensive and I am now on a TIGHT budget. I rode down to the ferry and had to wait 45 min for it and it takes an hour so I only got to the other side at 5pm. I happened to meet another 2 friendly Russians on the ferry and they told me that there is no way I’d get to Tommot before it was dark and suggested a town I could stay in as they ‘thought’ it had a hotel.

So off I set on the M56. Oh yes on the map the M56 is a highway well we had quite a laugh at that because this has got to be one of the worst dirt road ’highways’ ever mapped. Anyway I get to the town Natasha suggested and WOW talk about a one horse dive, but I am getting used to these little ugly towns with no redeeming features except the people. I stop at the shop and ask for a guesthouse and get told there isn’t one. It’s now 7:30 and ultimate deadline (I aim to stop at 5:30 when on my own) for stopping so panic that I will have to continue till quite late to get away from the towns and to a secluded campsite.

little flat offered to me by a Russina local so nice

Zurich to Yakutsk 17000kms in 64 days

One of the problems with being on the road is you totally lose track of time and days. So besides waking my friend Paul up at 4am when calling him because I lost track of the time zones. I have now had a big argument with the hotel because they called me to say I was supposed to leave today and I said no that’s tomorrow I’ve already paid. Anyway we sat down and worked out the dates OUCH how embarrassing but I’ve just lost a day somewhere. Oh dear but that’s life on the road so I paid for another night and will head off early tomorrow and get back on the road 🙂

Yakutsk has been good to me a nice rest and some very friendly helpful people who welded the pannier on my bike and gave me cable ties for nothing THANKS

The Boss “do you know you’re off track” – Jeff

The owner of KUDU and expedition mechanic

Ginger Hunk “I hope no one gets BAMaged’- Gareth

Gareth coined the term BAMtastic as well as many others 🙂

What can I say about Gareth, he is all kinds of awesome in every way, I just wish I were 10 years younger.

Our Muslim with an AK “it’s no problem” – Khairul

Our Malaysian contingent, we hardly ever saw Khairul without a Camera in his hand. I grew very fond of Khairul on the trip and am looking forward to seeing him and his fantastic wife in Malaysia in November

The man on a perpetual quest to keep his boots dry “hello beautiful”- Cesar

The Mexican property developer Cesar and my big brother on the trip, Great great guy

Always there when you need him – Neil

Jeffs right hand man and the KUDU medic and guide

Don’t let him fix your bike – Phil

It took me a little time to warm to Phil after he broke my bike and did not even offer to pay for the damage,

but his heart is in the right place and he turned out to be a very a nice guy.

Hats off to him doing the BAM at 72 WOW what an achievement

Always positive – Craig

I’ve never met an Australian that I didn’t like but I truly think Craig is one of the best

So finally the rail bridges are behind us and we ride the last bit of the BAM top Tynda. We did it WOW what a challenge and an amazing and difficult experience. Without this particular group I think the whole trip would have been very different. We relay stuck together helping each other through thick and thin and keeping the motivation up. The final part of the BAM was a 350km ride in the pouring rain. It was crazy and about 10 times during that day I thought about digging a hole and going to sleep in it. We were shattered and cold and wet and sick of the BAM and just wanted the day to end and of course it felt like the longest day ever. Getting to bed at 1am after dinner and a hot shower did make me feel a whole lot better though.

But the next day was a very sad day for me. I woke to the news that my closest friend had passed away after losing her battle with Cancer. I was devastated and tried very hard and unsuccessfully to just get on with the day but it’s harder to ride while crying than one thinks so I hated that day. We also said goodbye to Cesar in Tynda which was another sad event as he is one of the best guys I have ever made friends with and like a big brother to me.

So off we headed to Yakutsk 1000km away. 350km later we stopped and camped for a final time as a group. The next day saw us on the M59 for 650km a KILLER and absolute killer we got on the road at 7am had a couple of very very short stops for lunch, to get some water, a couple of pee breaks (I’ve never peed so quick in my life but we really were pushed for time) and a front tyre puncture. We really pushed it that day and after 16 hours finally got into Yakutsk. This is where we (Phil also ended his trip here) said goodbye to the other guys. I was so down at this point after the news about Angie, saying goodbye to Cesar ending the Russian part of the KUDE expedition and now having to say goodbye to the rest of the team. I just cried and cried and fortunately Gareth has big shoulders and let me use them to cry on he is a great great friend and I miss so very much.

The guys will continent to Magadan and do the Road of bones I am GUTTED that I cannot join them however have 35days to get myself through Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to China. If I did go to Magadan I would only have 25. If I pushed up to 600km a day I would make it but pragmatism prevails and I realise that I am dead tired and if I did that would burn out and not make it. If I was not travelling for the next 4 months nothing would have stopped me getting got Magadan but my expedition is not a 2 month London to Magadan expedition like the others it but a 6 month Zurich to Singapore via Siberia expedition and I want to succeed.

So that is it no Road of Bones but jeez after doing a 9 day BAM huh can’t be bothered with a 2 day road of bones J I will take 3 days to rest, clean my gear and repack by stuff plus fix a few things on my bike including a broken pannier rack and then head off South on the Solo part of my trip.

After riding some great tracks on the BAM we arrive at bridge number 3 and it’s huge. I just cannot imagine trying to get the 4×4 over the monster. However this one is different as there is a security guard posted on the bridge to stop stupid people trying to cross it. FORTUNALTY he tells us we can take the bikes across and then go into town to the rail office in the morning and ask the chief about the 4×4. So we Craig and I head off at 6am (over 4 more little bridges, DMAN I hate these things) and go chat to the chief. To cut a long story short he gives us permission to cross the bridge at 6pm.

I honestly could not believe he did this and he was such a nice man. This is no joke nowhere else in the world would they close a bridge stop the trains running to let a bunch of idiotic tourists ride a 4×4 across the rail bridge. The bottom line is he understood that although we are idiotic tourists we are good people on a London to Magadan expedition and if he stopped us that would be it trip over.

So here we wait until 6 and I’m taking the opportunity to write this post and will publish it when I can.

So after spending a day in Kunda and getting the bikes and 4×4 off the train at Chara at midnight we head off to find a quick campsite but decided to stay in a trucker stop, were totally taken advantage of with the price but were desperately to just get some shut eye. The next morning bright and early we continued our  BAM saga.

The rain was just relentless and road as bad as ever. Gareth had a bad fall and hurt his foot but fortunately this was the only accident on the BAM. We were all tired and it seemed like we had reached the end of our tether and a balk mood seemed to have descended on our happy little band. So we decided to call it a day and setup camp. Cesar found an amazing little spot in the woods and after a good meal and nights sleep we were back on track. The sun even came out for us and you just would not believe the difference that made. It seems like the sun comes out on our worst day and this is very fortune considering this way was the day we needed to get the bikes and 4×4 over the rail bridges.

OMG not only do the rail bridges scram the bejeebers out of me but now we had to wait for a train to go past get the 4×4 on the tracks and over the bridge before another came. I seriously couldn’t watch, and fortunately Gareth had got a flat tire on a recon mission so I went to off to take him the tire levers and spare tube and fortunately did not need to get involved in the first 4×4 rail crossing.

I wasn’t so lucky the next time around. The bikes went over the bridge first and I fell just at the end and just screamed like a wussy girl to Gareth to get the bike off me because my foot was trapped under it and I was lying at an angle and could not get it off. But basically I just panicked because I was on the rail bridge and had vision of a train taking my head off. Once on the other side I just watched with baited breath as the guys helped Jeff get the 4xr on the tracks and over the bridge it’s a heart stopping experience, 2 down and 2 to go.

I have to admit that my first few encounters with Russian people on the west side of Russia (ESPECIALLY the border customs officers and police) did not give me a good opinion of Russians at all. I found most of them to be quite unfriendly (I must say not all but most), unhelpful and some just rude. I had heard great reports on the people in Russia so found this strange and a little sad.  After crossing into Russia on the east side and finding the border officials pleasant things just got better. Russians on the east side of Russia are so different to those on the west it’s amazing they are really friendly and helpful. I think the people in Siberia should be called Siberians and not Russians so everyone knows they are different. One of the most pleasant and interesting experiences we had on the trip was the Russian hospitality experienced in Kaunda. This was so unexpected and so generous I find it hard to believe there are any people anywhere as generous as the families we met in Kaunda.

So how this all started is with the rail guard I mentioned before who would not let us cross the rail bridge. So back in Kaunda we spent the day in the train station while Jeff tried to arrange a train platform to take the bikes and 4×4 across the river to the next town. Quite a difficult task when none of us speak Russian. Anyway we were told to come back tomorrow and it would be sorted and we could leave at 12. So we settle in resigned to spending the night in the train station. Since it mine and Khairuls tern to cook we head outside and make the evening meal. This lady turns up and tried to explain by means of hand signals that we can stay in her place. Maybe an hour alter and with help from some other locals who speak broken English we figure out that this lady is offering us her new house – they will move in there in a  few weeks, it is empty but DRY 🙂

We cannot believe our luck a ROOF over our heads for the night WOW to us this was like finding the Ritz in the middle of the Amazon. It’s amazing how little things like this just makes ones day when you are wet and miserable. Lida and Dimi (Lidas husband Demitri) turn out to the nicest kindest friendliest people you can imagine. They refused to take a single rouble in payment for offering us their house. Gave us some duvets etc to try and make us more comfortable on their floor kept on apologising for the lack of mattresses… JEEZ if only they knew how amazing having a room for the night was.

They offered us tea and dried fish a Russian snack it’s like fish biltong (jerky) very oily but actually very nice. They did accept a gift of tea and chocolate from us but that was all and took us to their house to show us their place, dog, bike (Dimi rides a big check off-road 500) , tank SERIOULYH he has a tank that he uses in winter and to go over the mountain to go finishing in. He is a jeweller and works from home so showed us his little work shop. It was great and really interesting to see their place and how they live and where they dry the fish (a tad on the smell y side) the time spent in Kaunda was just priceless.

We met an English speaking teacher Tanya who helped us a lot on that day before she left for her holiday. Then the next door neighbours son who also spoke some broken English turned out to be an angle when he helped Jeff on the second day go back to the train station to sort out the platform. The worst part of Russia is the beurocracy. The platform which is there at the station and would cost us 27000 roubles could not be paid for at the station but the money had to be deposited directly into the railway account but ONLY from another Russian federation bank account. SO we were stuck but to cut a long story short Leda came to the rescue again and used her account to transfer the money. What a burocratic saga.

Needless to say this meant we had to spend another day in Leda and Dimis house in Kuanda. We had no complains as we were dry but really itching to get back on the BAM and continue our trip.

The second night we stayed the next door neighbour Tatiana who is the local Dr and her sister who owns a little tea house in the village (there are only 200 people living in Kuanda) arranged a surprise dinner for us at the tea house. They laid on a spread brought out the best china and fed us true homemade Russian borsch (meat soup) YUM it was yet another show of just how hospitable the Russians can be. Before we left Tatiana gave me a traditional Russian doll which I wrapped up very safely and will post home as soon as I can so that it does not get broken. I was speechless what a lovely things to do for a total stranger. Tatiana and I did have some fun trying to communicate by way of dictionary and a good laugh when she warned me to tell Cesar not to drink the milk he was offered by a couple of Russians in the tea house as it would give him diarrhoea. The dictionary does not have this word in it so by way of gestures and fluid chair (the best words Tatiana could find to make me understand) we had a good laugh. This is one of those travel experiences that I will never forget.