Stage Tour II: from Cypres to Volgograd - Entries for: Russia
19° | cloudy | km 120
Привет! (Privet!)
on 2013-04-10 in Russia
After the stormy night we arrived on a beautiful morning. The smell of puke and sweat was all over the ferry and it looked like it some terrible disaster had happened. The toilets were clogged everything was filthy we joked that they probably had to sink the whole ship in order to clean it.
Full of anticipation we went down to our bikes to get on with our journey. Before we would finally get to Russian soil our patience was tested once more. We were not allowed to leave the boat until the last one of the Turkish passengers left. After a short, superficial inspection of our bikes we were eventually allowed to get our passports stamped or so we thought...
Once we managed to inform the very helpful Russian officer that we were planning to leave our bikes in Russia for a half year, they politely declined our wishes. They told us our bikes could only stay for as long as we were allowed to. This was for about 2 weeks... As it turned out, our great idea to go around the world in stages was not so great after all. We ran through all the remaining possibilities. Even rushing home from Russia to Germany in 4 days was brought up as an option. Luckily the border officials recognized our predicament and allowed us to leave our bikes for three months in Russia. To be honest we believe they just wanted to get rid of us since we had been at their border for almost 4 hours by now. There was nobody else left as well. We decided to continue our journey and not ride back as quickly as possible. We would have to get back to Russia for the next stage in 3 months. So we had to get a vacation soon again, which would be tough, but for now we decided to enjoy the remaining days of our tour.
So we headed out of the harbor and into what would be the first couple of kilometers of Russian roads. After just 5 minutes we knew what we had to expect for the rest of the journey. Three small gray bricks served as a warning of an open manhole, the traffic was chaotic, aggressive and jammed. We were still happy to have made it to Russia.
Full of anticipation we went down to our bikes to get on with our journey. Before we would finally get to Russian soil our patience was tested once more. We were not allowed to leave the boat until the last one of the Turkish passengers left. After a short, superficial inspection of our bikes we were eventually allowed to get our passports stamped or so we thought...
Once we managed to inform the very helpful Russian officer that we were planning to leave our bikes in Russia for a half year, they politely declined our wishes. They told us our bikes could only stay for as long as we were allowed to. This was for about 2 weeks... As it turned out, our great idea to go around the world in stages was not so great after all. We ran through all the remaining possibilities. Even rushing home from Russia to Germany in 4 days was brought up as an option. Luckily the border officials recognized our predicament and allowed us to leave our bikes for three months in Russia. To be honest we believe they just wanted to get rid of us since we had been at their border for almost 4 hours by now. There was nobody else left as well. We decided to continue our journey and not ride back as quickly as possible. We would have to get back to Russia for the next stage in 3 months. So we had to get a vacation soon again, which would be tough, but for now we decided to enjoy the remaining days of our tour.
So we headed out of the harbor and into what would be the first couple of kilometers of Russian roads. After just 5 minutes we knew what we had to expect for the rest of the journey. Three small gray bricks served as a warning of an open manhole, the traffic was chaotic, aggressive and jammed. We were still happy to have made it to Russia.
15° | cloudy and rainy | km 413
To the horizon and beyond...
on 2013-04-11 in Russia
It turned out we had stayed the night in another transient hotel... The owner was incredibly friendly and after we had said our goodbyes we went on our ways to Volgograd.
We experienced distances we had never experienced before. Nothing but grass left and right! And in the middle a stretch of dead straight tarmac. If the earth was not round we would have probably been able to see Volgograd from Maykop already. After some time it appeared like you were riding via autopilot. Your right hand becomes this immovable for that is not allowed to change its position for hours. The main concern was to not hit any big potholes and try to evade them as good as possible. Sometimes we were abruptly taken out of our trance by one of these said "potholes".
This day we experienced the sheer vastness of Russia and knew what it would be like riding there in the future.
We experienced distances we had never experienced before. Nothing but grass left and right! And in the middle a stretch of dead straight tarmac. If the earth was not round we would have probably been able to see Volgograd from Maykop already. After some time it appeared like you were riding via autopilot. Your right hand becomes this immovable for that is not allowed to change its position for hours. The main concern was to not hit any big potholes and try to evade them as good as possible. Sometimes we were abruptly taken out of our trance by one of these said "potholes".
This day we experienced the sheer vastness of Russia and knew what it would be like riding there in the future.
18° | sunny | km 615
Volgograd
on 2013-04-12 in Russia
It was the last time that we had to gear up our bikes for this journey. We could see on our navigators that it will be a dead straight for the next 600 kilometers until we arrive at our destination - Volgograd. So we saddled up charged out on the road and once we reached the right speed we glued the throttle on.
When we stop to fill up our bikes a very friendly gas station attendant tried to tell us something but we had our difficulties to understand what at first. After some time and with the help of pictures and google translate we started to understand that he was telling us about a very special Buddhist temple nearby. We were happy to take any distraction from the boring ride and so we decided to go to this temple right away. We arrived and were a little disappointed to say the least. But since we longed after a short break, we decided to check it out and take some pictures. We headed out just to find a much larger and more impressive temple on a hill in the middle of the next city. We realized that we had headed to the wrong temple but agreed that one temple a day is enough and that we had to get to Volgograd before the sun set.
Once we arrived in Volgograd we found a hotel that easily could have been the stage of a horror movie. We also seemed to be the only guests there which for the size of the hotel made us really curious.
But we had more important things planned for the night. It was Basti's birthday and so we decided to go out! What sounded easy proved to be a real challenge. We were not able to find any bars, restaurants or clubs anywhere and we realized 5 minutes before 12 that we would not find anything soon. Fabi and Denis congratulated Basti punctual at 12 o'clock and we took a picture to memorize this special day. To this day this picture will always remind us of the night we almost got lost in Volgograd in order to find a location for Basti's birthday.
When we stop to fill up our bikes a very friendly gas station attendant tried to tell us something but we had our difficulties to understand what at first. After some time and with the help of pictures and google translate we started to understand that he was telling us about a very special Buddhist temple nearby. We were happy to take any distraction from the boring ride and so we decided to go to this temple right away. We arrived and were a little disappointed to say the least. But since we longed after a short break, we decided to check it out and take some pictures. We headed out just to find a much larger and more impressive temple on a hill in the middle of the next city. We realized that we had headed to the wrong temple but agreed that one temple a day is enough and that we had to get to Volgograd before the sun set.
Once we arrived in Volgograd we found a hotel that easily could have been the stage of a horror movie. We also seemed to be the only guests there which for the size of the hotel made us really curious.
But we had more important things planned for the night. It was Basti's birthday and so we decided to go out! What sounded easy proved to be a real challenge. We were not able to find any bars, restaurants or clubs anywhere and we realized 5 minutes before 12 that we would not find anything soon. Fabi and Denis congratulated Basti punctual at 12 o'clock and we took a picture to memorize this special day. To this day this picture will always remind us of the night we almost got lost in Volgograd in order to find a location for Basti's birthday.
16° | cloudy | km 0
Sightseeing
on 2013-04-13 in Russia
Danis and Fabi had decorated Bastis bike for his birthday. After Basti had unwrapped his Africa Twin we left the hotel for the last trip to the garage for our bikes. The roads in Volgograd were the worst we had ever ridden on. Potholes everywhere!! The traffic was constantly shifting to try to avoid them so you had to stay extremely alert in order not to crash.
When we arrived a our destination, we where greeted by the Russian mother of a coworker of us. She was incredibly friendly and looked genuinely touched by our sight. She had a friend over that by his own definition was the "Master of Gas" in the city. The Mother spoke no English or German, but our new friend the "Gas Master" spoke at least very little German. Enough to make us understand that we had to drink some vodka with him. He explained to us after the second round that the common sign in Russia for "I had enough" was to turn the glass upside down after drinking. We all had enough after the second one so we did. Wich only led to the very practical knowledge that Russians are not hard set on their own rules ;). So he turned our glasses back around and made us finish his bottle with him. We later said no to his very friendly offer to take us somewhere in his car.
The mother meanwhile organised a tour of Volgograd with some friends of her. The young boys spoke English quite well and showed us around the city. The first destination was the 85 meters high "The Motherland Calls" statue. The whole city was filled with memorabilia of the second world war. We experienced the history told by the locals and the knowledge of our guides was impressive on the matter. After a couple more sights we got back to our bikes and made them ready for their 3 month long wait.
Our Russian Mother (from now on Babushka) made a large dinner for us three, one we could never have eaten by ourselves. Every time we thought we had eaten it all she already brought more to the table. The food was great and every time we tried to tell her that we were full we felt bad, because we were not sure if she understood we we wanted to stop. We later found out that German politeness (finishing the meal and eating everything of the plate) and Russian hospitality (an empty plate will always be refilled) would have led to an endless night.
When we arrived a our destination, we where greeted by the Russian mother of a coworker of us. She was incredibly friendly and looked genuinely touched by our sight. She had a friend over that by his own definition was the "Master of Gas" in the city. The Mother spoke no English or German, but our new friend the "Gas Master" spoke at least very little German. Enough to make us understand that we had to drink some vodka with him. He explained to us after the second round that the common sign in Russia for "I had enough" was to turn the glass upside down after drinking. We all had enough after the second one so we did. Wich only led to the very practical knowledge that Russians are not hard set on their own rules ;). So he turned our glasses back around and made us finish his bottle with him. We later said no to his very friendly offer to take us somewhere in his car.
The mother meanwhile organised a tour of Volgograd with some friends of her. The young boys spoke English quite well and showed us around the city. The first destination was the 85 meters high "The Motherland Calls" statue. The whole city was filled with memorabilia of the second world war. We experienced the history told by the locals and the knowledge of our guides was impressive on the matter. After a couple more sights we got back to our bikes and made them ready for their 3 month long wait.
Our Russian Mother (from now on Babushka) made a large dinner for us three, one we could never have eaten by ourselves. Every time we thought we had eaten it all she already brought more to the table. The food was great and every time we tried to tell her that we were full we felt bad, because we were not sure if she understood we we wanted to stop. We later found out that German politeness (finishing the meal and eating everything of the plate) and Russian hospitality (an empty plate will always be refilled) would have led to an endless night.
17° | sunny | km 0
One Night in Moskau...
on 2013-04-14 in Russia
It was time to leave Volgograd and our bikes. We were getting ready to get on our flight home. We had booked a flight with a stop in Moscow for one night. So we could experience some sights and the nightlife of Moscow.
Once we arrived at our hotel in Moscow and after we put everything into our room we headed out to see some of the sights. At nightfall we decided it was time for dinner and a bar. Basti had been to Moscow before and had told us about this little great bar that he fell in love with the last time he was here. It was called myBar and really well hidden in some small alleyway. Best decision of the night by far! We made up for Bastis quiet birthday night in Volgograd and had an awesome night!
Once we arrived at our hotel in Moscow and after we put everything into our room we headed out to see some of the sights. At nightfall we decided it was time for dinner and a bar. Basti had been to Moscow before and had told us about this little great bar that he fell in love with the last time he was here. It was called myBar and really well hidden in some small alleyway. Best decision of the night by far! We made up for Bastis quiet birthday night in Volgograd and had an awesome night!
18° | sunny | km 0
Trip Home
on 2013-04-15 in Russia
The last day came with a tough morning. The night had been long and so getting up was really tough. We all agreed that we would get up for breakfast, until someone knocked at our door a couple of minutes later. They brought us our breakfast to the bed, three omelettes, we could resist even if our guts told us not to.
Fabi and Denis wanted to go to the airport right away but Basti had planned a second sightseeing route. As you can clearly see in the pictures Fabi and Denis had a lot of fun tagging along. Without any complaints (Opinions may differ here) they dragged themselves along with Basti until we all finally made it to the airport. We were on our way back home!
Fabi and Denis wanted to go to the airport right away but Basti had planned a second sightseeing route. As you can clearly see in the pictures Fabi and Denis had a lot of fun tagging along. Without any complaints (Opinions may differ here) they dragged themselves along with Basti until we all finally made it to the airport. We were on our way back home!