Russian randomness

SUCCESS!!

After 8h 43m at the border we were finally granted entry into Russia, lucky we arrived at the border early in the morning! Passport control took no time at all, but it was customs where the problems lay with the registrations documents for our bikes. The border guards were exceptionally friendly, helpful and patient as we worked through a number of discussions. It showed us immediately of the friendly nature of the Russian people, but with the need for things to be as required and with very limited flexibility. One border guard had a little bit of English but we mainly communicated in a little booth via Google Translate. We eventually were able to produce the right documentation with the help of the customs guards to satisfy their needs. We became part of the furniture on this day and there was a bit of a gathering with smiles and high fives from the other staff once we finally kitted up to get on our way again. We were super happy to have got over this (hopefully) final major border hump. Some wooping and high fives were had once we were out of sight of the border.

We headed for the first town after the border, Kantemirovka to look for a hotel. After fully circumnavigating the town in the dark via a myriad of one way streets, dirt tracks and pedestrian bridges (and being told by the local policeman that the hotel was closed) we stumbled into a parking lot. As is happened it was the parking lot for the hotel and there was actually no driving access to the front of the hotel, only to the parking lot! The problem now was we had no Russian rubles, no food and it was after 8pm so finding an exchange place was impossible. We’re found a bank machine, got some cash and a hotel room but the local magazin (store) was closed. Fortunately for us the hotel cleaning lady, Tatiana, offered to take us in her car to a supermarket where we were able to get some long awaited food.

So our first experience of Russia in the daylight; the first thing, which feels really weird to say is that it felt really westernised. The other obviously thing was the want/need to show military might.

Given the time it’d taken to get around the conflict zone we all felt the need to get some kms under our belt but we weren’t sure what to expect from Russian roads. What we found gave us a bit of a surprise but made us super happy. Smooth straight roads, and after assessing the local traffic a speed limit that was to our liking. We hit the M4 motorway after a quick lunch stop, where we met a group of friendly bikers from Moscow (who confirmed the “flexibility” of the speed limit, especially for motorbikes). We were finally heading south, the first “corner” of our trip and we headed south fast too. About 4 hours later we were in Rostov, 300km away and that included a 1h 30m stop to repair a front tyre puncture on Steve’s bike. Fortunately the tyre started to deflate when we were stopped and we noticed it before we got going again!!

We’ve decided to take a rest day in Rostov today, as we’ve found a great little hotel in the centre of the city and we are all a little weary after the pressure of the last four days. So we’ve done important things this morning, like get haircuts and update our Facebook and blog.

Right now Sam and Steve are off to the local KTM shop to see what they can find in terms of a replacement for Steve’s fan. Fingers crossed they can source something otherwise it could start to cause some significant problems.

We can all say we are loving being in Russia, but are also surprised by the really westernised feel of it. We went for a walk by the Don river last night and were confronted by McDonalds, Baskin Robbins and Subway. There is significant infrastructure work going on here in Rostov too, streets are being ripped up all over the place so it appears there are significant efforts to modernise the city in time for the World Cup next year. We are really looking forward to seeing what we find as we head further south into the melting pot of Russian, Turkish and Middle-Eastern culture.