To the right looking outside my window in Krasnayorsk, this is the monument of the "naked guy".
Well, I'm baaaccckkk!!!!! Miss Me!!!????? Wow, it feels like forever and a day since I was able to get back online and write about this trip. The last two entries I had to email to my mom as I was not able to get onto the blog site so she was kind enough to copy and paste them on the site for me. Hopefully you are all still there and I can update you of our adventures thus far.
Currently, we are in Krasnayorsk, Russia at the Krasnayorsk Hotel. I'm looking out my hotel window of a statue of a young man holding a small harp in his right hand (half naked or clothed whichever way you want to look at it) which is in front of some kind of river where a ship from Moscow had been earlier this morning . Yesterday, we had our longest ride ever covering 870 kms from camping in the middle of a field just off the highway in the middle of nowhere. After leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan, we camped one night in Kazakhstan (20 kms from the Russian border). Our campsite was off the road in the middle of a field on what's known as the Kazakh Steppe. We all are put to work once we stop to set up camp. Everyone has their assigned duties. Carmen (the main chef) and Mick MacDonald (or Leo or Murray or whoever volunteers to help Carmen) are the cooks. Mick T. empties the luggage out of the trailer so that Murray, Pat, Isaas and Joe can set up the kitchen tent for cooking and dinner. I help Mick M. unload the tents and bed mats off the roof of the "troopie". On the first night we set up camp, I was going for a walk in the field to walk off dinner when I saw what I thought to be "makeshift toilette" flying away in the breeze and Leo (with his gazelle like legs as he is well over 6 ft. tall) followed by Mick M. (with his short legs doing tripple time that of Leo's as he is maybe 5 ft 6) running a 400 meter sprint trying to catch it. It was the funniest sight to see these two running as fast as they could and not being able to catch it. I later found out that it was Mick M's tent that they finally dove on top to stop it from taking off like a kite.
When we hit the border the next day, it was a breeze to get through (only two hours tops to get out of Kazakhstan and then to go through Russian passport control, customs and bike/troopie search). We ended up doing over 400 kms that day with the 2 hour delay for the border. That night we camped at a beautiful site that looked as if at one point a meteor out of the sky had hit the area as it formed a bowl with mountains surrounding it on all sides. The rock and sand had a reddish tinge and vegetation was growing back sporadically. There was a train in the distance that we could see on the horizon but we couldn't hear. Most of our sites have been near train tracks which we usually hear trains passing throughout the night. As usual we feasted on a Mick M. specialty dish (a type of stew with cabbage, meat and a type of sauce that was to die for)prepared by Carmen and Mick himself (of course he doesn't reveal his secret ingredients). Veronica, his wife, certainly has a "keeper" here. At this site, Leo and Joe were back at repairing Joe's bike. Poor Joe has had to replace two fork seals back to back. One alongside the road at a gas station leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan and then the second on this night of camping. He has also had a steering issue that is supposed to be addressed while we are here in Krasnayorsk, Russia (that's if the fog lifts and it stops raining). One of the things I forgot to mention was that initially we were suppose to go to Kyrgyzstan however due to the borders being closed between Kazahkstan (as well as Uzbekistan), we had to bypass this country (which is suppose to be absolutely beautiful with its scenic mountain top views). However, on our way to Almaty, Kazahkstan we did cross into this country on a shared highway that both Kyrgyzstan and Kazahkstan use. On the one side (our left hand side), there was barbed wire which meant we were in Kyrgyzstan (which was on our right). When the barbed wire was on our right side, it meant that we were in Kazahkstan. Armed guards stood atop lookouts (like you would see on t.v. when you watch a prison movie) surveying the ground below from their lookout posts ordered to shoot anyone who tries to enter either country. Also, while we were in Uzbekistan there was a huge gas shortage (all gas stations were closed throughout the country) and we had to buy gas (sold in 1/2 Litre, 1 Litre and 5 Litre containers) on the black market for our bikes. Kazakhstan didn't have this problem as they have quite a lot of oil within this country already.
Today I went walking in Krasnayorsk and it is a very busy city. It has so many statues all throughout the streets and buildings that are very old yet it is very neat and clean. The Russian women again are very beautiful (mostly all blond - bleached of course). All the women that I have seen are tall, skinny (to die for figures) and immaculately dressed wearing stiletto heels looking like a picture out of vogue. There bangs are cut straight across with there are being a bob style but also cut straight across the back as well. Then there is myself and Carmen. Two middle aged women with dirty, baggy clothes, no make-up (which is scary for me but not Carmen as she has that beautiful olive skin tone) and smelling atrocious after having come out of the bush for almost a week and desperately needing a shower. Sometimes it pays to be a man. Personal grooming things like shaving, B.O., same underwear for a week and doing a "palmie bath" (which is using wet wipes in Aussie language) are just a few things that men can get away with much better than women (not to mention the essential ability to go to the bathroom and not need a washroom to do that). I must admit, sometimes I am jealous!!!!
We are here in Krasnayorsk for two nights (tomorrow morning we are off again). We are heading for Irkutsk where we will be getting our Mongolian Visas (it will take a couple of days to get those). We will be going to Lake Baikal for those two days, staying at another homestay or guesthouse while our Visas are getting processed and we will return to Irkutsk to pick them up. We will spend one more night in Russia camping and then hit the Mongolian border where we will camp for another four nights before we hit Katgal in Mongolia (don't know what size this town will be so not sure if there will be internet). We will be staying in traditional Gers. So, once again I will keep you all posted of these travels. Please make sure you read any additional blogs before this posted one as we continue as I may have so much to tell that I will need to break them up (I'm sure you haven't noticed, of course, how long winded I can get)........
Currently, we are in Krasnayorsk, Russia at the Krasnayorsk Hotel. I'm looking out my hotel window of a statue of a young man holding a small harp in his right hand (half naked or clothed whichever way you want to look at it) which is in front of some kind of river where a ship from Moscow had been earlier this morning . Yesterday, we had our longest ride ever covering 870 kms from camping in the middle of a field just off the highway in the middle of nowhere. After leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan, we camped one night in Kazakhstan (20 kms from the Russian border). Our campsite was off the road in the middle of a field on what's known as the Kazakh Steppe. We all are put to work once we stop to set up camp. Everyone has their assigned duties. Carmen (the main chef) and Mick MacDonald (or Leo or Murray or whoever volunteers to help Carmen) are the cooks. Mick T. empties the luggage out of the trailer so that Murray, Pat, Isaas and Joe can set up the kitchen tent for cooking and dinner. I help Mick M. unload the tents and bed mats off the roof of the "troopie". On the first night we set up camp, I was going for a walk in the field to walk off dinner when I saw what I thought to be "makeshift toilette" flying away in the breeze and Leo (with his gazelle like legs as he is well over 6 ft. tall) followed by Mick M. (with his short legs doing tripple time that of Leo's as he is maybe 5 ft 6) running a 400 meter sprint trying to catch it. It was the funniest sight to see these two running as fast as they could and not being able to catch it. I later found out that it was Mick M's tent that they finally dove on top to stop it from taking off like a kite.
When we hit the border the next day, it was a breeze to get through (only two hours tops to get out of Kazakhstan and then to go through Russian passport control, customs and bike/troopie search). We ended up doing over 400 kms that day with the 2 hour delay for the border. That night we camped at a beautiful site that looked as if at one point a meteor out of the sky had hit the area as it formed a bowl with mountains surrounding it on all sides. The rock and sand had a reddish tinge and vegetation was growing back sporadically. There was a train in the distance that we could see on the horizon but we couldn't hear. Most of our sites have been near train tracks which we usually hear trains passing throughout the night. As usual we feasted on a Mick M. specialty dish (a type of stew with cabbage, meat and a type of sauce that was to die for)prepared by Carmen and Mick himself (of course he doesn't reveal his secret ingredients). Veronica, his wife, certainly has a "keeper" here. At this site, Leo and Joe were back at repairing Joe's bike. Poor Joe has had to replace two fork seals back to back. One alongside the road at a gas station leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan and then the second on this night of camping. He has also had a steering issue that is supposed to be addressed while we are here in Krasnayorsk, Russia (that's if the fog lifts and it stops raining). One of the things I forgot to mention was that initially we were suppose to go to Kyrgyzstan however due to the borders being closed between Kazahkstan (as well as Uzbekistan), we had to bypass this country (which is suppose to be absolutely beautiful with its scenic mountain top views). However, on our way to Almaty, Kazahkstan we did cross into this country on a shared highway that both Kyrgyzstan and Kazahkstan use. On the one side (our left hand side), there was barbed wire which meant we were in Kyrgyzstan (which was on our right). When the barbed wire was on our right side, it meant that we were in Kazahkstan. Armed guards stood atop lookouts (like you would see on t.v. when you watch a prison movie) surveying the ground below from their lookout posts ordered to shoot anyone who tries to enter either country. Also, while we were in Uzbekistan there was a huge gas shortage (all gas stations were closed throughout the country) and we had to buy gas (sold in 1/2 Litre, 1 Litre and 5 Litre containers) on the black market for our bikes. Kazakhstan didn't have this problem as they have quite a lot of oil within this country already.
Today I went walking in Krasnayorsk and it is a very busy city. It has so many statues all throughout the streets and buildings that are very old yet it is very neat and clean. The Russian women again are very beautiful (mostly all blond - bleached of course). All the women that I have seen are tall, skinny (to die for figures) and immaculately dressed wearing stiletto heels looking like a picture out of vogue. There bangs are cut straight across with there are being a bob style but also cut straight across the back as well. Then there is myself and Carmen. Two middle aged women with dirty, baggy clothes, no make-up (which is scary for me but not Carmen as she has that beautiful olive skin tone) and smelling atrocious after having come out of the bush for almost a week and desperately needing a shower. Sometimes it pays to be a man. Personal grooming things like shaving, B.O., same underwear for a week and doing a "palmie bath" (which is using wet wipes in Aussie language) are just a few things that men can get away with much better than women (not to mention the essential ability to go to the bathroom and not need a washroom to do that). I must admit, sometimes I am jealous!!!!
We are here in Krasnayorsk for two nights (tomorrow morning we are off again). We are heading for Irkutsk where we will be getting our Mongolian Visas (it will take a couple of days to get those). We will be going to Lake Baikal for those two days, staying at another homestay or guesthouse while our Visas are getting processed and we will return to Irkutsk to pick them up. We will spend one more night in Russia camping and then hit the Mongolian border where we will camp for another four nights before we hit Katgal in Mongolia (don't know what size this town will be so not sure if there will be internet). We will be staying in traditional Gers. So, once again I will keep you all posted of these travels. Please make sure you read any additional blogs before this posted one as we continue as I may have so much to tell that I will need to break them up (I'm sure you haven't noticed, of course, how long winded I can get)........
Wow, you are now getting into the long rides without internet access, just like the one you have just completed. I am sure that the Mongolia part will be interesting. I absolutey agree regarding the showering and toiletry stuff. Men can travel much more easily than women. I would be having a bit of a meltdown because of that. It is hard to believe that there is only a month and a half to go on this trip. You have seen so many places and done so many things. What a memory book this will be! Enjoy yourself and take care. Mom
ReplyDeleteThanks Mom. I love you very much and miss you very much too. But, you already know that. Just reminding you.....
ReplyDeleteLove,
Jack