I don’t want to bore you with
more border crossing craziness, but this one is hilarious. Of course, they
close for lunch after a very busy morning processing 3 Mongolian cars & 1
German van. Nothing has come through from Russia – who would be crazy enough
too. Finally lunch over, time for inspection. Every page of both of our
passports are examined, John has to fill in pages for GR2 in duplicate, &
then everything is poked and prodded. Not us, but GR2! They even look behind
the towels hanging in the bathroom & underneath our pillows! No way can I
participate in the fun – I am banned to the waiting area.
No more complaining we are in and
have no more border crossings for ages! Time for that long 3000 km drive to
Vladivostok. But first we need to head north to the city of Chita. There has
been a lot of rain – so bad there has been massive flooding. The army trucks
are out in conveys to help. But the sun
is shining today, making everything sparkling & emerald green. After a long
day we stop beside the lovely Oron River. Perfect for a BBQ. We plan to head
upriver to the Tsugol Datsan (a Buddhist monastery) tomorrow morning. John
wanted to go tonight but I insist we stop. He is right. In the morning we head
up in the rain! So only a few patchy photos of the lovely old building.
Today is driving in the rain all
the way to our next Datsan at the town of Aginskoe. More photos in the rain –
John is smart and offers to make coffee. On to Chita – the road is full of potholes
& puddles. We have a few errands and some exploring to do. SIM card, map,
groceries done. It is actually a lovely city. A gorgeous cathedral, some lovely
old wooden houses and a huge plaza. After yummy soup at a local restaurant we head
out. At the traffic lights a guy in a 4x4 stops to chat & leads us to a tap
to fill up with water. Only diesel left to get, but the rain starts again in
earnest & it is astounding how fast water can rush across the streets.
Once the rain eases off the
scenery is magic. We really didn’t expect this in Siberia. Stop for the night
beside another river. We plan to get a lot of miles under our belts in the next
few days so that we build up a time buffer in case we want to do something
extra or we have a drama (fingers crossed we won’t). So, most of the day on our
bums. Fortunately the scenery is great & the road not too bad – just have
to watch out for the frost heaves. Finally stop at a roadside truck spot after
a long day.
All this time we have been keeping
an eye out for Herman, Connie & Jack in their SLRV Commanders, and this
morning we see them coming the other way. We turn around, flashing our lights
madly. A fun few hours follow while we catch up with travel news. But time to
head on. They are going to Lake Baikal & we are off to Vladivostok. We end
the day tucked off the road, well out of sight for a peaceful night. Then more
driving. Later that day we reach the city of Khabarovsk on the banks of the
massive Amur River - head to the riverfront to explore. There are 2 gorgeous
cathedrals (reconstructions as the originals were destroyed by the Soviets) and
spend a few hours walking around town.
In the morning we pop in to a
workshop recommended by a mechanic we met. It is raining yet again, so a
perfect day to stop for a grease & oil change and a few minor repairs.
Again, we have another cracked leaf spring – those Mongolian roads have a lot
to answer for! Before we know it, we are on the road again. Another night
tucked off the road and then the final leg to Vladivostok. It is late when we
arrive and sea mist is curling around the city. We have a camp spot picked out
on the beach at Russky Island just out of Vladivostok – it is perfect. Right on
the beach.
The mist is still thick in the
morning, so we decide to “do” the museums. First stop the Old Machine Museum
(where else would John want to go?) Then in to the city centre – and of course
into crazy traffic. Not a carpark in sight. In fact, in many places they are
double or treble parked. The Friday markets are in full swing in the central
plaza adding to the chaos. We head back to where I spied some parking &
walk back to town. By now the mist is clearing & we can really appreciate
this gorgeous city surrounded by hills & harbour. The bridges are
spectacular. We give the next museum a miss & head up the hill to catch the
funicular to the lookout over Golden Bridge. Then John decides we will drive up
to Eagles Rest lookout – but crazy traffic & ever decreasing (in size)
roads means we change tack & head out to the lighthouse with its lovely
views. Finally, time to crawl through traffic & head back to our beach (and
swim for John) for the night.
It is Saturday when we leave this
lovely city & we get great views as we follow the ring road out. No sea
mist this time. Time to head back west for 10,000km right across Russia. I have been reading the Lonely Planet &
found there is a place a mere 25kms off the road that have Amur/Siberian Tigers.
Can’t find much online, but I now really want to see them, so with a bit of arm
twisting we hunt the place down. Not a single sign! (even in Russian). Well
sadly the tigers have been gone for 3 years (so much for using an out of date
LP), but he still has some Asian Bears & Lynx. So back to driving…..
The next day we pass through Khabarovsk
again & stop after 200 km at a lake. Perfect spot for a swim & maybe
camp, but when the bitey flies attack we decide to carry on. As we turn to
leave our new truck driver friends start yelling. Noooo. The decision is that
something is wrong with the diff (loud grinding noise when we turn) and we will
have to turn around & return to Khabarovsk to the workshop there. Chita is
simply too far away at over 2000km. So, the next day we are back in the
workshop. They give GR2 a good check. The diff appears fine & they give it
new oil. While we are there we get our brake shoes replaced. Then time to start
on the 2000km back to Chita. Can’t resist camping at “our” lake so that we can
swim again.
A few more big driving days
before we pull in to Chita. We fill up at the same water tap, the same
supermarket & eat at the same restaurant. All reassuringly easy. By the
time we head out of the city it is raining again & already the streets are
awash. Definitely more work needs to be done on drainage here! We head off in
the rain finally pulling over for the night in the least muddy spot we can
find.
On the road again. Amazingly when
we head down a side track to explore a lake at coffee time we meet a group of 8
Chinese motorhomes on “tour”. The vehicles are mainly German ones that have
been imported to China. Then on through
magic mountain scenery to Ulan-Ude. Here we are heading to a designated camp
spot to meet up with the 2 SLVR Commanders. There are also a few other overland
vehicles here – so it is a fun night chatting around an open fire.
In the morning, after lots more
chatting & a few chores – we head back to the city to explore. The
cathedral of course is lovely, the Opera House huge & the Lenin Statue the
biggest we have ever seen. Time to move on. Lake Baikal here we come.
We spend three nights camped
right beside the lake in various spots. The first night on a lovely sandy beach
popular with the locals. They are all sunbaking. John has an incredibly quick
swim (so of course I didn’t bother)here in the middle of Siberia. The next morning is cold & wet. How the
weather changes here, so a misty wet drive along the southern end of the lake
stopping for the second night beside a rocky, surfy beach at Vydrino. Again, it is wet in the morning, but finally
clears, so we decide to continue straight through the city of Irkutsk so we can
reach the western side of the lake in lovely weather. We wander the seaside
town of Listvyanka before finding another quiet spot beside the lake for our
third night
And of course, it is raining
again as we head back to Irkutsk. We stop to visit the Kazan Cathedral, as
recommended by friends. It is one very magnificent technicoloured cathedral. The
rest of the day is all driving, which ends with us camped beside a cute lake.
The village is close by, but we are ignored by the locals. So, it is on to the
huge city of Krasnoyarsk, which is about midway between Vladivostok &
Moscow. We hunt down an Isuzu workshop because we still have a horrible
creaking noise in the diff. It is late in the day so they will start tomorrow, So
we overnight in their secure carpark. One of the guys we meet there takes us on
a tour of the city. Much easier than in GR2 and he knows the best places to
take us. Thank you so much.
We removed the LSD parts in the
diff & now no noise. So, after 2 long days we head out. There was no rushin’
these Russians.
There are many more numb bum
miles to go…….
We could do with some of that rain here. The farmers out west are really struggling.
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