SIBERIA – BEAUTIFUL SIBERIA

Siberia is wonderful. I never thought I would utter those words. But I was so happy to enter Russia. The food is great. The roads are superb. The people are hospitable, and some downright friendly. 

Let me bring you up to date. Tom and I had one last bout of food poisoning on the way out of Kazakhstan. Tom is the best barfer. But I am a better bowel voider. Both of us are thin and stringy after a month of riding in Central Asia. We were basically starving to death because we would have repeated episodes of food poisoning or some other intestinal ailment. So we spent last weekend in Almaty, Kazakhstan, a truly great city looking for real food. 

Almaty has everything and is very European with an Asian flare. We found good food and the hostel was nice too. We thought we were cured.  

We left on Monday, and the road was not too bad for Kazakhstan. But after about 200 km it was apparent that I had blown out my right front fork seal. Not good. I carry the parts, but a shop is needed to complete repairs. So I watched fork oil seep out for the next 4 days.

Then we ate a bad pizza at a hotel on Tuesday night. By Wednesday afternoon we knew we were in trouble. Tom had been laid low in Osh, Kyrgyzstan for 3 days the week before, and I had troubles in Bishkek before my infamous border incident. (Remember they would not let me in Kazakhstan).



Victor - Savior of Motos

The shop - with hangers on

Fellow Bikers heading to a rally

On Thursday the 3^rd of July we crossed into Russia. I am in now in Barnaul. Barnaul is three time zones East of Moscow and four West of Vladivostok. So it is like Omaha - only further from a Starbucks.

 

Tom got new tires today, the 4th. I had my forks rebuilt by Victor, the famous Russian bike mechanic known worldwide to over landers for his ability to repair most any bike. I also got a new chain. That may not sound like a big deal to most of you. But it made me a very happy guy. I can now rest without worrying that my chain will snap in Mongolia.

Asian Russia does not feel like Asia. It is more like Minnesota speaking Russian. And that means the gnats and mosquitos are also here. The farms are huge and I now understand the wealth of Russian agriculture. The roads are so perfect that I suspect they use Gomaco pavers to put down asphalt. 

I do not have many pictures because there is not much to photograph. Kazakhstan was much like the Nebraska Sandhills for the last 2 days. Except that the potholes in the roads are a constant menace. And Siberia looks like Northern Iowa and southern Minnesota from the seat of a motorcycle. So just get out your family albums with the pictures of Esterville, Iowa and you will see the same thing.

That all ends in the next 2 days. We leave tomorrow for the Altai region, and then enter Western Mongolia. The roads end. Mongolia is not paved for the first thousand plus kilometers on this side. As we approach Ulaan Baator there is asphalt – or so we are informed.

Thus, I will be off the radar for about ten days.  I do not expect much WiFi or internet until I reach Ulaan Baator. So do not worry because I do not post. It is just the world as it was before Al Gore invented the internet.