2160 km of Everything and Nothing

In summary we need almost 8 days until Chita for about 2160 km. The one Japanese guy we met before the journey, he was doing it in 4 days but this would mean everyday just driving, driving driving. Since this little bit boring we were just driving around 200 km and maximum 400 km the day. The guys in Vladivostok told us the street is finished and only the last 200 km close to Chita are still under construction. Well so far I think it was around 1500 km dirt road and the other 600 km are asphalt, but everywhere they are starting to put the asphalt. It is really amazing how they build such a road and for such a long distance and under extreme conditions. I guess in some years it is an easy driving. When I heard first time from this road Angela told me that there are a lot of bridges missing between Kabarowsk and Chita and maybe we need to take the train if the water comes up. This was maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Now almost all bridges (I feel like I crossed thousands of small and big rivers) are finished except from 2 or 3. 2007 Martin was driving the same way and at this time the road was already quite good. Anyway those are just information for people who want to go the same way. It is not that adventure anymore as it was 5 or 6 years ago. Anyway we still got a cracked front window and had one flat tire, but later more.

 

The experience is to feel this huge dimension and this landscape and the people in the small villages beside this “highway”. For me the landscape was continuously changing although some hundreds of kilometres look the same. In the beginning we had quite sunny weather driving through birch and larch forest. Since in spring a lot of bushes and flowers are blooming I guess it is more interesting now than another time. Sometimes the forest loos like a flag from very fresh green at the top, over the strong white of the bark of the birch tree, and the purple blooming bushes at the ground. If the sun is lightning everything from top to bottom it looks really beautiful. From time to time you cross rivers with really clean water and at some points you still have snow between the trees or on top of some small hills. The first 1000 km is still marsh and only from time to time you driving through mountainous area.  Suddenly after ca. 1700 km you have no more trees and the landscape looks already like Mongolia, at least it looks like the picture in my mind when I am thinking about Mongolia (:). Yurts, sheep herds, cows, horse riders, and deserted hills that look like smooth waves.

 

Although it was interesting for Kotomi she felt the melancholy of this landscape. This is basically related to the villages which all look deserted or at least there are not many people you can see in the villages. But if we meet the people and ask for bread or some help the unfriendliness on the first sight against the stranger disappears very soon and they do everything they can do for you. In Vladivostok they told us, do not go in the small village that is dangerous. This maybe true in some cases but I think it is a prejudice Russians have from there own people. I think the “gangsters” and so called mafia you will find nowadays in the bigger cities, the so called new Russians who try to make the fast money without any moral and considerations about other people.

      

 

13^th N 53.33073°, E 126.15925°: Sleeping just somewhere at a river.

 

14^th and 15^th N 54.02017°, E 122.86495° tired of driving and staying at a river one more day making campfire, washing clothing and exploring the nice mixed forest. By the way I recognized that under the larch tree you always find in a circle below the tree the same plants which have small green leaves looking like a heart, you can not find it under the birch or other trees. Hey Anja maybe you know what is the name of this plant?! (:)

 

16^th N 53.53639°, E 119.48116° Nothing special, sleeping close to some small Village.

 

17^th N 52.18051°, E 116.27874° This day the landscape changed we were driving through mountainous area the rain clouds and the fog hanging mysterious in the forest. Quite cold but I really like this atmosphere at least if it is warm inside the car. At the end of the day we decided to drive just in some small villages in the mountains. Surprisingly the village was located at two lakes which were still partially covered with ice. Here we wanted to buy a bread but everything was closed except the “Kafe” where we could here loud Russian music. After the obligatory questions where you come from and where you want to go, they bring us to some old house where we could buy the bread even so is was closed. It looked like a prison and through a small hole in the wall we could get the bread. Well let’s find a nice place and cook something and go to bed soon since it was quite cold. That is what we thought but then I recognised we have a flat tire. So we went again to the “Kafe” to find someone who could help us.  Even so there is always the language problem we got the tire repaired at that day, one got his compressor, another one called his friend who has a garage, which was actually like an old train wagon, and another one showed us the way with his car.    

 

 

18^th N 51.93491°, E 114.11997° In the morning I lift up the car and changed all tires from the back to the front since they were quite damaged due to the last 1000 km of this sharp stones at the “highway” (:). Then we are on the road and at the end of the day staying at a kafe which had nice Uzbekistani food and a Banja, which was necessary after one week.

 

19^th N 51.81812°, E 113.08982° In the morning of this day we drove together with the friendly owner of the kafe to Chita, where he showed us a garage which repaired the crack in our window. Good job looks like new if you do not know that there was a crack (:) and we could stop it to get larger.