1st of July 2011 – 375 km Borzya to Chita…on the road again
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It was chilly in the morning and when I looked the first time out of my window it looked like it will be a bright day. The second time I looked out of the window: clouds everywhere. Accordingly I had to pack my stuff a second time because I needed to change my clothes…ok. Sometimes one is already done in the morning from all this packing, carrying the stuff to the bike, putting & fixing everything…
As a reward the road was well but soon I had rain, lots of rain and when I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore I stopped at a road restaurant to warm up and to get some food. I discovered that I Iost a screw at my exhaust pipe and fixed it provisionally. While I did this I saw that all of my 4l of water were gone; it just went through two holes at the bottom of the plastic bottles from the constant vibration: this should not happen in the desert!
And I discovered as well that after these 180km I had more insects on my visor than I had the whole time put together in Mongolia. The landscape changed completely and partially I went through thick forests towards Chita.
The military everywhere on the way and in Chita as well, tanks and armored trucks, troops and military heavy gear beside the roads, helicopters over Chita…What are they preparing for in this remote area?
Now I got stuck here in Chita because my tires were supposed to arrive on the 4th or the 5th of July. Today I visited the transport company and I got the information that it will be the 6th or 7th…grrrr.
Just now I got a confirmation from Dmitry in Krasnodar, that my tires are here and also the transport company called me to get them tomorrow morning. I talked today to a Yamaha dealer in Chita and they will help me with the change tomorrow.
My planning is completed: I will try to go via Yakutsk to Magadan, the "famous" Road of Bones. If everything goes well I will start on the 8th of July early in the morning. I cross my fingers...
Since two days we have rain and 15°C less; before we had at least 35°C, so it isn’t that bad:-)
Secondary objects…
It always interested me how they transport their goods in Mongolia in winter. They told me that there is no prepared road and the “roads” are free because the cars and trucks go continuously. Hmm…I am still wondering: with the 4 cars I met on the 340km between Ondorkaan and Choibalsan or the “not any car” between Choibalsan and Ereentsav?
And about climate and/or weather: In Choibalsan I was told that in winter the average is -35°C in summer around +35°C. Well in Chita this goes between -50 and +50°C, kind of extreme…East Siberia.
Did we complain about the weather in Germany??
Chita
Addendum for Kazakhstan, the lovely village of Makat :-)
The following two photos I had still in my mobile…aren’t they gorgeous?
This was the evening when I stranded in this village because I lost two screws on the earth track (see journal 3rd of May). There was no restaurant in this place but only this shashlik booth. That was where they put me in the back because they were afraid that soon a fight would start.
However, in the back of this booth I was with the chief (Mohammed), here on the picture on the right hand side and his employee, the Uzbek on the left. Let’s call the chief Jake Blues and the other Elwood …don’t they look familiar to you?? :-) So, with our “hand & feet communication” Jake Blues told me the whole evening “rabota, rabota, rabota, rabota” (working, working, working hard…), but he just sat there drank his beer and vodka, smoked my cigarettes (his wife told him not to do so, not because those were my cigarettes but because of his health:-) ), and philosophized about the world whereas the Uzbek had to cut the wood, grill the shashlik and his wife did the beer, did the cashier and some other stuff. I mean nobody really worked hard here, but Jake Blues was great: with fervor telling other people how hard he had to work…but THAT was an evening I will never forget…
« Back to journal
It was chilly in the morning and when I looked the first time out of my window it looked like it will be a bright day. The second time I looked out of the window: clouds everywhere. Accordingly I had to pack my stuff a second time because I needed to change my clothes…ok. Sometimes one is already done in the morning from all this packing, carrying the stuff to the bike, putting & fixing everything…
As a reward the road was well but soon I had rain, lots of rain and when I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore I stopped at a road restaurant to warm up and to get some food. I discovered that I Iost a screw at my exhaust pipe and fixed it provisionally. While I did this I saw that all of my 4l of water were gone; it just went through two holes at the bottom of the plastic bottles from the constant vibration: this should not happen in the desert!
And I discovered as well that after these 180km I had more insects on my visor than I had the whole time put together in Mongolia. The landscape changed completely and partially I went through thick forests towards Chita.
The military everywhere on the way and in Chita as well, tanks and armored trucks, troops and military heavy gear beside the roads, helicopters over Chita…What are they preparing for in this remote area?
Now I got stuck here in Chita because my tires were supposed to arrive on the 4th or the 5th of July. Today I visited the transport company and I got the information that it will be the 6th or 7th…grrrr.
Just now I got a confirmation from Dmitry in Krasnodar, that my tires are here and also the transport company called me to get them tomorrow morning. I talked today to a Yamaha dealer in Chita and they will help me with the change tomorrow.
My planning is completed: I will try to go via Yakutsk to Magadan, the "famous" Road of Bones. If everything goes well I will start on the 8th of July early in the morning. I cross my fingers...
Since two days we have rain and 15°C less; before we had at least 35°C, so it isn’t that bad:-)
Secondary objects…
It always interested me how they transport their goods in Mongolia in winter. They told me that there is no prepared road and the “roads” are free because the cars and trucks go continuously. Hmm…I am still wondering: with the 4 cars I met on the 340km between Ondorkaan and Choibalsan or the “not any car” between Choibalsan and Ereentsav?
And about climate and/or weather: In Choibalsan I was told that in winter the average is -35°C in summer around +35°C. Well in Chita this goes between -50 and +50°C, kind of extreme…East Siberia.
Did we complain about the weather in Germany??
Chita
Addendum for Kazakhstan, the lovely village of Makat :-)
The following two photos I had still in my mobile…aren’t they gorgeous?
This was the evening when I stranded in this village because I lost two screws on the earth track (see journal 3rd of May). There was no restaurant in this place but only this shashlik booth. That was where they put me in the back because they were afraid that soon a fight would start.
However, in the back of this booth I was with the chief (Mohammed), here on the picture on the right hand side and his employee, the Uzbek on the left. Let’s call the chief Jake Blues and the other Elwood …don’t they look familiar to you?? :-) So, with our “hand & feet communication” Jake Blues told me the whole evening “rabota, rabota, rabota, rabota” (working, working, working hard…), but he just sat there drank his beer and vodka, smoked my cigarettes (his wife told him not to do so, not because those were my cigarettes but because of his health:-) ), and philosophized about the world whereas the Uzbek had to cut the wood, grill the shashlik and his wife did the beer, did the cashier and some other stuff. I mean nobody really worked hard here, but Jake Blues was great: with fervor telling other people how hard he had to work…but THAT was an evening I will never forget…
