I’m almost out of Russia, having traveled nearly a third on the way across and I haven’t seen a hammer and sickle yet! Not to mention a nuclear sub, Kalashnikov rifle or tank for sale. I expected a lot more evidence of the former soviet state, and I’m a little disappointed.

Today that all changed when I saw my first hammer and sickle. I’m happy now! To celebrate I had myself a genuine soviet ice cream, it was lovely!

Just when I think the scenery can’t get any better, it changes and there’s more. The road to the border of Mongolia from Ulan Ude was spectacular. Huge plains with mountains rising in the distance. The area is sacred and there are several monuments and prayer trees.

The trees have lots of pieces of material tired to them, each one presumably a prayer or wish from one of the shaman. Or maybe a remembrance for a loved one. If I’m honest the trees look a bit of a mess, especially the ones near the roadside where the material gets very dirty.

The monuments are great though. This one was on the top of a hill, with only a rough track up to it. I fired up to have a look and it was very peaceful. Amazing views, no noise but the gentle breeze – it was a very special place. I can see why they built the monument there.

I don’t know which religion it represents, but I paid my respects and left quietly. Onwards towards Mongolia.

Most of the parking spots in Russia have ramps you can drive a car or lorry onto. They’re everywhere! Very handy for doing repairs to vehicles, especially the underside.

The state of the roads mean it’s quite likely that you’ll rip something off the bottom of your car, or break a suspension unit, or bash something in some way. I’ve seen them being used often, with miserable looking divers emerging from underneath!

I wanted a picture of my bike up on one, but the ramps are quite narrow and fairly high. One wrong move and the bike would go down in a big way, most likely resulting in injury too. Too risky!

On the way back from the lake I found one wide enough to chance it. There was actually plenty of room, but it still gave me butterflies in my stomach. Climbing up a ladder to get on my bike was a new experience too.

Ken had a blast up and over, only Chip has the sense to stay on the ground.

As we get closer to the centre of Russia and Mongolia, the people we meet tend to have a more Asian look about them. They’re Russian, definitely – because we speak and I ask where they’re from etc.. I’d expected this from the outset, but the people in the very far East look more European – but not quite. It’s hard to explain.

Oleg and Bair here were having a picnic and came over to join us. They were quite friendly but it lasted about 20 minutes longer than was fun. For some reason they wanted to wrestle, and kept tweaking Chip and Ken’s nipples. It was really funny! (Well I thought so anyway).

They left mine alone. I’ve no idea why, in fact I’m not sure whether to be relieved or jealous! No actual wrestling took place, but we were all friends at the end.

There seems to be some debate as to whether adventure motorcycling is a holiday or not. I suppose it depends on whether you make money from it. If so, then by definition it becomes employment. I’m hoping to write a book on my return, so right now gaining the experiences to write about constitutes work.

You can see from the picture the harsh conditions under which I’m slaving over a hot blog!

In reality there are good days and bad. Today is definitely one of the better days, maybe one of the best so far. But far from being complacent, I’m sure that there are some very tough days ahead. Especially Mongolia and Kazakhstan.

On those days where the road is tough, the weather bad and the punctures many – I need to remind myself that days like today make it all with while. It’s like being on holiday. (But it’s not, of course!).

Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume. When you see it for the first time it doesn’t register as a lake, it’s more like the sea. It has a shoreline with sandy beaches and large waves breaking in, you’d never think it was a lake if you didn’t know.

It’s obviously a tourist hotspot, and a great place for the locals too. Just like the seaside back home, people are out in the lake, camping nearby and setting up picnics. We rode down the track along the lake, turning heads everywhere. A lot of people waved but I couldn’t wave back as the track was sandy and bumpy. Two hands required and full concentration.

After a while we found a great spot to setup camp. I slung my hammock and made a cup of tea, by which time I’d warmed up enough to consider going in. Those of you who know me will know I’m not a beach person. I don’t really get it, I don’t like swimming and it’s just not my thing. However, I doubt I’ll be coming back so in I went!

This is a big thing for me. There are parts of my body that haven’t seen the light of day for over 30 years. My knees for example. In the full spirit of of seizing the carp I froze my bits off, and made sure it was captured on film. That’s it for the next 30 years now.

At least I can now say I’ve swam in lake Baikal, which holds 20% of the world’s fresh water (and a little bit of wee 😉

After a long and hard day getting to Ulan Ude, I needed a break yesterday. The trip was hard for many reasons, not just the driving rain but the bumpy roads and many roadworks. One stretch just had rocks the size of golf balls, not compacted and about a foot deep. Luckily my tank was fairly empty or I would have gone down for sure.

Ulan Ude is a pretty town but we didn’t see much of it. Mostly we were all too tired after washing and sorting the bikes out. This morning we set off for the lake and I was still not quite with it.

We got to the lake via some very nice roads, obviously laid down for tourists and well maintained. The local divers made several attempts to run me off the road overtaking, but I ride quite aggressively and I refuse to ride in the gutter for anyone. It’s obviously not common as people tend to expect it, taking huge risks overtaking on bond bends etc..

Anyway, we made it to the lake and it was absolutely worth it! What a difference a day makes, well that’s never been more true then today.

Sophie
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GPS location Date/Time:08/09/2014 22:22:05 PDT

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It’s not quite the glamorous life everyone imagines, adventure motorcyclists need to wash and do laundry just like everyone else. Saturday is a day off riding, which after a long day yesterday is a welcome break. Russian roads tend to jar everything, not just the bike but the rider too. It’s quite fatiguing, especially when added to the heavy rain yesterday.

No launderette means a sink wash, raw knuckles and a longer drying time with no spin-dry. But it works, and with an improvised washing line at least we can head off to lake Baikal clean and fresh. The lady at the motel obviously isn’t too impressed with us making the place look like a gypsy’s camp, but we’ll be gone tomorrow.

When everything’s dry I’ll go over the bike to make sure nothing has worked loose. In the mean time it’s a shopping trip to buy more pasta, porridge, dried milk and sultanas. That’s the four major food groups covered, right?