The cities have some impressive buildings, usually churches. The government buildings tend to be more austere, compared to the lavish accommodation of British politicians – or your local council offices. However, it’s the country dwellings that I find most interesting.

A lot of towns are no more than a collection of tin roofed wooden shacks. The better ones have ornate painted window shutters, the closed ones probably have no glass in them. The gardens are cropped with vegetables or hay, and there’s always a huge woodpile for the harsh winters.

With insulation next to nothing for a tin roof, it really is a matter of survival to make sure there’s enough firewood for winter. This place looked like it had electricity, but many don’t. It took me a while to work out what the huge beams were in some gardens. They’re mechanical lifts to get the bucket down to the well. So no running water either.

It makes me appreciate things I’d normally take for granted, like flushing toilets and hot water. Despite this the people I’ve met have been warm and friendly, it’s all quite humbling.

We found a great spot to camp last night. I took a road off the main route which was a signposted dead end after 7kms. A track running off that into the woods looked promising, but people had been there before and it was visible from the road. The track turned up a steep hill that I thought was worth exploring, so I fired on up for a look.

Steep tracks uphill are always interesting, as there’s no backing down once you start! You’re committed to getting to the top, whatever is up there. In this case it was a clearing on a mound, invisible from the road but a great spot to set up the hammock. Room for Chip’s tent meant it was perfect.

The guys got the BMWs up no problem and we setup for the night. There must be a local air base as a pair of MIGs were cruising around for a long time. I couldn’t say which ones they were as I’m not so well up on Russian military jets. Sadly they weren’t for sale and I didn’t get to have a go in one. Can you see a theme here?

Along the way I’ve seen a little bit of wildlife, but not as much as I expected. I knew I wouldn’t be so lucky as to see a bear, or a Siberian tiger, but there hasn’t been much else either. There’s a little squirrel that looks a bit like a racoon, squirrel sized but racoon colours. Various dogs, semi-wild I suppose and the odd wild horse. Apart from the birds, that’s about it.

Recently I’ve seen wedge tailed eagles, but nothing like the numbers in Australia. Sparrows abound, one of the universal constants – and this morning I saw some sort of black woodpecker. There’s a particularly agile grey bird that looks a little like a nuthatch. They seem to be able to fly right through the bike, side to side as I’m riding along. One even flew under my arm!

Sadly one little fella didn’t make it and ended up on my front rim. Still, better than the radiator I suppose (or in my face!). We’ve stopped for a coffee to let a heavy downpour pass over. The bikes are looking almost clean at the moment, at the expense of my insect collection. Still, there’s plenty of time and miles for me to add to that one.

The scenery today has been epic. The forest gave way to great expanses of pasture, completely unexpected and not what you’d associate with Russia. 30°C, sunshine and green fields for miles upon miles. Plenty of castle grazing, old fashioned hay stacks (no bailers here) and the odd tractor.

If you’d brought someone blindfolded here and removed the blindfold, they’d never pick the location in a million years. The road we’re on runs roughly parallel to the mighty trans Siberian railway. The two main routes rarely cross however, so sightings have been brief. So far I’ve only seen oily freight trains in the distance.

I’d imagined racing alongside the train, waving to the passengers having dinner in comfort. Maybe even reading a travel book in years to come that mentions the three bikes on the horizon, and wondering if one was me. There’s still a lot of Russia to go, so maybe that will happen later.

Getting petrol has been fairly easy, the petrol stations have come up regularly with few long dry stretches. Mostly you can get fuel every 100kms or so. With a 700 km range without worrying this is great.

The only minor annoyance is that you have to pay in advance. That in itself is OK, but you have to say how many litres you want. Getting a full tank is like asking for a strawberry daiquiris! Paying by credit card for a full tank is something I’ve only managed once so far.

Hand over a thousand rouble note though and all is good. You take as much fuel as you need and they give you change. Or the pump shuts off at 1000RUB. Either way that’s plenty for a days riding. This station was an all in one stop with a guestinitza and restaurant.

The toilets were Russian standard, showers were extra but that just saved us some money. Душ не работат!

Coming into Chita today, or rather on the way out of Chita I saw my first tank. Rather disappointingly it wasn’t for sale and I couldn’t have a go. Still, it was worth a photo so I pulled over. I think Chip and Ken just wanted to get out of the city, as it was getting late and we were looking to wild camp again.

About an hour before, Chip had dropped his bike. No big deal as it was low speed, it could have been any of us. Ken’s GPS took us down a closed road that was all dug up. As we went back onto the main road there was a difficult hump of gravel to negotiate whilst joining the fast moving traffic. Down it went.

No damage, but it does spoil your day somewhat. Poor Ken copped it for going the ‘wrong’ way, luckily I’m not a good enough friend or it would be my fault as well! I know what it’s like though, so no harm done. We stopped at a fairly large shop and stocked up of supplies. There was an ATM as well so we cashed up.

There was quite a crowd building outside, mostly young lads interested in our trip. One of them introduced himself as the local gangster! But like all encounters so far it was good natured, one guy Yuri insisted on giving me his LED light keyring.

It was a good enough break to restore the mood before we headed off to find a camp spot.

Cameras never do it justice of course, but the road opened out and there was a lot to see. We tacked across the swampland on a raised road, which was mostly empty save for the odd lorry. The raised platform made for good viewing of the surrounding hills, all covered with lush green forest.

Now and then the forest broke into plains, giving a scene straight from Jurassic Park. All that was missing to complete the look was the odd brachiosaurus and circling pterodactyl! The weather made the riding easy, with temperatures in the low to mid 20s neither cooking or freezing us.

The road itself was fast and smooth, with the odd section severely warped by the extremes of temperature. Almost like a moto cross track, little “whoop-de-doos” everywhere. You’d better be on your feet when you hit one – or the 10″ of suspension travel will bottom out and airborne you go!

I can see why people pay money for moto cross, it’s good fun. (But probably more so without full luggage and on a lighter bike).

At the guestinitza last night we landed on our feet. It was a good price with secure parking for the bikes, a restaurant with good food and nothing else for miles around. A couple of bikes pulled in for fuel, so we went over to talk to the riders. One of them had British plates, which made the conversion a lot easier!

It turns out that Dom is on a trip to Japan for charity, having been on the road for just over 3 months. He’s been doing a load of videos on YouTube and they’re really good. You can see his channel – it’s called littledoms. He’s been through khazakstan, Mongolia and the Ukraine and we talked at length about the roads, cultures and people.

We went over his Mongolia map, which he kindly donated in return for my Russia map. It seems like he’s done the hard miles already, the rest of his trip will be a breeze. Conversely, we’re on the easy leg right now – so we need to “man up” for Mongolia. A lot!

We saw footage of his crash which was quite sobering, but it was really good to meet him. Good luck for the rest of your trip Dom, I hope to see you in England sometime! Here we are planning our next moves.

The good news for me is that I have a date I need to arrive in St.Petersburg for, as the girls are coming out to see me! It’ll be tight, but I’ll be there at any cost 🙂

At Blagavations we ran into a couple of friendly local bikers. Mikhail spoke good English and before we left his friend ducked off to fetch us gifts. A commemorative coin and a bag full of tea and sweets. Thanks very much guys!

In the evening we stayed in our first guestinitza in Svbodniy. The bikes caused quite a commotion parked outside, quickly attracting a lot of attention. The usual questions were answered, people looking surprised all round. A nice lady called Natasha asked us in English if we needed help.

We were fine apart from wanting to eat, so I asked if she knew a good restaurant. We ended up having dinner with Natasha, her friend (also Natasha) and husband Artyu. I’d put the cryllic spellings but it takes ages to do! A great Chinese meal in a place we’d never have found otherwise. Thanks for being so welcoming guys.

Natasha explained that Своьодный means Free, which I knew from my Russian studies. What I didn’t know was that the place used to be called Alexander, after the Tzar prince Alexander. After the revolution they renamed it Free. Her we are at the restaurant.