With a compliment of 236, the Lenin had a large crew for a ship of its size. The main reason was the number of nuclear specialists on board. It’s said that nobody knew how everything worked, just their specific part of the ship. Modern nuclear ice breakers are much larger but have a compliment of just 110.

The configuration is nuclear-turbine-electric, initially three reactors, 6 steam turbines and 3 motors. One of the reactors was removed in 1965, the remaining two were later replaced with a newer type. The motors drive three screw’s, the largest is the central screw at 5 metres in diameter! The port and starboard screws measure just 4.2. The speed and direction of each screw can be individually controlled from the bridge, making for a manoeuvrable vessel.

The bridge itself is a conventional layout, with duplicate controls on each side of the ship. I’m here operating the port screw. I can’t believe they actually let me drive!

The Lenin is an impressive ship, the world’s first nuclear powered ice breaker. (Handy for boring cocktail parties I’m sure!). In fact she was also the first nuclear powered surface vessel and the first nuclear civilian vessel. Commissioned in 1957, her purpose was to clear the shipping routes of ice for soviet vessels off the northern coast.

Typical of older vessels, the interior is very grand and ornate. There is a lot of wood paneling and decorative brasswork, almost reminiscent of the Titanic. (Fortunately the Lenin never sank, but there were a couple of nuclear incidents in its history).

Pictured is the officers board room, with Karelian birch paneling and a 50 year old ‘bird’s eye’ maple table. (My banjo’s made of that!). The crew mess was a little plainer, but it had some great artwork. I also liked the crew tables where you could raise the edges. This was in order to keep your dinner plate on the table in rough seas!

This is the world’s first nuclear icebreaker, the Lenin. Apparently you can go aboard and have a look around. I haven’t discovered how, but Ed is asking around for us.

I’m glad about that, as with my accent it would be like Chekov asking for ‘nuclear wessels’ in Star Trek IV! Classic!

I couldn’t spend a Saturday night in a hostel room, especially when there’s a new city to explore! It was 10pm the time I was freshened up, but my room mate Эдуард (Edward) was up for a quiet pint so out we went.

Ed is from the Altaiski Krai, working away from home. He didn’t take much persuading to come out! We found a quiet pub come restaurant with an Octoberfest special of beers and cold meats. It was great for an hour or so, but then a DJ cranked up the music and it turned into a disco. Oh dear!

On the way back we called into the Black Cat bar, more or less a shipping container with a bar at one end. There was a metal band on who were petty good, I liked the head banging bass player the best. He made me laugh!

It was a microcosm of human behaviour the world over. As I watched from the sidelines I saw all the usual events unfolding. A couple arguing and making up, a young guy with too much to drink, a guy trying to chat up a girl and having no luck – friends shouting over the noise of the band. I could have been in any pub anywhere.

After the band an impromptu acoustic set kicked off, with many Russian folk songs being belted out by drunk Russians. It really was excellent night!

I made it to Murmansk! It then took ages to find the hostel, as per usual. I can’t tell you much about Murmansk as I’ve just arrived, but first impressions – it’s very grey and soviet. Almost intimidating.

So I’m in the Arctic circle, hurrah! Unfortunately there was no sign announcing the fact, so I’ll have to look around tomorrow.

До завтра!

There’s not been much to see since St Petersburg, once you get past the autumn colours of the trees and the fjords. It’s very nice, but a bit samey after 1300kms! I decided this morning I’d push on and try and get to Murmansk. It was just over 600km, so quite doable. The only minor problem was that as I lay in my hammock this morning it was raining. I don’t mind if it rains while I’m on the move, but going out in it is a different matter altogether!!

I got moving though and after about 250 km it cleared up. The sky was grey and it felt colder than it was, the temperature even got to double figures for half an hour! The last 200 km were good fun, the road drying out and the long straights giving way to sweeping bends. There was a small mountain range just prior to Murmansk, I wasn’t expecting that at all. It thought I’d be at sea level all day.

I stopped to take a picture of this power station (I think that’s what it is), because it looked cool. If I had a better camera it would make a cracking HDR. Anyway, you get the idea. And yes, that is snow on the hill!

The bike clocked 50,000 km today. Not a massive achievement given the longevity of modern motorcycles and engines, however it’s still worthy of note. This particular model was designed over 20 years ago and remains unchanged.

My other bike is a Royal Enfield, made as a copy of a 1950s commuter. Made in India that is, by Indians using machinery left behind from the days of the Raj. It was knackered back then, which is why it got left there! Add to that poor quality local metals and you can see why they’re a source of great frustration to many!

Given that the average distance to terminal failure for a brand new Enfield in Australia was 8000km (As recorded by the owners club for 11 new bikes), you can see why I’m impressed at 50,000 from the big kwak.

Anyway, she’s still banging along nicely!

Not a good start to the day, I dropped the bike picking up an ear plug! I should have got off but I was being lazy. It was in the forest and I was alone, the road some 5km or so down the forest track. The tank was full too – worst case scenario. Lucky I’d seen videos before I left on how to pick up a large bike on your own. With the right technique it’s not too bad! (Either that or I’m superman, you decide).

The temp gauge says 4°C first thing, and I was just starting to feel it in the hammock last night. If it gets much colder I think I’ll be in the tent!

Breakfast done I’m away at a reasonable time, back on the road to Murmansk. It’s mostly trees and swamp, but even so it’s very pretty. There’s the odd section of deeper water which is almost fjord like, being such a clear day it’s beautiful. The autumn colours are really coming out here, but of course the camera doesn’t do them justice.

Well almost! After splashing out the past few days I’m back to wild camping, but I have to say it’s great! I checked back into the Art Kultura hostel when the girls left, as it was late in the day to be leaving a big city. I also had a few errands to run.

First up was a trip to the supermarket to buy some food. I had the last of the porridge on Friday morning, which considering I wanted it to get me through Mongolia has done really well!! I knew I’d be camping tonight so I stocked up with a few meals. I also saw eggs, which I haven’t had in a while and I’ve really missed. Eggs are difficult to carry on a bike, so I decided I’d make myself a full English back at the hostel. Yum!!

I also had to collect my uk driving licence. I’d left it at the Stop House hostel in Novosibirsk and the staff there contacted me on Facebook. They posted it to a friend of theirs in St Petersburg for me to collect. Thanks very much Mikel and Elena! The last little job I did was change the oil, easy peasy!

By the time I left it was half twelve! I then had to negotiate the city traffic, which was bad. After leaving the city there was a huge traffic jam for roadworks about 50 km out. The kind of jam where engines are off, doors are open and drivers are waking around chatting. Just when I thought things were looking good!

I’ve only made 200km today, but I don’t mind as I don’t really have a schedule to keep. I just have to be mindful of the weather, not leaving it too late to get through the Arctic circle! Brr!

Храм Спаса на Крови, or Church of the Saviour on Blood is an incredible place. The outside is ornate and stands out against the St Petersburg architecture, but the inside is just amazing. I took a photo sphere picture of the inside but I can’t share it here.

On the inside the entire surface is covered with tiny mosaic tiles. There are huge freezes of religious scenes which have been painstakingly created with tiny coloured tiles. I’ve laid a few tiles in my time and I reckon I was petty good at it, but this was mind blowing.

The church was built where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and is dedicated to his memory. I’m not sure what the difference between an assassination and a murder is, not much for the victim that’s for sure! Maybe it depends how famous you are? Something to Google on a rainy day.