After a comfortable week in Olgii (it was a nice change to be in the one spot for some time) we were itching to get back on the road and explore this expansive land. After several visits to the supermarket to load ourselves with supplies we were off with the plan to head north and […]
Golden Eagle Festival
Fortunately our trip to Mongolia was to coincide with the Golden Eagle Festival, held in Olgii. Kazakh hunters come from near and far with their Golden Eagles and participate in a competition to test their Eagles’ speed, accuracy, and agility. From early Friday evening the hunters (traditionally named kusbegi or berkutchi) rode into town on […]
Welcome to Mongolia
Prior to crossing the border we stayed in the last real town, Kosh Agach. Our hotel seemed to be a beacon for travellers and we met a group of Israeli photographers also on their way to Mongolia. I also had a brief conversation with a Russian guy who recognised not us, but Maggie! Apparently we […]
You meet people in the strangest of places…
Staying in Onguday in a little wooden lodge we met some very interesting people. On first impression the lodge was clearly a bit of a party place in summer as there was a swimming pool (empty at this time of year), a stage and tiered seating, as well as a pool bar that was cranking […]
Wild bears, Snow and Siberia
Sorry to lie to you, but we haven’t seen any bears, not yet anyway. We stayed in Gorno Altaysk, a decent sized town with teenagers in school uniforms behaving like any other teenagers in every other part of the world on a Friday afternoon, and a lot of military propaganda. We had noticed many memorials […]
Deep in Mother Russia
I’m not sure what was supposed to get better, according to our truck driver friends, but it certainly isn’t the roads. We have officially crossed into Asia and the landscape is incredibly barren but beautiful. It’s so much more idyllic away from civilisation, the towns tend to have a rather pungent smell and the roads […]
Over the Urals we go
A couple of weeks ago we met some lovely truck drivers at a service station. They were two Germans and a Dutchman who were transporting quality cows from Finland to Siberia. After a conversation about roads and drivers, they told us that things get better after the Urals. We had high hopes. Our first hurdle […]
An encounter with the authorities
On a day full of sunshine and magnificent autumnal colours, we had our first experience with the Russian authorities. It seems to be that you are not pulled over for actually doing anything wrong, but more like you get pulled over and then they try and find something wrong. We were waved down by a […]
The birthplace of Russia
Heading out of St Petersburg we arrived in Veliky Novgorod. At first this was just another city to us, but research later prevailed and it is known as the birthplace of Russia. It is one of the oldest towns in Russia. Wandering around the ancient Kremlin (with scaffolding almost equally ancient) I was astounded by […]
Heavenly St Petersburg
I could not wait to get to St Petersburg. We had a fairly simple experience at the border, the only drama was not caused by us but by some poor bugger who rode his motorcycle down the wrong road (accidentally I’m assuming). All of a sudden there was shouting and sirens, I was half expecting […]