Moscow!!!

We made it to Moscow late this afternoon - with a little (huuuge amount) help from a friend from the HUBB.
Will post more tomorrow after a sightseeing walk.
Here for 2 days then onto St Petersburg.
More later . . .

Images of Odessa

A strange little bridge where it appears lovers write or engrave their names onto locks and fix them to the railing; hundereds of them!

Tips for travellers in the Ukraine

Thought I'd document a few things that might be of help to other travellers:
Language: It would be extremely helpful if you can read a little crilic; just to be able to decipher the road signs, because they don't translate into what you would expect in english. Most people do not speak english; a few words if that. Sign language gets you by.
Roads: The highways between major town are quite good; usually 4 lane type freeways. Get off the main roads and they become narrow, potholed and bumpy, with very few advisory warning signs, especially approaching sharp corners/bends; so slow down. The roads in some of the older villages and especially in major towns are paved with granite cobblestones - they are extemely slippers, and combined with tram and railway tracks, it makes riding tricky.
Road signs and navigation: Road signs tend to spring up just before a turn and don't give you much time to prepare. The signs are mostly in crilic and again don't necessarily correspond with its english equivalent. The easiest way to get around is the road numbers; eg. E65, M05, etc. I have a TomTom Rider and the only roads that show are the main arterial roads with the road number. These tend to disappear when you enter a large city. The compass on the TomTom is the best way to navigate; also lokking at a road map attached to my tank bag. I found if I have a fair idea which direction I want to go and loosly follow the compass direction, we eventaully get there. When driving on a major road; stay in the right lane at all times; and make real sure it's clear before overtaking or using the left lane, because you never know when that Mercedes or V8 Audi will come out of nowhere at a million miles an hour.
Petrol stations: WOG or Lukoil are best and most reliable service stations to obtain petrol. All have 95 octane (green pump). The usual procedure is: the is usually a guy near the pumps; he will fill your tank. Get off the bike, open the filler cap, select the pump and put it into the tank. Either tell the guy how much you want (in money, and pull some out of your wallet and flash it in his face) or go to the cashier's window and hand over enough money to pay for what you want. The guy will fill your tank. If you've overestimated, you get a refund! Most stations don't take credit card. At the time of posting this, a litre of 95 octane is about 6.3 Ukraine thingamejigs (about AUS$1.50).
Miscellaneous: Smokes cost about AUS$1.50 a pack. Coffee is execptional and cheap. Don't drink tap water.
Cops: They are everwhere; especially approaching service stations. They mainly stop trucks. Most have small hand-held radar, and most drivers flash their lights to warm you. I've always stayed under the speed limits (not really sure what they are, but slower than the average car!) and haven't been stopped yet.
Money: most larger hotel take credit card and also have an ATM. Lots of bamks with ATM's. Most places only take cash. One Australian dollar is 4.4 Ukraine thingamejigs. Everything seems to be quite cheap; breakfast $5, coffee $1, smokes $1.50, big diner with glass of wine $25.
Hope this helps . . .

Goodbye Kiev - Hello Odessa!

Left Kiev this morning is pissing down rain; 9 degrees and cold; and every car and truck in the city were on the road blocking our way out! Managed to navigate our way ( using a compass) out of the city in 2 hours! Then onto the highway south to Odessa. 500km took us 9 hours!
Note for anyone coming this way from Horizons - The Black Sea Hostel in Odessa no longer exists - the building is being torn down. It took us an hour driving in circles around town after we got here to find it didn't exist - pissed off Fred!
We're staying at the Hotel Passage - very old Russian style, but great sprung beds!
Parked the bike on the footpath by the front door and flicked the security guard 50 thingamejigs to watch it for the night (about 10 bucks).
Off sightseeing tomorrow - so stay tuned for more photos.
Change of plan from here - decided to head north across the Ukraine and run directly towards Moscow - should take us 3 days after we leave; so will be Moscow by the weekend.

Memories of Kiev

We took a 5 hour stroll around the centre of Kiev and found lots of monuments and old buildings; the architecture is great. The city was not as busy as yesterday; and we didn't get lost. Photos are just a sample of what we saw.





We're off to Odessa tomorrow . . . .

Hello Kiev!

Last 2 days been an absolute bitch; thunder storms and difficulty finding somewhere to stay! Left Romania with no problems; took us 20 minutes to cross the border into the Ukraine - border guards very helpfull and cheery. The roads! Not B or C grade; but Z grade! I'm being too harsh - they were not that bad; very bumpy and full of pot holes - that was the freeway! Then it started to rain. The major town were a little difficult to navigate - can't read the road signs and went by the road number. The roadways in most town are paved with cobble stones; and with the rain, and trying to cross slippery railway and tram tracks - look out! But we made it ok. We stopped about 70km out of Kiev last night. We pushed on because we couldn't find any accomodation; not even anywhere decent to pitch the tent. It looked like we were going to go all the way; and knowing our luck the first hotel would have been the Hilton!. no matter, we found a great little place just of the highway; soaked to the skin, and having ridden 500km in 10 hours; we were stuffed.
We were having a beer on the deck of the hotel last night and saw something amazing. Four guys walked from the hotel to the car park. Went to the boot of a large black Audi and pulled out a long silver case. I immediatley thought; that looks like a sniper rifle case - and I was right. They pulled out this bloody huge snipper rife and all inspected it, looking through the sights, taking aim etc. They put it back; gave each other a manly hug and drove off in different cars!
The trip into Kiev; we thought would be an easy 70km ride - wrong!!! We ended up travelling 80km around town; on and off major freeways; down back streets; etc before finding a hotel. Col ran in and found it to be $400 a night - crap! Drive around for another half and hour, and find another hotel (just 50m from the first one we saw - didn't see it the first time) and booked in for the next 2 nights - a modest $120 a night, 4 star service!
So, we're finally in Kiev (no real idea where we really are) and going to try and see the sights tomorrow (after washing and trying to get our wet riding gear dry.
So far the only problem the Ukraine has posed, is trying to decipher the signs and navigate - thank goodness the compass works.

More Romanian photos

Cruising the back roads of Romania
Another ancient fortress
North country near the Ukraine border

Final photos of Romania

Kif and I swapping patches
An ancient monk's cave
The Danube Delta
Tulcea and the Danube at dusk
Michael's Romanian haircut

Leaving Romania

We're in a little town called Rudaiti in the north of Romania near the Ukraine border staying with a friend, Kif. He was kind enough to put us up for tonight and today took us for a ride in the countryside. Have some wonderful photos but will have to wait to upload them.
Heading into the Ukraine tomorrow morning. We're told it should be an easy crossing; maybe and hour at the most with the paperwork; then on to Kiev. Should take us 2 days to reach Kiev and we might splurge on a decent hotel to do some washing and have a soft bed (Michael's arse is getting flat and sore!)
We're sorry to be leaving Romania. It has been one of the most wonderful countries we have ever travelled through; and met the most friendly and welcoming people.
Much thanks to Kif and Mihai and Andrei for making our stay most enjoyable.
If you've never been to Romania; think about it - you don't know what you're missing!

Note for Kathie

Kathie, Soraya, Kate etc - please send us your home email address. We think the firewall at ABS is blocking our emails we have sent you in the last week.
Please send via Michael's email address (michaeltharme@msn.com)

We're in Tulcea

We're in Tulcea; the mouth of the Danube Delta. Going on a 6 hour river cruise tomorrow to the world heritage park. We don't know when we can next post because from here we're heading north along the Moldovian border to the Ukraine; should enter the Ukraine in 3 or 4 days and from there, a couple of days to Kiev (for chicken).

Few more pictures

Romanian Police Museum

Prince Vlad's stronghold in Targovista

Prince Vlad's family tree

Bucharest to Constanta

Sunday 18 May 2008
We're were escorted out of Bucharest by Mihai and his wife and rode the picturesque road east to Constanta via the ferry which borders Bulgaria. Very fantastic scenery and winding (bumpy) roads. When we arrived in Constanta Mihai found us a hotel and we dropped our bags off. We then road about 60km south to Vama Veche, a hippy type seaside town. We there met members of the Sea Wolves MC and had a very large but enjoyable lunch. We rode back to Constanta late that evening and slept for 12 hours!

The ferry across the Danube from Calarasi

We think this guy was the Pres of the Seawolves MC (he gave Colleen a Club t-shirt and me a stick-on patch for the bike)

Mihai and the Seawolves MC

Great day in Bucharest

Saturday 17 May 2008
After meeting Mihai, we took the bike to his service centre and gave it an oil change and general look over. We also attached a heat shield to the left hand pannier because everything inside was getting roasted by the heat from the exhaust. Works fine now. Saturday night we had diner with Mihai and his wife and later Andrei and Adriana took us for a drive around town in the evening looking at the Military Museum and Peoples House (Parliament).
Earlier that day we returned to Targovista to visit the Police Museum - well worth the trip. An extrordinary museum with exhibits dating back to early 1800's when the first Police were mercenaries from Turkey. Found a NSW Police Cap, but no badge (promised the curator we would try and send her one). We donated an AFP and NSW Police Patch which were immediately placed in a prominent position in the display.
Next door to the museum is a small castle which was inhabited by Prince Vlad - took a couple of photos and climbed the 6 million stairs to the top of the guard's watchtower!

Andrei and a couple of friends

The curator of the Romanian Police Museum.

Mihai and his wife.

Outside the House of the People.

We're in Bucharest

Made it. Will post more tomorrow when we're awake . . .
Saturday 17 May 2008:
Made it into Bucharest late yesterday afternoon; wet and tired. We crossed the Carpathians near Brasov and got caught in a thunderstorm with much lightening. The road was very poor; steep, winding with huge potholes that were filled with rain and it was difficult to see them and see how deep they were. Dodging trucks and horse drawn carts; great fun!
We stopped at Bran Castle and saw the home of Dracula; very well restored from 13th century. We attempted to ride over the Transfargas Pass however the road was blocked with snow and one of the best roads to ride on was bypassed. Have a look at the photo further down this blog on what we missed out on.
We tried to find a camping site or other accommodation yesterday after leaving Bran in Targoviste (the Police Museum); however we again got caught in a storm and had to navigate heavy traffic through the town, including flooded roads; so we kept going and made it all the way to Bucharest.
On arrival we phoned Andrei from the HUB and met him later at out hotel. (we booked in at the Ibis) We also bumped into another guy (Paul) riding an African Twin who stayed and had a beer with us last night. He and his wife will be joining us today for a ride back to Targoviste to see the museum; Mihal from the HUB is also coming along. Tonight Andrei and his mates are taking us on a night museum tour and ride around the city.

Bran Castle

Still in Budapest

We met the IPA representative in front of Parliament House and got a guided tour. Didn't get to see the PM because the House was in session - we thought it not to be polite to disturb him . . . Got a tour of Police HQ and met some wonderfull people including the boss of the emergency comms section. Had a feed in the caffeteria and noticed that the secure offices had bars on the front door - I thought they were cells!

Me, Colleen and the IPA rep (Ida) in front of parliament House.

Me in front of Police HQ

We're in Budapest.

Left Prague this morning and went to see the Church of Bones in Kutna Hora then rode into Slovakia for 20 minutes and onto Hungary - 3 countries in one day! Arrived in Budapest late afternoon and found The Biker Camp (Benyovszky Moric utca 40) (http://www.bikercamp.hu). Host is Zsuzsanna - very nice lady - speaks little Australian! Unfortunately, no other biker in the place - we're looking forward to maybe meeting other travellers.

The Church of Bones.

Our camp site at Bikercamp.

We're in Prague

Picked the bike up - all ok - set off for Dover last Tuesday. Crossed on the SpeedFerry in 55 minutes to France then headed north to Calais for the night.
Traveling on the wrong side of the road was very weird! First round-a-bout, nearly got wiped out by not looking LEFT. The motorways in Germany are awesome. Sitting on 130 cruising nicely and got overtaken by a Ferrari doing 200+.
Met Paul M in Germany and parted company 5 hours later! Didn't realize he was on such a tight schedule of 600-800km per day. O well, as the saying goes.
Spent last night in a quaint little village somewhere near Alfeld in Germany.
Made it to Prague today and spent 3 hours riding in circles around the inner city trying to find accommodation. Should have gone straight to the information center, shouldn't we?
Tomorrow we have a day in Prague doing the tourist thing. Then head east to Kuta Hora and the Church of Bones.
Stay tuned . . . .

Day 2 in Prague:

Secure parking in the hotel - straight thru the lobby!