Few more pics

Me at the border
Stickers!
A beach in Latvia
An empty border post in Latvia

Estonia to Poland

We left Estonia (Tallinn) last Friday. Today (Sunday) we arrived in Warsaw - crossing Latvia and Lithuania (which weren't much to look at; nothing but flat open countryside with miles of fields). A couple of photos along the way:

Some images of St Petersburg

Tallin (Estonia)

Left St Petersburg for the Estonian border yesterday morning. The roads were woeful - one big pothole!. Crossed out of Russia in about 45 minutes with no problems. The TomTom came back on and we were able to navigate to our hotel in Tallin with no difficulty. We're staying in the Old City part of Tallin and went for a stroll this morning to find nothin but American and German tourists - thousands of them!
Some photos of the old city:

Leaving St Petersburg

We're leaving St Petersburg tomorrow morning (Thu 5 June) and travelling west towards Estonia. Photos of Peter when we have more time to post . . . .

Moscow to St Petersburg

It's Wednesday 4 June. We rode into St Petersburg yesterday afternoon and was met by a member of the Rolling Anarchy MC and escorted to their clubhouse where we spent last night. The ride out of Moscow was woefull; cold, rain and trucks; not to mention the million trucks on the road. It was a fine day when we left Moscow but a 100 km up the road it turned bad - temp dropped to about 8 degrees; it rained; the roads turned nasty (heaps of road works which required carefull navigation); and every truck in Russia was in our way (all blowing diesel fumes). We couldn't find a place to stay or camp; so kept on riding. We ended up 125km out of St Petersurg about 7pm that evening and fell on a service station which had a hotel attached; and crashed for the night.
The next day we headed out to St Petersburg about 9.30am and took us to about 3pm to cover the 125km; only to find the hotel we had chosen was full. Three other hotels in the near vicinity were all full (should of booked). We rang our contact with the local MC and they came to the rescue. Found us in town and escorted us to their clubhouse which has a bunkhouse; shower, toillet, and kitchen; not to mention the bar.
So, after a good nights sleep we're off to see the sights.

Ukraine to Russia

We left the Ukraine on Thursday 29 May. We got lost finding the border and ended up in the countryside close to the Russian border; and the Police found us! After much sign language to indicate we were lost, we got an escort to the right road. It took us an hour to get across the Ukraine side; then 1 1/2 hours to enter Russia - what a hassle! So much paperwork (all in Russian) and thanks to another biker that was also crossing, we got some help with the interpretations and filling out the forms.
It took us 2 days to get to Moscow; we stayed in a small hotel just across the Ukraine border. We were met on the outer ring road to Moscow by a contact from the HUBB (Nadejda). Thanks to her, we got a fast ride into the city and our hotel. We would never have navigated the roads without her. The traffic was unbelievable. Six lanes of crazy drivers, just about stand-still. and when they got moving - mad crazy unbelievable speeds. We used a small emergency type of lane on the left - only 1.2 metres wide (the bike is about 1.1 metres! We travelled most of the ring road (about 50km in the emergency lane overtaking all the stationery cars in the adjacent 6 lanes!
SATURDAY 31 MAY 2008
We made contact with friends from Rolling Anarchy who met us later in the day. The morning was spent braving the Metro and finding our way into the city. Walked around the Kremlin and saw Lenin in his tomb! Strolling down some of the major streets surrounding the Kremlin and inner cuty area.
We were picked up at our hotel later that day by Sasha and Dimitri and treated to to tour of the major sights around the city. After, we went to a favourite biker's meeting palce and met some of the locals and had a fine dinner.
On our return to the car, Sasha found it missing! It had been towed away. No problem, a few words with the local cops and some directions, Sasha's car was retrieved a few minutes later; at no cost!
All in all, a fantastic day seeing Moscow - a city as large as the ACT, but with 12 million people - all crazy, but heaps of fun!

Final images of Moscow

The skyline from our hotel
Man on a horse!
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
Red Square

Even more images of Moscow

WWII tank
More gold dones
Our frineds Sasha and Dimitri
Memorial to concentration camp victims

More images of Moscow

Slaying the Serpent
The cathedral
Red Square

Images of Moscow

Moscow University
Boulevarde
Another gold dome
Goddess of Victory

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