It is raining today. We decided to learn from our mistakes and not go biking and camping in the rain again. So we extended the reservation at the hotel and will take it easy today.
I am sure our dear readers have noticed that we are not making progress very fast. 🙂 Jerome figured out a back up plan, which is to put our bikes on the trans-Siberian railway in Irkutsk. We are not completely sure where it will take us yet, probably to Moscow. In any case it should let us recover the lost time, and it should be an experience in itself.
I am in touch over Facebook with Rostislav in Irkutsk, a couch surfer and very kind employee of the Russian railways, who I hope will help us execute this plan.
Update: Of course as soon as I extended our hotel reservation by a day, the rain stopped. The weather is clearly playing games with us.
We went for some sightseeing again, and changed more money. I also got some locally made ear rings for my wife. They are in this retro style that she is fond of, except here it does not count as retro, its what people still wear. The storekeeper told me they have a kind of Nephryte that can only be found in Buryatia. I hope she will like them.
I also made this video for my son, I hope he likes it:
Here are some more pictures from the sight seeing:
Sounds as a great plan. If you have the tickets, I would strongly recommend to stay for a couple days at the Baikal lake, it must be very beautiful – rather than just passing through from Moscow to Zurich. You should also see the landscapes and visit some cities in Russia or Transylvania. In other words, the time that you save by taking the train (I hope at least that you will save time) you could spend on seeing more than just the road. Enjoy Ulan Ude and the Radetzky-Marsch!
To Moscow? Leaving all Turkmenistans and alike aside?
Maybe, maybe not. I am really struggling with this decision. We could alternatively go to Yekaterinburg and then go through Kazakhstan from there. Thing is, we are making far slower progress than we planned, and we would like to be back in 5 weeks total. We are already gone over a week, yet we have hardly made any progress at all. Even here in Russia, the roads are really bad.
This is an itinerary that might fit into 21 days (that assumes 1 rest day for every 3 riding days):
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Watched the video with our sonS (remember, u got 2 now). Marcis comment was:”Zug! Papa … Zug!!!”
I think Marci was referring to the Canton he wants you to move to, for tax reasons 😉
I know this is completely off-topic, but my Krav Maga courses have started, they are completely awesome! Great instructors, good curriculum. Let me know when you need help in Ingushetia….
Glad you like it! Have fun!
Áduskám,
szép időt, jó utakat és békés, barátságos bennszülötteket nektek !
Most kaptam meg a MB&B fotósorozatot, öröm látni benneteket ! Te ott a nagy messziben hozzájutsz-e ?
Szent Kristóf vigyázzon rátok, ölel nagyapád