R and R in Barnaul, Russia


In Semey, Kazakhstan I teamed up with Moritz a German chap also riding a Transalp. The border into Russia was easy, especially when the customs bloke, who was from Kaliningrad worked out we could speak German. So could he and he took the opportunity to speak in something other than Russian or Kazakh. It seems to be the policy to station these poor blokes as far from home as possible. It was the same at the Russia/Mongolia border at Tashanta. The bloke at the gate was from Kaliningrad too.

Barnaul was a welcome break for some R and R in “civilisation”.



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Couldn’t find any bars, but saw me people hang out outside a mini-supermarket drinking beer at their cars and acting cool. That was fine by me and Moritz...



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Olga is the lady on the left. Her blond friend’s name eluded me.


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Olga was intrigued why I was taking her picture. I explained it was the shoes. :) She then impressed me with another pair she had in the boot of the car. They matched her nail varnish.


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In the beer shop I couldn’t for the life of me work out why the security guard wasn’t letting me buy any more beer. Did he think I was under-age or had drunk too much? I think the sign says that you can only buy cerveza with > 5% alcohol until 9pm. So as it was midnight we had to settle for 4.9%. Made all the difference…


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More legs


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In Barnaul we first came across cars competing in the Mongol Rally. All the participants I met were very pleasant, less than half my age, but actually doing something interesting in their Uni vacation or GAP year. You really don't need a blinged up 4x4 to drive Mongolia...


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Lenin the Toreador


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The next day we found the Barnaul Biker Bar…


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Hey Harley boys: This is what you call ape hanger bars…


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Getting a lift home from the bar


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Needed a front wheel bearing change, so went to Viktor’s…


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… Viktor was out of town, but I think this is Sergei, a very competent wrench and nice bloke. The bloke with the glasses rides spoke some English and was able to interpret.


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Ok. Finally a pic of a bike and a woman. It is of course a bike trip. Sorry forgot.:D

Hi Chris

Great write up! We enjoyed our stay (oh and the biker bar beer) in Barnaul too.

We're back in the UK so look forward to catching up with you in 2013.

Debz

Somebody on a different forum recons that the Lonchin company has, since 2008, made the engines that go into the BMW G 650 GS. Not my thing, either made in Germany or made in China. I do however still like the idea of a Gixxer engine in a DRZ chassis :)

Hi Debz
Good to hear you made it home ok. I thought you were heading towards South America. Yep, definitely looking forward to catching up in early 2013.

All the best for the festive period,
Chris

Hi guys
Haven’t posted in a while. Been busy moving house, sorting matrimonial issues and riding the "parts donor" Transalp (an 87 shed: You'll recall the trip bike is an 88 model with a 98 bodykit)

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from snowy Bulgaria (Doug's in Idilevo Riding, Fun, Adventures! | MotoSapiense ) to Istanbul/Turkey, where it was a bit less snowy, only just though! Met some great Turkish bikers from http://www.facebook.com/groups/kuzgunmotor/ also called http://www.facebook.com/groups/turkeybiker/ in Istanbul!

Anyway, I digress. After sorting the bike and enjoying the R and R time it was time to head through the Altai region towards the border with Mongolia at Tashanta. There’s quite a few pictures. Hopefully they give a flavour of this beautiful part of the world.

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Truck on a bridge

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Beautiful valley

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I was impressed with myself! I managed to track down some real (Russian) duct tape. I needed it. The bike is held together with it and cable/zip ties :-)

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The new Russian chip and pin reader

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I met these nice Russian cyclists from Ekaterinburg on their summer vacation. The lady spoke good English and told me the Russian for tyre changer:

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This is where I probably was a bit heavy handed and blew out the sprocket carrier bearing which caused a few issues after I reached Ulaan Baatar.

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Spotted this outfit on the side of the road and pulled over. A couple of minutes later this young lad rocks up with a container of petrol, pours it in the tank, kicks the engine over and rides off.



Russian Dnepr Outfit Altai Russia - YouTube

In the next village, I spot him again with 2 girls: One in the chair and one on the back. Bikes = babes?

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Wow, another road user, shortly before the checkpoint where I wasn’t permitted to ride my off-pavement “shortcut” any further. The Russian Army officer spoke Spanish (!) and mine was ok enough to be told I was riding too close to the Kazakh border. Bollocks, I had to ride all the way back to the main road!

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Altai house

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Clarkson/ Hammond/ May were ‘ere.

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Altai river scene

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Overtook these Russian chaps on an Africa Twin. It had an eclectic mix of body panels. Why are they carrying a totally shagged rear tyre on the back?

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Wild camp.

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Ok, looks like I’m riding the bridge…

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Sunset just before Mongolia border.

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The next morning. I had just ridden 2 miles perpendicular to the paved road and pitched my tent, because I reckoned it would be better (and cheaper) than sleeping in the border town.


Will be in touch again much more frequently than since the last instalment.

See you later.

Great photos as usual Chris, I cannot wait to be there, but what with the shoe fetish? :confused1:

@ Mark: It's a Russian thing. Ladies wear the most outlandish heels, even to conservative day jobs. In Irkustk last year I saw nurses walking to work at a hospital in the morning wearing 5 inch leopard print stilettos. It can be distracting!

Thanks for sharing,very interesting as always

Here’s a couple more maps of my route between Almaty and the Russian/ Mongolia border at Tashanta with one or two comments of what happened (or didn’t) en route.

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Almaty to Russian border

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The Altai region of Russia


Mongolia pictures coming next…

Mark, you've got a lot to learn about Russian travel:smartass::Beach:. Thanks to DC for educating you:thumbup1: I'm looking forward to my summer trip. Irkutsk is enroute from UB to the start of the western section of the BAM road.

Now I'm single again, I'm able to look and admire women's shoes without any "guilt":innocent:

Thanks mate!

Sorry, muy tres sorry. Haven't posted in a while. There's a genuine reason: After entering Mongolia I attached a soundsystem to my bike, like this dude's...

Mongolian bike with sound system - YouTube




went for a swim...

How To Not Cross A River In Mongolia - YouTube




and became a cannibal... The human flesh gave me a bit of a funny turn :-(

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I've been sectioned, but they're letting me out next week, so maybe I'll be able to publish a bit more stuff then.

cheers!

Hi Chris...

Thanx ...
The guy, filming everything was he german..?
I ask, becauseI have seen the clip where you cross the river, several months ago - on a german forum... The TransAlp is impressing...And so is your Argali :-) ;-)

Going for Mongolia in 2014. following all threads about it ....yours is always good for a laugh too.. :-)

Keep em comming...

Hi mate
I just googled "Argali" and now know the type of sheep Ernie is/was. :D He's sitting on the shelf at home with the export certificate (for which I was forced to pay usd21 export tax... no receipt received) that describes him as "Sheep skull/1".

Yep, the "camera man" is German, called Moritz, website is 1World2Go | 1 World, 2 go.. The video has been around a while, so you could well have seen it before. The title was chosen by me and the strap line should read "And when you've really messed up, how to sort it out".

Glad you like the RR :thumbup1:

......pretty cheap for Ernie.....Argali , or Marco Polo sheep, named after Marco, as he was the first to descriebe the animal for the west, costs between 22.000 - 25.000 USD to hunt ! Ofcause one gets the fur too, included in the price...
Would love to find one myself ..!! :-)

No fur included with this one.:oops2: