1989 USSR, Moscow

I was 18 years old.

The day after my birthday, I got on a plane and flew to Bashkiria.
My parents were very unhappy, but they could not do anything - I wanted independence, I wanted to test myself.

What is 1989 in Russia? Many events that affected the largest country in the world.
And also - the heyday of crime, gangs, unemployment, "dry law".

Initially, I was going to BAM (Construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway. One of the largest and most remote from Moscow construction projects in the USSR), but this year the construction was completed.

I, who was born in an intelligent family, living in ideal conditions, had to break out of this golden cage! I needed to experience what a real, harsh life is like. Need romance, loneliness and overcoming.
I was offered a job - a roadside cafe was being built on the Ufa-Orenburg highway. A person was needed. They offered high wages for the time. I immediately agreed.

I didn't know what to expect.
It was a small wooden booth (kiosk) by the road and a brazier (an iron box for coal on which meat is fried).
My job was to cut and chop wood early in the morning, light the grill, roast and sell meat. I made meat preparations late in the evening when I closed the wooden shutters of the booth.
I stayed there for almost a year, and during all the time I had only two days off. It was very hard, but it wasn't the worst...

The most difficult and frightening thing is crime. He surrounded me everywhere and constantly. In the beginning it was attacks, robberies and racketeering. Later, when the construction of the main building was completed and the cafe opened, people began to work there. Nearly all of them have been in prison at one time or another. And even the waiter girls were in prison, and some of them more than once.

Everything that happened there - you can write a book. Almost every day there were events from which at first it was scary, then it was perceived more easily, and then I got used to it - if you can get used to it.
Once it happened - what should have happened when there are so many people around who are connected with the dark side of life. It was terrible. After the incident, the cafe closed, and I returned home.

Now this place and this cafe still exists. Those days are long gone and now decent, good people work in this place. It's completely safe here. There is no trace left of what happened then. But this place, the memories associated with my formation, are still strong in my memory.
It was a great school of life. School of character. Without this place, there would be no me, such as my friends and relatives know me.

I have very close people in this place.

I couldn't get past this place!



Police crime

I already drove up to Ufa. It was deep night and there were practically no cars on the road.
I was driving at the usual speed of 110 km/h.

In Russia, there is a strange law, or rather an interpretation of the law - if a road sign shows a speed limit of 90 km / h, this means that you can drive 109 km / h.
How it works - by law, you will not be fined or prosecuted if you do not exceed the speed limit by more than 10 km / h. After you have exceeded the speed limit by 10 km/h you will be fined, but the amount of the fine is too small for the police to be interested in this. More or less noticeable amount of the fine when you exceed the speed limit by 20 km/h or more. Therefore, on all roads in Russia, everyone drives faster than it is indicated on the signs.

In the distance, on a completely empty road, I saw a police car. They stopped me.
I was sure it was just a document check, but they told me that I had overtaken in a prohibited area and crossed a solid line on the road (this is a serious violation, a very large fine). I'm stunned..! I've been driving almost an empty road for an hour and I'm not overtaking anyone!
I looked the policeman in the eyes and it was clear that he understood that he was lying, he knew that I understood this, and he was doing it on purpose. Yes, sometimes it happens in Russia. It's very rare now, but it still happens.
It is useless to argue... Corrupt police officers use criminal methods and common sense does not work here. I knew what to say to him. He realized that what he had in mind would not work. He immediately changed and started talking on other topics. How disgusting! Especially when, after everything that happened, he wanted to shake my hand ...

This was the only incident with the police during my entire journey through Russia. In all other cases, I received only positive emotions and help. There are more good people, but you need to be prepared for such cases.

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

I really didn't like the weight of the bike. Too many things..
Something needs to be done about this! And I decided - I will leave something not very necessary every day of rest.
As much as I feel sorry for these things, I will leave them!
But first I need to weigh everything - then it will be clear what needs to be left in the first place.



You also need to distribute all things in bags. I have to know where everything is so that I don't open all the bags every time.
I decided to distribute them by tasks:
front left - all for sleep
front right - all clothes
rear left - tent, shoes, spare parts
back right - laptop, important documents, satellite phone, food supply, first aid kit
central rear - camera and video cameras, kitchen, rain cover, cover, compressor
I spent several hours sorting everything out in order. But so far I had too much superfluous and I decided that I would finally decide on the order of things when I got rid of everything that was not needed.



For the first time in history, I washed my motorcycle. Great day!

Along the way, I met a guy who said that he also really wants to go around the world. We agreed that he would go as soon as he graduated.

He was from Siberia. It is interesting that he had a Siberian dialect. Instead of the traditional "chut-chut" (slightly) he said "malenko" (a little)





And yet I have too many things..!!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

In the morning I left Ufa.
I continue driving east and the next city where I should stop is Chelyabinsk.



The end of August is probably the best time to move around central Russia on a motorcycle. There is no heat and no cold, almost no rain, very few insects.





I am approaching the Ural mountains, and nature becomes very beautiful.



There is a small market on the road. Here you can buy a device for making moonshine for the price of a bottle of whiskey.



Not far from Chelyabinsk, I met two motorcyclists. One of them was returning from a trip.





When we said goodbye and shook hands, he suddenly asked -
- Do you happen to need a folding chair ..?
Probably needed..
- on, I donate, I will not need it now ..
He got on a motorcycle and left. I stood with a chair in my hands and could not understand why I took it ...
I decided to make the luggage lighter! I decided to leave something every day of rest! Why did I take a chair..?!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

I didn't like that my back hurt all night.
As I rode my motorcycle to the pharmacy, my back began to hurt more. When I tried to get off the motorcycle, the pain became almost unbearable.
I stood by the motorcycle for a long time and looked at the pharmacy door. It was 50 meters to the door, but this distance seemed huge to me ...
I plucked up courage and took small steps.
I opened the first one and stepped inside. At that moment, I felt the most intense pain in the world!
I stood in the aisle with the door open and could not move even a millimeter. All eyes were white...
People wanted to come in and out, but they couldn't because I was standing at the door and I couldn't move.
I must have moaned loudly, which is why a woman in a white coat came running from the pharmacy.
I just told her
- back hurts.
She nodded, she dived under me like a wrestler, and in a second she carried me inside the room on her.
She laid me on my stomach on the counter.
I was terribly ashamed...
Never before has a woman carried me. But she did it so deftly that I did not even have time to understand what was happening.
I lay on my stomach on the counter. I couldn't move, but it was much easier for me here than in the doorway.
She reappeared with a syringe in her hands.
- Now let's make an injection ..
Where? Here?! Here are the people..!
- Nothing, they turn away ...
She unbuttoned my trousers in a second, lowered my underpants and plunged a syringe into me.
How embarrassed I was..!!
She pulled her pants back on, ducked under me again, and deftly carried me back to the bench.
Now I was on my back. It was better than on the counter with his pants down, but still very embarrassing..
- I called an ambulance. Coming soon...
She said this and continued to work with the buyers. I lay helplessly and watched everything that was happening. People went into the pharmacy and looked at me in surprise. I averted my eyes and tried not to think.




Television came along with the ambulance.
I was glad that my savior would be shown on local TV.



TV people went with me to the hospital and it was also useful -
The doctors examined me and issued a verdict - Three weeks in the hospital. At least two weeks.
This did not fit into the plans at all!
The doctors said that if I did not sign a paper that I agreed, they would not treat me.
TV people contacted the head doctor of the hospital, and he made the right decision -
- they will cure me in three days! They will treat with some special method, and in three days I will be able to go further!
O miracle! Almighty TV! From their cameras and microphones, even the back heals faster ..))

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

The Chelyabinsk hospital is good people in difficult conditions.
There are shabby walls and old furniture that has been painted over old paint many times over. Everything here is like 50 years ago, only now it is very worn out. There are no modern materials here, everything is old-fashioned. Despite this, the people who work here have good qualifications and a good heart!



They really decided to raise me in three days. I was constantly doing various procedures, droppers and injections.
The very next day I felt much better.



My motorcycle was left at the pharmacy. Friends contacted local bikers and asked for help.
Some of the local guys took my bike to the workshop.
I showed up at the garage on the third day. I was picked up from the hospital by a local motorcyclist nicknamed "Grandfather", well known here in Chelyabinsk. He was very unhappy that he had to follow me ...



At the garage, I asked a local mechanic to help me attach the spare parts to the bike. I didn't like that they were in bags.
I usually do things like this myself, but now I could only sit on a chair.

For two more days I hung out between the hospital and the workshop. In parallel, in the hotel room, I continued to organize things in luggage bags.



And of course, as promised, I left some things in Chelyabinsk. It was especially difficult to part with a very expensive photo tripod and an even more expensive head for this tripod.
But how happy was the guy to whom I gave it all!

.

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

Today I'm moving on! The back has almost recovered. I hope there will be no problems!
While I was sick, one guy often came to chat.
When I went outside and was about to leave, a police car drove up to me.
Turned out he was a cop.



My wife's relatives invited me to stay in Kurgan
Siberia lies from the Urals to the east of Russia.



This is my first visit to this part of Russia. I have been to many places in Russia, but I have never crossed the Ural range.
For the first time I will be visiting real Siberians.
They are very simple and very hospitable people. Despite provincial life and low incomes, they are well educated and lead a decent life. Everything good in Russia rests on people like them.

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

This family gets up very early.
Luda cooked belyashi (Popular meat pies in the USSR, which came to Russia from Tatar cuisine). How do they smell! I almost forgot that smell!
Smells are a different story altogether. This is what really distinguishes a motorcycle from a car - you hear all the smells, and they do not mix, but suddenly appear and also suddenly disappear. You are just starting to look with your eyes where it comes from, and the smell is already being replaced by another. Maybe the air is unusual here? Clean? Is it his purity and makes everything so bright?
It's 8:30 am and I'm already on my motorcycle.



I'm heading to Omsk.
But first you need to get to the city of Makushino, where I will make a decision on how to move on.
There are two options:
1. You can drive through Kazakhstan. Shorter than 100 km, but everyone complains about the Kazakh corrupt border guards and the police.
2. It is possible through Russia. The distance is longer and there is a global repair of the road. Yesterday a friend called and said that a few days ago the speed in this section did not exceed 20 km/h.



Departure from Kurgan and now nature reminds me more and more that I'm going through Mother Siberia.
I don't believe! As if someone would wake me up and everything would turn out to be a dream.
Several times I repeated to myself – “Yes! It's really you Oleg, and you Oleg really ride a motorcycle to the farthest distance! You are really here! Actually!"
I drove and smiled. It's weird to smile at myself, but I actually did it.



Unnoticed, I reached Makushino.



A fork in the form of a huge ring of circular motion, from which the roads diverge in different directions. I immediately remembered how Arkady Severny once sang (Popular performer of prison folklore of the 70s) “... I am sick, my chest and legs are broken ..., I see three ways in front of me ... And I stand alone on the road ... And I don’t know where to go…".



I thought, thought and moved towards Kazakhstan, but immediately after the crossroads I stopped. There was a local guy standing near the car. “..No, you better go through Ishim. Here the Kazakhs will torture you to death. First, you will pass the Russian border, then the Kazakh one, then again... You will be tormented... Go through Ishim..”
Well, I went through Ishim.

After the village of Berdyugye began ...
Indeed, the road is being repaired, but somehow strange. Half a meter of rubble was poured onto the road, along which cars and trucks drive. From trucks, the track is such that passenger cars scrape the bottom and leave traces of mufflers on the crushed stone canvas.

Two cars were stuck in the oncoming lane, and stones were flying very dangerously from the trucks passing towards me. The stones are large and heavy. One hit on the shoulder, the other hit hard and painful on the leg.



For the first time, an enduro school came in handy for me.
The difficulty was that other cars were moving slowly along the track, and at the moment of approach, when you had to let off the gas, the front wheel burrowed and the motorcycle lost stability. I had to stop, wait for the car in front to drive away, and when the distance increased to two hundred meters, start. And so on all the way.
At first, those behind me were indignant that I stopped, but later they put up with my driving style.



Twenty kilometers later everything was fine. The road went great. Very soon I entered Ishim.
Here in the city, a local motorcyclist Zhenya organized a bike post.



Pleasant and cozy place. Everything is very neat and well thought out. The guest house is designed for four people. Probably more can stop here. Everything is there. There is clean linen, a heater, a kettle and electrical outlets. The house is carefully provided with a canister of drinking water, tea leaves, sugar and something like Doshirak. In short, for the traveler there is everything you need.



Zhenya left the keys, and he went to work. Tomorrow I will have to leave the key at the appointed place.
And today I am comfortably located on the porch and I am writing this post for you.



The journey continues...!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

Lots of people reading this Khariton, looking forward to more.

So - I drove the first 2500 km in my life.
This is funny! Especially when I say that it took me two weeks.
That's less than 200 km a day!

Why?:
1. I have never traveled by motorcycle. I'm like a child learning to walk.
2. My luggage is not packed correctly. Lots of extra stuff. The necessary is missing.
3. On the way, I finish on the motorcycle what I did not have time to do before the start.

Motorcycle and modifications:

- In general, I am satisfied with the bike.

- Electric heated handles were tested yesterday. In the second mode (out of five), they heated quite strongly. Nice feeling. Unusual.

- The fuel supply system from the lower tank to the upper one works well. First, fuel is completely consumed in the lower tank, then in the upper (regular) one. When 2 liters remain in the upper tank (40-50 km), the warning light on the dashboard turns on.
The total volume in two tanks is 19.5 liters. This is 450 - 500 km at a speed of about 100 km / h.

- Fuel consumption today at one of the sites, at a speed of 100 - 110 km.h amounted to 3.7 liters. This is very, very cool! I'm glad I chose the right engine.

- The footboard had to be shortened twice. It's good that in Russia you can find argon welding on the road! Now the footrest has finally reached the optimal length, and the motorcycle does not collapse. You can still shorten it by 0.5 cm, but this will not be necessary if I fulfill the promise to reduce the weight of the luggage by a quarter, or replace the shock absorber with a more suitable one.
The support platform of the footboard stands steadily even in shifting sand. It seems to me that the contact area is approximately equal to the contact area of the wheel.



- The switch of all light, an excellent piece! Now, before starting the motorcycle, I turn off all the lights. This may be needed if I get into winter and cold - it seems that this will happen.
If you drive on deserted roads, headlights, marker lights and brake lights are not needed, especially if you want to be invisible. For example, at the entrance to the place where you are going to put up a tent for the night.

- Front suspension - 270 mm is very cool! There is no bad road. You see a hole, you prepare for a blow, but there is no blow. In front of you, the car shakes from a rough road, and you drive through the same place, as if everything is even there.

- The rear suspension is bad. I replaced the air shock absorber due to its unreliability with a traditional one (spring + hydraulic). It seems to me that the spring is too weak for such a load. Not enough suspension travel. The hydraulics don't work well either. You need to save money for a normal shock absorber.



- I don't know how fast the rubber should wear out, but so far, I don't think it wears off at all. Protector looks like new.



- Headlights are great! I really like the light. Now, after adjustment, the neighbor does not blind oncoming drivers. Be sure to put xenon! The brightness of an ordinary light bulb is not enough.
It will be necessary to put fog lights at the bottom. Yesterday, being in the fog, I realized that if the fog had been denser, I would not have seen anything. Headlights are high and illuminate the foggy cloud.

- The location of the navigator is super! Very comfortably. You don't have to take your eyes off the road. Even when you look at the navigator, you see the road in front of you.



- Dashboard - great! I set it much higher. No need to look away from the road and lower your head to see.



- No ignition lock (no key) - it saved! One corrupt policeman stopped me in Bashkiria. He wanted to pull the ignition key so I couldn't leave and blackmail me. But I don't have an ignition lock or a key! He was very confused...)) I had fun))

- The anti-theft lock is a problem. I keep forgetting to take it off the wheel. Several times I tried to leave when he was strapped to the wheel.



- Bags are really very good, but I already know what needs to be changed in them. We have already talked with Sergey and are compiling a list of necessary changes for the next generation.

- Steering damper - no way. I haven't been able to connect it yet.



- The seat is fine. I spent 200 dollars. I turned to the master to make the seat lower and wider. I regret doing this. The seat became hard and too wide. It makes it hard to stand upright. I plan to return the stock seat as soon as possible.

- Helmet - like it! He's a little heavy. But really very comfortable. It creates a sense of security. Not noisy. Glass does not fog up. I like the belt buckle. The visor is not for beauty - it really works from the sun and from stones. The helmet is very simple, but very high quality.

- Motosuit - I'm happy! It is really very high quality and comfortable! I ditched the stock knee guards and use motocross knee guards.

- Motorcycle boots - very good! It was expensive, but I don't regret it. They are really very comfortable and do not get wet when it rains.
I was told that for travel you need to use something more versatile. But I want to be safe. These boots are the most protected of all tourist boots.

I also trimmed the photo tripod. I just took and sawed off 15 cm from each link. I replaced the heavy, professional head with a light one. The tripod seriously lost weight and got quite compact dimensions without losing reliability. With fully extended legs and central rod, it reaches a height of 170 cm.



I still have a lot of work to do to get the bike ready.
You also need to replace the tent, buy a good (warm) sleeping bag.
This must be done in Russia before I cross the Mongolian border.
Friends will send a lot of necessary details for me to Altai. There the motorcycle will be completed.

I spent a lot of time trying to solve the issue of money for the round the world. There was very little time to prepare. Everything has to be decided on the way. I hope I can do everything before I find myself where there is no asphalt, the support of friends and the motorcycle brotherhood.


.


The journey continues...!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

Approaching the city, the first thing you see is a huge oil refinery.



I was expected.



Club "Siberian Bears". This place is equipped with everything you need and it is possible to spend the night. Here I spent two nights.













Omsk is indeed a real Siberian city, with real Siberians, well-groomed and clean.



.

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

I was invited to the cadet school. It is a great honor for me to be where the history of Russia was formed with all its drama.



The school is 200 years old and it is more like a museum.
When the Bolsheviks occupied Russia in 1917, the Cadets were evacuated first to Vladivostok and then to Shanghai. A little later, due to the dissatisfaction of the Chinese authorities, they crossed to the Balkans on ships. The young, educated, noble military elite of Russia was doomed. In 1925 the Cadet Corps was disbanded.

The Soviet authorities used the building of the Cadet Corps to form their detachments. From here, the newly formed Red Army was sent to the front of the civil war, to destroy partisan resistance and to suppress counter-revolutionary protests.
The Cadet Corps was restored only in 1999. But that's a completely different story...









________________________________








I'm getting more and more worried about winter. Winter comes early in Siberia. Immediately with snow and frost. I still have seven thousand kilometers ahead of me, most of which are on the Mongolian steppe, dirt roads.





The journey continues...!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

I planned to go further in the morning, but again they called from the television and made an offer that I could not refuse.
In addition to filming, they promised me to do a city tour and all this was offered by a very nice girl.
This was no ordinary shoot. Usually, TV people shoot like a few shots of riding a motorcycle and a short interview with the same questions. This time it was different.
She came with a helmet. It was cool! We got on a motorcycle and drove to the Wedding Palace. Yes, it was very similar to a motorcycle wedding))





The building of the old Wedding Palace now houses the Center for the Study of the History of the Civil War in Russia.



This is the same war (1917-1922) that divided the Russian people. The most bloody and fierce war on the scale of the whole of Russia between the Soviet government and the White movement.
According to various estimates, from 10 to 17 million people became victims of this war. Sometimes it seems to me that this war is not over yet...



In Omsk, the Russian writer Dostoevsky was serving hard labor (punitive labor, accompanied by exile). In tsarist Russia, he was convicted for participating in a circle of freethinkers fighting for the abolition of serfdom and freedom of speech.



We wandered around the city for a long time, along the banks of the Irtysh River.
It was a truly special day.







I will come here again..!




The journey continues..!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

Omsk was cool! This is one of the main cities of Russian Siberia with all its drama.
The history of the city makes you wonder what Russia has lost from the power of Lenin and Stalin. What irreparable damage these characters brought to Russia and the peoples living on its territory.



Morning has come and I need to move on. Rather, the morning did not come, but came with pain and suffering.
At six in the morning, a cramp pierced my leg like a knife. Sometimes you pat on the leg, pull and the pain goes away. This time the pain was ten out of ten and did not let go for ages! I fell off the couch and tumbled across the floor in an attempt to do something about this unbearable torment. I beat with all my might on the leg with my fist and tried to stretch the pinched muscle with my fingers. I pulled the toe of my foot in different directions and shook my leg with all my urine, but the pain did not let go. It was hell!
It all ended as unexpectedly as it began. I got up and realized that I could not step on my foot. Maybe it was the consequences of a cramp, or maybe from the fact that I beat my leg with my fist with all my might.


Leaving Omsk, I drove past a huge prison fence. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take a good photo, but the spectacle is impressive.
This prison has a bad reputation. Very bad fame ... God forbid someone get here.



The sun, the road is excellent.
I like to eat in roadside eateries, it's very cheap ($2-3 for breakfast and $7-10 for a full, big lunch), I have the opportunity to talk with truck drivers, find out the situation on the road.





I met motorcyclists at the gas station. They raced from Krasnoyarsk and wanted to make an Iron Ass. I hope they succeeded.





A policeman stopped me. He stood near the road, and his "police Zhiguli" (Soviet small car VAZ 2105) were hidden behind the trees.
He approached smiling.
Why did you stop..?
His question surprised me very much - how is it why? Have you given a stop sign?
- Yes, but Russian motorcyclists never stop. Only foreigners stop. You are the first Russian motorcyclist who stopped.
He shook my hand and walked away smiling.



All was good. Difficulties began with the darkening. The temperature dropped sharply.
+3C on the thermometer. I'm wearing thermal underwear, all linings, a fleece jacket.
Heated handles help a lot.
Feet don't get cold at all. I think this is a merit of huge protection with a gas tank and front bags. The headwind almost does not hit the legs, and the heat from the engine warms the foot.
Night fell and I kept driving.
After midnight the temperature dropped to +1C.
One hundred kilometers left to Novosibirsk. Refueling on the left side. I drove in, filled up and got on the road.
What happened to me at that moment is not clear. Some blur. The navigator requires me to turn around, but it seemed to me that it had some kind of glitch. I didn't want to believe him. The moon, which was all the way to the right, signaled me with its cold rays in my left eye, but I did not pay attention to it. The settlement of Kokoshino, which appeared again on my way, did not bother me either. I just thought “.. Strange people. Do they have no imagination at all ..? Even the sign, with an arrow in a passing direction and the inscription Omsk, did not arouse any suspicion. Fifty kilometers after the ill-fated gas station, I was sure that I was going in the right direction. Suddenly, something happened, and all the signals lined up in a single cry, “Where are you going, fool?! "Now I understand...
Oh, how it was a shame from the lost time and kilometers. I constantly stopped myself so as not to accelerate too much, and the hand just wanted to unscrew the gas to the fullest to compensate for a lot of dead time.



I entered Novosibirsk almost at one in the morning. The person who was supposed to shelter me turned off the phone for another three hours before my arrival, and I had to find a hotel. Well done navigator! The first option turned out to be very successful. Eight hundred rubles a day ($15), I'm in the room and the motorcycle is in a closed garage. Hotel "Naberezhnaya" is almost in the very center of the city.
Hooray! Bask in a hot shower and sleep on clean sheets!






The journey continues..!

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

What a pleasure to sleep for a long time. I overslept breakfast. This happens to me all the time.
Today I could oversleep and lunch time ..
I like when breakfast is not included in the price and you can save money on it.


⠀
My tiny room is crammed with things taken apart from trunks. I brought the scales. Now I know what weighs the most - parts.
⠀
I planned to get rid of unnecessary things at each parking lot, but today I have to do the opposite - buy a tent and a sleeping bag. Further, there will be no tourist shops on my way to Mongolia. Even here, in a relatively large city, the choice is very poor.
All points where you can buy equipment are installed in the navigator.
First, I will go around all the shops and see everything. Only after I am sure that I have chosen the best, I will decide to buy.
A tent and a sleeping bag - a lot will depend on them - the weight of the luggage and the comfort of my overnight stays.



I chose the tent a long time ago (I met it in various stores along the way), despite this I was not too lazy to disassemble it myself and test it in the store.
Minimum capacity. Motorcycle bags won't fit in here. Large weight (2.5kg) due to strong fabric. There is a very important feature - it can be installed and assembled without disconnecting the inner layer from the outer one, which means quick installation and will not flood with water in the rain. There is a drawback - one entrance. This is bad for ventilation and safety. Why security? By the fact that it will be scary when from the side where there is no entrance and window, there will be sounds of approaching steps or something else approaching, but I will not be able to look.
There was an option in Ufa with two entrances, but it was bright orange. In my case, it's better to be invisible. Khaki is perfect!



With a sleeping bag, the story is even more complicated. I need a very warm, very light and very compact sleeping bag. It should definitely be synthetic and should not be too expensive. All these tasks interfere with each other to exist. In Moscow, the option I needed had a price of a thousand dollars. This is too much for me.
In the end, I found a sleeping bag for $350
Now I am the happy owner of a bag weighing a little more than one and a half kilograms and measuring thirty by forty. According to the manufacturer's promises, it should be comfortable from -5C to -9C.
⠀
There is good news - only in this city I could find "Antigrizzlies". This is a cylinder capable of throwing a jet of pepper mixture at a distance of five to six meters, which can stop a huge dog or bear rushing at me. In practice, I do not know how it will work, but with a balloon I will be calmer.
⠀
Couldn't find a proper water filter. Is he needed? Maybe it's better to use disinfectant tablets?
⠀
Spent most of the day shopping. It is necessary to return to the hotel as soon as possible, put things in trunks and prepare for tomorrow's road.
⠀
Parsing things becomes some kind of endless procedure. As before, the volume of junk does not allow me to live in peace. Gotta do something about it..







⠀
To be continued…

__________________
A world without wars, borders and politicians!

Outside the window is a gray and cool morning. I'm going again for too long.
I still try to organize all my luggage so that every thing has its place, and I can quickly find and get what I need. One day it will be.

Novosibirsk with gloomy weather and a dull landscape is catching up with melancholy.
The sky is covered with clouds. A terrible wind kicks up dirt and sand from the road.
Hail began on the outskirts of the city.
Despite all the darkness, I did not lose heart - After a long flight from Moscow, friends are waiting for me in Gorno-Altaisk. Andrey and Katya flew in specifically to support the traveler and bring the necessary wheels, on which I will move further along the impassability of Mongolia.
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Not far from Barnaul.
Altai Territory meets with heavy rain.
I did not put on the Rain Suit, assuming that the rain was light, now it is too late to put it on. There is a membrane lining under the jacket and I don't get wet. I didn’t put on a membrane under my pants, and now a cold trickle down my leg oozes into a motorcycle boot.



This informational poster is actually lying. Only in the modern world did the Chuisky tract begin to connect Novosibirsk with the Mongolian border. The truly Chuisky tract was the name of the road from Biysk to Mongolia, and at that time Novosibirsk did not exist at all.



Here is Barnaul. According to the plan, I was going to visit local motorcyclists who organized a motorcycle bar here.
You can't pass the bar. A huge motorcycle stands at the entrance.

Rain, rain and more rain...
My yellow vest, fastened to a motorcycle jacket, is perfectly visible against the background of gray weather. A very handy thing. Depending on whether you need to be noticeable or vice versa, you just turn it over to the right side.
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With dusk, the rain became less frequent. Passed Biysk. I will have to return to this city later.
I drove through Gorno-Altaisk in complete darkness. Another fifty kilometers and I'm there.



Because of the darkness, I see only the road in the headlights, only the complete impenetrability of light on the left side indicates that the road goes at the foot of the mountain.
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More and more often, with peripheral vision, I notice some shadows on the side of the road. I look, but I don't see anything. What is it?
I zigzag the road so that the headlights illuminate the curb. God..! A whole herd of cows graze along the road!
I slow down quickly. All this time I was moving about 110 km / h. If at least one of the cows decided to cross the road, there would be little chance of staying alive.
⠀
Here is the hotel! Here is Katya and Andrey! Hooray!










The journey continues...!

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A world without wars, borders and politicians!