Already through Sibiria

Hi my friends,

i have to slow down, I did'nt expect to get so far, so fast. So will have 4day's here in Ulan Ude before heading to Mongoila. Bike is going well, but I want to adjust the rear shock to be stiffer, Nice brand new hostel at Rub 600 a night, $20nz, £10uk called the PEAK Hotel as it's on top of a hill from the centre of town, Took some photo's of people getting married at Lenin's statue, very hot here at over 30 Deg C. So hope you get the pic's.

Paul.

This was my landlady in a brand new Hotel called the Peak Hotel in Ulan Ude.

I have the privilege of being the first foreigner to stay with her.

Think I was the first foreigner she had ever seen.

Although we did not understand anything we were saying we somehow got through all the formalities you need to travel through Russia. But it's easy taken step by step.

Here in Ulan Ude it is plain to see that the Russian people honour their past, and so they should

This is typical of the roads and scenery you get in Siberia, The weather was good but you could not take the road surfaces for granted. Some parts of the road are very good, then you may get 50 or 100 Kilomertres of very rough roads indeed, but mostly I enjoyed them.

I have to admit that Russia was a second choice to the planned trip from Cape town to the UK,

But when hostilities broke out in Egypt, Sudan, libya, and Tunisia, I guess common sense had to prevail. So planing this trip for six monthes and spending a few dollars on visa's became a bit of a waste of money.

Never mind I always wanted to visit Russia at some point inmy life and this was a good oppertunity. So all change and a new set of arrangements were to be made.

I was able to get a letter of invitation from a very helpful lady at OSTWEST . com.

Her name is Natalia Berezina and applied for my business visa. I was happy to say that nice Mr Putin allowed me my visa Russia, to which I am very grateful.

After taking one step at a time I eventually got all my paperwork in place. Then it was time to put my NZ house on the market and ship the trusty BMW to Vladivostok, forty three days before I fly out myself.

With a lot of luck the house sold, just in time, and it was my turn to fly to Vladivostok and hopefully meet my bike there. I arrived at 1.05am and was lucky enough to meet Igor, who had also been in touch with my German friends Helmut and Bettina, who I had met on my UK to NZ trip in Malaysia and who I had travelled with through Indonesia with, a great couple of long distant Bikers who I respect very much,

You can catch their adventures on (timetoride.de) currently in South America.

Igor was a great help with his son Max who could both speak a bit of English. I think I would have been lost without them.

Anyway, after a few days I had recieved my BMW from Customs, thanks to Yuri Melnikov at links-ltd.com. Igor showed me around Vladivostok, and had a meeting with the local 81 club, who were very kind to me offering food and drink and somewhere to stay if I needed it.

Vladivostok was great and Russian women there are very attractive.

So now the trip really starts.

Paul.