A message from Martha

Well we finally got out of that awful compound and crossed the border into Russia. I dare say that you are as surprised as I was to discover that I am now a large car – and we’ve got papers to prove it. It seems the Russians love their paperwork.

We had to hurry to get to Moscow because the stage 1 crew had to catch planes back home, I will be sad to see them go but the stage 2 crew would be eagerly anticipating our arrival. With Moscow about 400 miles away some hard overnight driving was called for.

On the road to Moscow it didn’t take long for us to realise that the horrific incident with the lorry on the border wasn’t a rare event; the number of crashed cars at the side of the road was unbelievable. The boys drove extra carefully and thankfully we made it to Moscow in one piece and in good time. They had the luxury of staying in a hotel that night; I think they appreciated their beds after their ordeal at the border.

The next day, with the new crew fresh-faced and ready for adventure, we headed to Nizhny Novgorod. The smog hanging over Moscow as we left was choking, the crew hadn’t really experienced that smell before, but I have, and I knew what it meant – fires burning out of control. We passed quite close to one of the areas that had burned out and I felt like a fraud; where my water tank used to be there’s only camping equipment and spares.

I don’t know how they managed it, but within only a short time of finally getting into the city (me minus a bit of paintwork, thanks to James), the crew had stumbled across a fire station. The Russian firemen welcomed us with open arms and made such a fuss of me. Have you seen the film of their ladder work? It gives a new meaning to the words ‘fireman’s lift’.

The next day we drove to Cheboksary. I am told it’s very difficult to obtain a driving license in Russia, but, as the test is mainly theory based there are two things that the applicant doesn’t really need and they are the ability to drive or any road sense. It is illegal to drink-drive in Russia but the cars used by the police are so old and slow that only those who make their getaway on foot, or are too drunk or badly injured to escape, are ever caught. Back home ‘road kill’ means the occasional fox or other nocturnal creature; sadly over here it has an entirely different connotation. Many of the roads have so many memorials and bunches of flowers that it is extremely distressing. Also the people have so little money that vehicle maintenance, which isn’t compulsory, just doesn’t happen. Have you seen the boys’ footage of the truck losing so much coolant his engine will shortly be on fire? I’m very glad I’m being well looked after.

Next morning was an early start to get to the Mercedes garage in Kazan for more emergency work to my fuel tank. They were wonderful and soon had us on the road again. We got as far as Neberezhuye Chelny before having to stop for the night.

Today the roads opened up and we all enjoyed the motoring. We are heading for Ufa and having a great time! The scenery is getting more beautiful by the mile and other vehicles are not so frequent or so terrifying, some even keeping to their own side of the road. From Ufa we headed to Chelyabinsk, driving through the foothills of the Urals. Lovely. It’s hard to believe that after all these days of driving we’re still in Russia. How big is this country?

From Chelyabinsk we headed to the Russia/Kazakhstan border, everyone, especially Steve, was anxious and hoping it would not be a repeat of the last border. It wasn’t too bad, we got through the Russian side without an overnight stop and headed for Kazakhstan. Frankly I was so nervous that I wanted to turn round and go home – the crew had been telling me that the ‘mankini’ is the national costume. Thankfully they’d only been teasing!

As we drove further into Kazakhstan the scenery just got better and better and the roads started resembling real roads (at least for now). We stayed over in a small town called Komsomolets and then a short drive on to Kostanay where the boys had a bit of well deserved R&R. The following day started bright (for some of us) and early and we were really motoring and eating up the miles when Steve suddenly decided to turn off the main road. The crew weren’t sure at first but what an amazing decision it turned out to be. They made friends with lots of nice people in a little village called Darobestja and we got to camp next to the most beautiful lake, which we had all to ourselves. I could get used to this camping malarkey!

The next day we stayed off the main road and did some cross country motoring, it brought back some good memories of the heaths back home and I really enjoyed it! Apparently we had to cross back into Russia again so we needed to find somewhere quite close to spend the night. That turned out to be in a field in Orshhamomo, the crew were worried because it was a farmer’s field and they tried to hide me, unfortunately for them, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t disguise the fact I am a big red fire engine.

They were dreading the border but it was even better than the last one; the Kazakhstan guards had no reason to delay us and the Russians were so impressed by all the paperwork that Steve has now collected that we were on our way to Omsk in what felt like no time.

Omsk is 1700 miles from Moscow, it is big, hot and very, very busy with lots of traffic. My crew are very good when the roads are straight but navigating in the cities proves more tricky, we saw several landmark buildings – several times. Can current and future crew now please do me a favour and if you are reading this, please hold your hands up in front of you with palms facing to the front, now stick out your thumbs – the hand that looks like a big capital letter L is your left hand and the other hand is your right hand. Do try to remember!

We left Omsk with the intention of going to Kuybyshev, on one of the straightest roads I have ever seen – the guys that built this put the Romans to shame! But the road actually goes through Barabinsk which used to be an industrial town and now it’s only claim to fame is the (Trans Siberian) railway station. The boys didn’t like the look of it so we kept going until we found a truckers motel which seemed a much better proposition than anything in the town.

Another day and another straight road eating up the miles to Novosibirsk, which I’m told is Russia’s third largest city, after Moscow and St Petersburg. It is, by far, the most attractive of the Russian places we have visited.

I’m really glad that I don’t know what the boys get up to at night after they have parked me up – some mornings they seem to be quite poorly and they have problems with loud noises. Which is a shame because the inside of the cab is generally fairly noisy.

Sometimes, when I‘m on my own, strangers come along and start climbing on me. It happened again here in Novabinsk; I was minding my own business when a wedding party started climbing my ladders onto my roof. Not that I mind but please, it would be polite to ask first. It was all very friendly though and when the boys arrived they let the bride sit in my cab and took a video.

From Novabinsk we headed south to get to Mongolia. The roads here are better than any of the other Russian roads and thankfully have a lot less of the sad roadside ”mementos”. We arrived at our destination of Barnaul in good time for the boys to find a decent hotel and somewhere nice to eat. We are now in the Altay territory so there’s the promise of some open country and mountains soon. We’ve hardly seen any decent scenery for days now.

Fortunately we were not disappointed, the road to Gorno-Altaisk was everything we were hoping for and more, featuring forests and rivers and scenery almost as good as any we’ve seen and with the added bonus of a field of sunflowers which had quite an effect on the boys who couldn’t resist taking another photo opportunity. Ahead we can glimpse the mountains and we’re all looking forward to getting in amongst them. Again, within minutes of reaching the town, the crew managed to find a fire station and introduced me to some more Russian fire-fighters. Next to their fire appliance I felt like a midget but they made such a fuss of me you’d have thought I was the best show in town.

Yesterday was good but not a patch on today, at every turn of the road the scenery revealed itself as being even more incredible than what we’d already seen. We’re now into the mountains and climbing up into the heavens. We have to stop every couple of minutes for more photos. James was driving and they practically had to wrestle the wheel out of his hand when his stint was over. We camped by the side of a river, surrounded by nothing but distant mountains. It is only now that everyone, including me, has realised just how deeply moved and even slightly depressed we were by the evidence of death and destruction that we had seen on the Russian roadsides.

Tomorrow we are going to cross the Russian border again – for the final time – so our drive today was not very far, just to Tashanta, which is the last habited place before the border. And what a drive it was. If this is Russia then we love Russia. There is nothing to see but scenery – mountains, forests, rivers and a sky so big and clear that it is impossible to believe we are still in the same country. There’s no traffic, just the occasional cow wandering beside the road. It was very cold when the boys made camp and I was getting a bit worried about my diesel freezing but they’d thought of that and had a nice little fire going to keep me warm. You should see the stars, the sky is so clear and there is none of that light pollution that you get at home so you can see thousands and thousands of stars that you’ve never seen before, I felt like I was actually in space. (Maybe our next mission will be to follow Martha to the moon!)

We were all up early to cross the border but it took the best part of the day and it was getting quite late by the time we got into Mongolia, with just time to get to the next town of Olgiy before everything closed for the night. The boys were very pleased to find a hotel that had room for them and a restaurant that was still open. The roads are notably different already, rather less tarmac and fewer signposts. We’re already aware that we are heading into what will be the toughest terrain of the trip.

The following day, instead of rushing off to the next destination we took a bit of a detour, through some of the most stunning landscapes, and weren’t we pleased to have four-wheel drive – you must check out the video of me crossing a river and climbing the near vertical banking – it is not for the faint-hearted! We arrived at a nomad camp where the boys were introduced to an eagle hunter (I wonder whether that means he hunts eagles or hunts with eagles?). The boys were delighted by the hospitality shown to them and the way they were welcomed into the family. The nomads seem to be the friendliest and happiest people ever.

Next day I had a bit of a rest because the boys went off exploring and were away for most of the day (climbing Tsengel Khairkan Mountain) but as soon as they got back from their adventure we were off again and, after bidding goodbye to our guide, we were left on our own to navigate through Mongolia relying on the boys’ sense of direction (see above re thumbs), a compass and a map showing what may or may not be roads. The problem is made even more interesting because every map and every signpost seems to have a different spelling for the place names.  Bizarre. We camped for the night somewhere near (or maybe not) Tsambagarav Mountain.

The following day was what I can only describe as bone-shaking (if I had bones they’d have been well and truly shaken) as we headed to Khovd. I don’t know whether we were on the proper route or making our own but it was a rough ride and some of my bits were actually shaken loose. It’s a shame the boys decided to camp instead of looking for a hotel. They are starting to be in need of some hot water! Khovd is only 746 miles from Ulaanbaator which is the next major town. I wonder how long 746 miles will take?

We set off for Altay but the going was very slow and we only covered about 116 miles before having to make camp again. The crew are having dreadful problems with the local wildlife (not the wolves that had so scared Ross) but the local mosquitoes that are making a hearty meal of all the new and (almost) fresh meat.

Finally, after another day of bone-shaking and more bits coming loose we’ve made it to Altay. The boys have found a hotel and are going to celebrate by having hot showers. As for me, I’ll have to wait till morning to see whether they can refit/tighten up/repair all the bits and pieces that have come loose/hanging off/broken.

I’m going to have to sign off now and get some much needed beauty sleep.

Lots of love to all,

TTFN

Martha