Again it’s been a while since I updated this. Although I enjoy keeping this journal, I’ve been more proactive with my blog lately. I’m also having great difficulty focussing on detail in low light :(.
Anyway, lots has happened since Mestia.
In short, the boat from Trabzon to Sochi was a no-go so I about-faced and came back across Turkey, through Bulgaria (still depressing) and Romania (still good) then through Moldova (just weird) and I’m now in the north east of Ukraine!
In five days I’ve covered about 2,000 miles.
I’ve really enjoyed the purity of riding-sleeping-riding-sleeping-… I feel like I’m now really riding a motorbike around the world.
The Russian visa starts on Tuesday. It’s now Sunday evening and I’m about 200 miles from the border with Russia.
Following my mapping application, I’ve ended up in an unexpected situation. Someone has tagged this location as a campsite, but it’s really a summer camp for teenagers run by a pastor in the Samaritans. I’ve been fed, watered and I shall be sleeping on a sofa bed in a room next to their chapel. No charge. The generosity of strangers is good.
I feel bad when I see these cards parked by the side of the road with their bonnets raised and I just ride on by. I don’t know anything about fixing car engines. I have, however, stopped to offer assistance to two bikers who looked like they could do with some help. They both declined but my conscience feels less bad that it otherwise would.
The bike is almost set now. A contact of Mihai’s did some servicing work on it in Lasi (“Yash”) in Romania, so I’ll find somewhere convenient to swap both tyres over tomorrow.
As I’ve approached Russia, I’ve had butterflies come and go. This whole journey has felt natural so far, these new nerves caught me by surprise. With my experiences of the last two months I know that Russia will be fine, but I’m still getting tingly at the thought – in a good way.
Ah – this time next month I will be on a plane to Canada. Yes! I’ll be able to communicate with people using more than just hand gestures :).
Right. Time to write a new blog post.