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Bikes at Sunset - Kazakhstan

After our stay in Astrakan it was time to head off for Atyrau and the Kazakhstan border… Leaving Astrakan with the maps we had proved to be more difficult than we thought…. how hard can it be to follow some signs right?… well we got lost and ended up riding around for about 45 minutes until we found the right road.. We should really have filled up with more petrol in Astrakan before we left but they all had long lines and we wanted to make it to the border.. We had been told to expect delays of at least 12 hours to cross into Kazakhstan.. It was luckily not the case. We arrived and the line of cars was relatively short (maybe 15 cars).. All up it took about 2 hours which was a huge relief after our 16 hour epic at Sochi. At the border crossing the customs agent who was sorting our customs declaration (the legal paper work required to bring the bikes into Kazakhstan) said it will cost 4000 Russian Roubles for the declaration fee…. that’s about £80.. I did not remember reading about any Kazakhstan customs fee’s so I went to consult the lonely planet book.. I then came back with the book… Luckily the guy didn’t speak or read English.. I pointed out that in the book it said that there was no fee… all of a sudden the guy was a little angry.. although he still wouldn’t give me back my paper work until I paid him a fee.. (more…)

After our day in the hotel outside Sochi it was time to make tracks for the mountains. The Black Sea coast is expensive and we don’t have the funds to waste. After packing up we took all our gear out to the bikes. The lady at the hotel reception thought we are trying to do a runner without paying so came out to get us back there quickly. It was only when we asked for a receipt that she understood that we had paid when we checked in I guess this was not the usual though we must have looked like dodgy tourists :-P…….

Camping with a view over the Caucaus Mountains - Russia

The road from Sochi to Tuapse was a traffic nightmare despite leaving relatively early in the morning. The traffic was made worse now that it was August which is the peak season for Russians taking time off at one of the many black sea resorts. The road itself was relatively good quality considering what we had been told to expect although it didn’t stop the Russian drivers from really showing off how great they are at driving. We saw 5 accidents of which several were head on collisions. At one point a truck had lost all its engine oil all over the road.. These things never happen in nice safe places.. On a hair pin bend going down a steep hill.. could never have guessed.. As James came around the corner he lost control on the oil, managed to just hold the bike up while sliding down and almost nailing it into the car in front… such a close call, not so lucky for a car which lost control and had a head on with a car on the other side, no one appeared to be hurt which was good. I got a massive bruise on my leg above my boot from trying to hold the bike up and getting hit with the break lever as the bike slid all over the shop… a true heart starting moment. The road itself winds through mountains with dense forest with huge views over the black sea.

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