With the motorbike through Siberia
Russia V, Novosibirsk - Kjachta/Grenze, 13.7. - 7.8.03, Kilometer: 14000
The incomprehensible vastness of Russia reveals itself to every visitor in a very simple way when you travel through Siberia. There is nothing sensational, outstanding or worth mentioning to see, but this region casts a spell on you by its huge distance and its monotony touch. Nevertheless it is amazing that suddenly hills form themselves shortly after Novosibirsk hills. Forest mixed with pines and birches are now to see. After weeks of straight roads, you can now ride through curves again.
Deeper and deeper we get in to the east. Where we were once bored by birches, swamps and meadows, we now see powerful forests in the vastness of the Taiga. A impenetrable labyrinth and a deep green fill up the panorama until the horizont. Partial it is difficult for us to find some square meters of grass off the road to set up our tent.
Sometime with this earthy nature the paved road ends and road metal and unpleasant corrugated iron tracks are showing up. Every evening we try to figure out, how in the world the tracks are coming from. With a lot of patient and supreme effort we reach the Baikal City Irkutsk.
Several time consuming task such as motorcycle check, alu-box repair, purchase of some equipment, make us stay a little bit longer in this city. After parking our motorcycles in front of the central square with its Lenin statue a mop of fuzzy hair is asking me: "Where are you from?" My answer "From Germany" gets replied in a German slang "Than we can also talk in German."
Andreas comes from Dresden. Together with his girlfriend Annette they purchased in Mongolia an old motorcycle with a sidecar, a Russian made Ural. They are now on their way back to their saxony state. Unbelievable, because we know this couple already from the stories of Sylvia and Gisbert (see travel report Russia IV). Still talking to them, there stops on the opposite side of the road a van. Purposeful there are coming five young people towards us. Tom, Thomas, Claudia, Hagen and Sandra are also coming from Saxon and they spent their holidays here every year around Lake Baikal. Their engagement in the deepest Russia can be followed at www.baikalplan.de.
Now, everybody talks to everybody. Attract by the Berlin-Saxon slang, there are joining our group two girls from Berlin. The situation gets really funny. Ossi meeting (Ossi = former GDR inhabitant) at the Lenin statue, 8000 km far away from home.
We appoint us for the evening at the riverbank of the Angara, to practice communication. (...) [shorten]
You can find more information und photos in www.lomo-expedition.de
