Rolls Around the World 2007: 17 - Kazan to Tyumen, Russia

Monday, August 20, 2007

Miles for the day 656 (1,056 km) Miles to date 7,122 (11,462 km)

Today was a long drive, escorted for some distance from Kazan by the RAS people, then on our own. On the way the speedometer turned to 00000, finishing another 100,000 miles. (160,935 km) I'm not sure if this brings the total mileage on the car to 200,000 or 300,000 - I have driven it over 80,000 miles since I've had it.

This area is oil rich, with numerous pumps sucking up oil in the fields we passed. As we neared Ufa we were pulled over for the first time by the traffic police. We had apparently gone flying past the escort car from Ufa and they couldn't catch us, so they asked the police to ask us to wait.

Ufa is a pleasant city of 1,040,000, with wide tree shaded streets. It is the capital of the autonomous Bashkortostan Republic, where a third of the population are Muslim, Turkic Bashkir people. Like Tartarstan, they have freedom in setting their own economic and production goals, and in financial areas.

We unfurled the RAS flags from our cars and proceeded to the central square, where the press and TV people were waiting for us. We were interviewed in one location, and then followed the RAS car across town, with the TV people filming from another vehicle, to a plaza where the crew from another channel waited for us. They had innovative questions - up until now the questions have been pretty standard.

From there we were escorted to another great hotel, the Oriental Carpet, where we were given the standard 10 minutes to get our gear to the room and return for a drive with the regional vice president and another RAS official to a restaurant a short distance from town that specialized in BBQ. Good food was once again accompanied by wine and multiple vodka toasts. The beer was skipped, as they had no cold beer on tap and the only bottled beer they had was Miller's! This is the second time I've not been able to buy Russian beer in a good restaurant - the other time all they had on tap or in bottles was Heineken. Back at the hotel we fell into bed - another night of no writing or photo editing. The hospitality here is beyond amazing - but it sure makes it difficult to get anything else done!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Miles for the day 304 (489 km) Miles to date 7,426 (11,951 km)

Our Ufa RAS escort car took us to within 80 km (50 miles) of the Ural Mountains before turning back. Truck traffic was very heavy, and the roads often deeply rutted. We stopped for gas in the Urals, and found we could get an oil change for 200 roubles ($8) if we provided the oil. We were able to purchase Castrol at a nearby shack so had the oil changed and other fluid levels checked. They jacked up the right rear wheel to locate an increasingly noisy scraping sound, which was diagnosed as a worn wheel bearing, but I don't think so. We'll have the wheel pulled when we get an opportunity.

The drive today was not the longest, but was the toughest to date. The problem was not only road conditions, which while not great were liveable, but the trailer trucks on the two lane road that snakes through the high hills making up the Ural Mountains. There were few opportunities to pass. At one point we were following a convoy of about 15 specially designed trailer trucks hauling what was said to be rocket parts. The individual loads were like huge pipes about 50 feet (15 ¼ meters) long and 6 times higher than the car. They had to stop to get under every wire across the road, and travelled at a speed of only a few miles an hour. The Rolls does not like crawling along on hot days, and tends to overheat. Fortunately, before any problems occurred, the trucks pulled off to let traffic through. Shortly afterwards we passed the marker dividing Europe from Asia, moving from European Russian into Siberia.

We were to arrive in Chelyabinsk by 2 PM, as we were invited to a celebration of the area president's 60th birthday, which many other area presidents including Andrei's dad, the Chairman of all regions of the RAS, were here to attend. By 4 PM we were within sight of the city of 1,080,000, driving back and forth on a stretch of divided highway looking for the escort vehicle that was supposed to be waiting for us. We finally found them, and were introduced to the president of the local classic car club and his daughter, who was driving her car.

We were very late for the required TV shoot, which is always top priority, so we followed them into heavy traffic. Their car darted between two trailer trucks, and I followed, watching the tight fit between the moving trucks carefully. What I didn't notice was a red light where the lead car had stopped. Marilynn yelled and I hit the brakes, which performed marvellously, causing lots of noise and smoke, but not quite well enough to prevent the bumperettes of the Rolls from penetrating her plastic bumper. Her car was later examined by the RAS assessors and I paid the estimated $300 damage, which should please her as the bumper was already damaged. The only advantage for the Rolls is that after the sudden stop the scraping in the right rear wheel stopped. I'm not sure why - perhaps whatever was scraping fell off!

We finally got to the TV shoot, starting in a hotel parking lot and proceeding to the city square for interviews. We then checked into the comfortable Meridian Hotel, at Marilynn's insistence, to clean up befor the celebration. Andrei wanted to go as we were, in sweaty shirts, shorts and sandals. We went in the Rolls, as they wanted it parked on the sidewalk outside the celebration hall where it proved to be quite an attraction! Things were still going strong when we arrived around 7:30 PM, so we were able to meet Mikhail, a wonderful 80 year old who looks no more than 60, and many of the RAS regional presidents and other officials. Marilynn was a big hit when she sang "Summertime" for the crowd, and we were overwhelmed with beautiful gifts. Having to drive gave me an excuse to take it easy with the innumerable toasts, but we were both dead tired when we returned to the hotel near midnight.

Chelyabinsk is a city of 1,080,000 founded in 1736. It is a heavy industrial town, famous for iron and steel works, and it looks the part. During WWII the famous Russian T-34 tanks were built here, along with the Katyusha rockets, which the Russians credit with winning the war.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Miles for the day 130 (209 km) Miles to date 7,556 (12,160 km)

What a difference a day makes! Today's drive was largely on four lane divided highway in remarkably good shape, in light traffic. It was a pretty drive through lake country and pine forests, very different from yesterday's scenery. People are good about flashing lights to indicate the police are ahead, so there were no problems there.

We made such good time that we had to stop in a wooded area outside of Yekaterinburg to wait for the RAS to get ready for us. Eventually we joined the regional president for a parade through town with flags waving to a spot in front of the Romanoff Church, a huge church built in 2005 in memory of Czar Nicholas Romanoff and his family who were murdered here in 1918. After the TV shoot and interview we toured the church.

We drove across town with TV vehicles buzzing around us, cameramen hanging out the windows or in one case sitting in the back of an open hatchback, to the main square where another TV crew were waiting for us. This was the longest session in front of a camera yet, but they were quite innovative, showing Marilynn taking photos and me working on my laptop in the car. The questions in the interview were also original.

We had the car washed at a hand car wash beside the Alexandre Park Hotel where we are staying, but my instructions not to use soap were ignored and the paint discoloured. The finish came back somewhat with wax, but not great. The downtown restaurant where we ate not only did not have Russian beer, it had no Russian food either. It did have very high prices for my Japanese food and beer, and Marilynn's Italian food and wine. There was no official function tonight, so the opportunity to tighten up some of the things that have rattled loose on the car was seized, and for the first time we had time to watch ourselves on TV news - they did a good job! At night we got onto the computers for long enough to scratch the surface of our backlog.

Yekaterinburg is pleasant city of 1,290,000 founded in 1723 by Peter the Great as an industrial town. It is the economic and cultural capital of the Urals Region.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Miles for the day 226 (364 km) Miles to date 7,782 (12,524 km)

The road today was very rough pavement, with smooth stretches between. When we pulled into a small town gas station it was noticed that the right front turn signal light was hanging by the wires. I had repaired the other one the night before, but this time the top clamp for the lens had broken off. The fellow who pointed out the problem said he could take us to a mechanic, so we taped on the lens and followed him down a dirt track to an old wooden garage with a body shop in it. The proprietor made a new clamp out of chrome and attached the light. His people also replace a broken clamp on the chrome holding the headlight in place, tightened the hub cabs and put another level of polish on the hood, which helped restore the soap damaged paint. The whole job cost 300 roubles ($11.80) plus a bottle of vodka.

Shortly before the city of Tyumen we spotted the RAS flags flying in a turnout where we drove up to cameras from four TV channels and four newspaper reporters. After interviews and filming we drove each cameraman a kilometre to film from the back seat of the Rolls.

Next stop was the Central square for more TV and interviews. Here Andrei sat on the fender of the car for a circle around the square, and a TV reporter did the same. Somehow Marilynn and I got talked into singing on camera and for the radio station!! We didn't see any of it on TV - Andrei didn't tell us when it was on, however he watched it on three channels and said it came out well.

A large lady ex English teacher introduced herself as the guide who would show us the city. She somehow expected me to drive, dodge city traffic, and closely examine buildings to the right and to the left at the same time. She had a high pitched, English accented voice and a flow of information, which would not stop. She wanted to park in lanes of heavy traffic to get out and look at sites of interest - something I refused to do, not wanting a charging bus to pile into the back of the car. She obviously doesn't drive!

Marilynn had told Andrei she needed to use a toilet urgently when we were in the square, but that is something he unfortunately didn't understand, saying the tour would only be 40 minutes. She eventually said to the dear guide, after over an hour, that the tour was terminated. While this upset the lady, who pointed out there was so much more to see, she was determined to make the best of the time it took to take her to the bus station by keeping the monologue going full bore. Marilynn broke into hysterical giggles and it required a major effort for me not to join her!

After over 45 minutes in crawling rush hour traffic we reached an unacceptable old style hotel in a bad area with foul smelling corridors. The room we looked at was not too bad, except the bed was too small, but Marilynn confirmed that the toilet worked.

We waved goodbye to the three RAS people who had been escorting us - their office was nearby - and drove back into the stop and go rush hour traffic to find another hotel. The next one, though pricey, had no internet or business centre, but we scored on the third try at the very nice Hotel Tyumen. All hotels seem overpriced - the horrible one with the façade crumbing off and smelly halls was priced at $160 per night!

Once settled in we headed for the bar where Marilynn drank three vodka & sparkling water (the closest thing to soda available) and I had 3 litre sized beer with a cheeseburger. Andrei joined us. We were scheduled for a 120 km tour of wilderness Siberia tomorrow, but cancelled all events for the day as we are exhausted and far behind in writing and photo editing.

Friday, August 24, 2007

We slept in until 8 AM, washed some cloths and had the excellent breakfast buffet just before they closed at 10:30 AM. Andrei was there so we joined him. We decided to mail some of our gifts to Costa Rica, as the car is so full there is little room in the back seat.

The post office is well set up for parcels. Individual work areas have tables and benches; boxes and all necessary packing materials are available. Once items are boxed they are passed to the postal staff, who finish the packing job by taping the boxes securely, adding another protective layer of cardboard and finally using a sewing machine to make a strong cloth covering to fit the box, then hand sewing it shut. Wax seals are fixed in a dozen places by a customs official. Addresses are written on the cloth in felt pen. The cost to send the four heavy boxes was $415, but at least there will be a little less weight and a bit more room in the car.

Back at the hotel we settled into a day of catching up. Finally we had a place where wireless internet worked - it has been days since we have found workable internet. During the day three reporters and a TV crew arrived unannounced, but Marilynn and I refused to meet with them as it is our day off, so Andre took the car keys, showed them the car and did the interviews on his own. When we were in the hotel restaurant having dinner we could see him out at the car still surrounded by reporters.

Tyumen, a city of 507,000, was founded in 1586 as the first Russian fort in Siberia. It is the capital of a vast oil rich region which stretches to the Arctic Circle. It has universities, including one specializing in petroleum related subjects. There are a number of historic buildings and churches, many of which we visited with the guide yesterday. It is a lively, active, attractive city.

The car is continuing to be very popular. Drivers honk, shout, give a "thumbs up" or lean out the car window to take photos as we go along. Russian men are very interested in mechanical devices; the most popular request is to open the hood so they can see the engine. One of the great things is that it makes people smile; something Andre tells us is not that easy in Russia where dissidents have been persecuted for centuries, causing people to be suspicious of friendliness from strangers. Andrei says, "The car breaks the face of the Russian people", meaning it gets them to open up and smile.