Rolls Around the World 2007: 19 - Kemerovo to Baikalsk, Russia

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Miles for the day 345 (555 km) Miles to date 9,148 (14,722 km)

Viktor, Daredgan & Mary followed us out of Kemerovo on winding road through forested hills. These are the only hills we have seen in Russia other than the Ural Mountains. They were beautiful, with the trees in their fall colours. The drive today was half on decent road and half on fairly bad pavement.

A police car was waiting at the edge of a small town to escort us to a mechanic who replaced a turn signal light, as the burnt bulb was soldered into position. They then escorted us to a RAS building that Andrei and Viktor wanted to look at - the town is in Viktor's region. Viktor & family have decided to follow us to Krasnoyarsk so we can have another dinner together. Viktor was a high ranking officer in the traffic police, and obviously still has a fair bit of power with them.

As we were driving along we passed a very old open car heading the other direction. Marilynn noticed they had pulled over, so we did a U turn and went to see them. Peking to Paris was on a sign across the back of the car, which was driven by a French couple, Fabien & Elizabeth. They had dropped out of the race and were taking their time driving back to Paris in their 1924 Citroen. They had stories of the courtesy and helpfulness of the Russian people, who on various occasions had repaired their car for them at no charge. They are on a limited budget, so are camping along the way.

We were escorted to a shopping centre in the smelting, mining & industrial city of Achinsk, population 120,000, by a police car. The police waited until we finished shopping then escorted us out of town. Viktor and family had not planned to travel, so had to buy some essentials.

Outside of Krasnoyarsk was a police escort, 2 TV channels, press and a large RAS delegation. When we did our parade to the main square it was a 9 car cavalcade. As usual, more TV and media people were waiting for us. Once checked into the hotel we drove the car to guarded indoor parking at the Russian Automobile Society (RAS) offices.

Hotel Krasnoyarsk is in an excellent location in front of a lively square and a short walk from the river. Viktor's English speaking friend Boris, who lives in Krasnoyarsk, joined us for drinks on a river boat converted to a restaurant, then for dinner in a tent restaurant in the square. Back at the hotel Viktor, Boris and I finished a bottle of apricot liqueur before bed.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Miles for the day 195 (314 km) Miles to date 9,343 (15,036 km)

This morning there was a police car with two policemen waiting outside the hotel to escort Vladimir, the regional president, and I to the RAS parking garage to pick up my car. They then escorted me back to the hotel. We were sad to say goodbye to Viktor, Daredgan & Mary, who plan to head back to Kemerovo. When we left town it was with police lights flashing and sirens blaring once more.

It was a warm, sunny day and the scenery beautiful as we drove through the taiga (forest). The roads varied from very good to very bad pavement. When we arrived at the City of Kansk, population 100,000, a police car was waiting to escort us to city center where press, radio and the local TV people were waiting. When we stopped, who should pull up behind us but Viktor, Daredgan & Mary - they changed their mind and decided to come with us to Lake Baikal.

Once done with the interviews we were hosted to a good lunch by Alexander, the Kansk region president of the RAS. Ordering a meal in Russia is a ceremony that takes about 20 minutes, and then it takes another 40 minutes to prepare the main course - a good reason to have soup and/or salad to fill in the time and appease hunger pangs.

Not too far from Kansk we hit the dreaded stretch of road we had been warned about. We purchased wide masking tape to put over the headlights, chrome and paintwork on the front of the car, and also taped part of the windshield to protect against thrown rocks. This proved unnecessary as no one could move through the deep pits that scarred the dirt road quickly enough to throw up rocks.

After dragging the tailpipe and back end through the dirt in several of the deep dips we unloaded everything heavy from the trunk and put it into Victors Toyota 4 X 4. Andrei has been riding with him since Kemerovo, likely something to do with his attractive daughter Mary, who is a model and singer. Andrei is 36 and Mary 25 years old. Removing the weight made an enormous difference to our back end clearance, and although the going was desperately slow we had no more problems.

The road crosses the very busy Trans Siberian Railway frequently, so traffic moved in groups accumulated when the barriers were lowered for passing trains. A train passed on the double tracks about every 15 minutes. This was great, as between groups there was no oncoming traffic, allowing the use of both sides of the road - a necessity as often one side of the road was completely impassable due to holes too deep and with sides too steep to get a car through them. The sun had dried the road, so we didn't have to contend with mud - only dust.

We reached the small town of Taishet, population 38,535, around 7 PM, which was actually 8 PM due to another time change. The hotel required a hike up three flights of stairs (no elevator) but otherwise was basic, but quite OK. We left the car in a guarded parking lot opposite the train station, a short walk from the hotel. Marilynn and I begged off dinner and drinks with the others, as we are both desperate to catch up on writing and photo editing.

Taishet owes its importance to the oil pipeline to China that starts here. Japan is also anxious to receive oil by pipeline from this region.

Friday, August 31, 2007

Miles for the day 585 (941 km) Miles to date 9,928 (15,978, km)

Bad road began immediately after we left Taishet on this clear, cold morning. The pits and dips of yesterday were replaced with vicious washboard, where the car threatened to rattle apart at any speed in excess of 15 mph (24 kph) - a lot of the time 10 mph was the best we could do, however stretches with deep holes were still encountered. Now and then a stretch of surprisingly good pavement would appear just to keep our hopes up! Hundreds of Japanese used cars passed going the other way, some towing a second car, some on trucks and some on their own. Drivers get $200 a trip to drive the cars from Vladivostok to the markets in European Russia. All had the front covered with protective material.

Viktor and family had gone on ahead of us. We caught up at a roadside café, where I had a quick beer and bowl of soup before continuing, wanting the bone jarring journey behind me as soon as possible. Marilynn stayed with the others to have a decent lunch. I arrived at Kaytun before the others, having survived the worst roads we have yet experienced. I didn't realize where I was until I'd passed through town and asked some young people at a bus stop. Viktor tracked me down by phoning the police, who reported I'd passed a checkpoint only 10 minutes before. We are obviously being watched! While waiting for them to catch up several cars stopped to photograph the Rolls, from which I had just removed the protective masking tape, and I had a great time trying to communicate with the friendly people.

This was supposed to be an overnight stop where we would get the tires rotated, as the front ones are not wearing evenly, but I was not feeling tired and Kaytun is an unattractive smokestack town, so I agreed to press on to Irkutsk, where we arrived at 7:30 PM. Irkutsk, a more attractive city, was to be another overnight stop, but again I was persuaded by Andrei to continue to Baikalsk, where Viktor and family were to spend a couple of days with us. Had it not been for the fact that Viktor had paid his own gas and expenses to come all this way to be with us I'd have had the sense to refuse to drive further!

Andrei called the hotel in Baikalsk to see if we could get rooms for another night, found we could, but also found that we had to pay for them in the centre of Irkusk, so we could not take the bypass road to avoid central traffic congestion. By the time we found the place, went through the drama of paying and got back out of town it was about 10:30 PM and I realized what a mistake I'd made in agreeing to continue. We were dead tired, it was dark and my night vision is not what it once was.

At any rate, reservations had been made and paid for so we pressed on into hilly, forested country on twisting road with switch backs to climb the steep hills. It would have been a beautiful drive in daylight, but all I saw was road through the glaring headlights of oncoming vehicles. We insisted Andrei ride with us to show us the way. Fortunately the road was in better shape than most.

We finally got together with Victor at the entrance to Baikalsk and found our way to the hotel by 2:30 AM. The hotel is a large two story wood building converted into rooms. There is an ensuite bathroom where the shower runs onto the floor and no toilet paper. We had small, thin towels and sheets in the room, but Marilynn had to make the beds herself. As a final touch the Trans Siberian Railway, with its frequent trains, runs past the hotel. An interesting ending to a tough day!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Marilynn managed to get a couple of rolls of toilet paper first thing in the morning, and the hotel staff and management are very kind people who are doing anything they can to please us. I got four hours of writing done in the morning, then we washed the car and I replaced the burnt fuse wire for the dash lights and fog lights, neither of which were working last night. Marilynn arranged to have our laundry done and maid service is now provided.

Children were required to attend school for part of a day today, as it is the first day of the new school year. They were all dressed in their finest outfits, white dresses for the girls and boys in suits with bow ties. The hotel owner has three delightful young children who were dressed to the nines. The 12 year old daughter takes English in school, so has done some interpreting for us. She also helped when we washed the car.

I went with Viktor while he drove around town looking for the RAS office, something that took a long time. We stopped to buy some beer and fish to sustain us during the search. It was 4 PM when we returned to the hotel. Andrei, who was supposed to have arranged an excursion by boat for today, had finally got out of bed and we got into a battle. I'm not keen on the idea of paying him his $250 per day to sleep, and it is annoying that we drove all night last night and had nothing organized for today. It did get him motivated to find a boat for a two hour cruise, though.

We had the option of spending the night on the boat to watch them fish with nets, but that was not too appealing. The boat was a spotlessly clean fishing boat about 50 feet (15 meters) long. We rounded the breakwater into 5 ft (1 ½ meters) swells, so had a fairly rocky ride. It was a beautiful evening on the lake, which is about 800 meters (2,624 ft) deep in this bay. Looking behind us we could see the small pulp mill town nestled at the foot of ranges of high mountains. This is a major area for winter sports.

When we returned to the beach Marilynn photographed Mary in various settings for her modelling portfolio. Back at the hotel Viktor and I got into the beer and vodka while playing Russian billiards. Dinner was not until almost midnight, and by then I was very well inebriated!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Marilynn did some photo editing and I got an instalment away on the hotel internet. Great news from Lifeng in China - all required permits have been issued. I did not hear back from Mongolia about arriving one day earlier, so sent another email to tell them to go back to the original plan to meet us at the border at 8 AM Sept 6. We will stay in Baikalsk an extra day - the hotel here is costing only $36 per room per night, the best bargain of the trip, and we are really enjoying the company of Viktor and his family.

We spent time writing and editing today, then before dinner Viktor and I had a few drinks at the billiard table again. Daredgan had commandeered the hotel kitchen, and spent most of the day cooking up an excellent lunch and then an amazing dinner featuring fresh omul (a fish similar to trout) from Lake Baikal that Viktor bought off the fish boat.

After dinner, which included a fair bit of vodka drinking, Viktor, Marilynn and I drove to the lake. Viktor was determined to swim in the cold water, and I was determined not to be shown up, so joined him. The first plunge was terminated fairly quickly, followed by more vodka. At this point Marilynn decided to leave us to our insanity and walked back to the hotel. Viktor and I went back for an extended swim, which I followed with a thawing session in the hotel sauna.

Lake Baikal is the world's deepest lake - up to 1,637 meters (5,370 ft) deep. It is 636 km (395 miles) long and contains almost 20% of the unfrozen fresh water on earth, more than in all five of North America's Great Lakes combined.

Monday, September 3, 2007

We were to drive to Ulan Ude today, but have put it off until tomorrow. I'm hoping the new turn signal/fog light for the car will arrive at the RAS office in time to have it installed.

We drove to a beautifully clear mountain lake and rented a rowboat to cross to a grassy area on the far shore where Daredgan laid out enough food to feed twice our number. Viktor and I got a fire going over which fresh fish were barbecued. There are supposed to be hot springs around the lake, but we didn't find them.

I'm going to try to get this update away tonight - the internet was not working this morning. This is the first time in a long while I'm up do date with writing! Tomorrow we drive to Ulan Ude.