Poland to Häverstädt, 9.10.-10.10.2010

By now we really felt an urge to get back to Häverstädt again. It is hard to describe but in the weeks which led up to our return we had really warmed with the idea of ‘getting there’, seeing family and friends and starting the next bit of our lives. We were highly motivated and we started calculations as to when, if all continued to go well, we would be in Germany and where we would have our last sleep. We arrived at the border rather soon and again were lucky because in contrast to the trucks, cars were handled rather quickly. We were confident to be in good old EU soon, but how wrong were we!

Well, to say the most important bit first: We made it through. But for a few hours it did not look like it. When we were at the gate it turned out that Holger & Sandra were more than welcome to go through but that this was a different story for Melville because he was a non-European citizen. First they sent us from the ‘nothing to declare’ section to the ‘something to declare’ section. And it became very soon clear that the officials had no clue what to do with us but felt they should do something… The difficulties started with the fact that we had to officially import the car into the EU which we had planned to do once we were back in Germany as this would be the new country of residence for troopy. To us it seemed to make sense as we are German citizens. From what we had read this meant that once back in Germany we would go to the nearest customs office with our paperwork and declare troopy (including paying for road taxes). Simply driving through Poland therefore couldn’t be such an issue in our eyes and should at the most involve announcing the arrival of the car to German customs. This was also what the first Polish border guard had told us.

However, for some reason the border guards became increasingly unsure what to do with us and then decided that we would have to pay a bond in form of a Carnet de Passage and once back in Germany would get the money back. This was not a fee paid to the Polish government but to a private insurance company situated at the border which sells you a certificate where they vouch for you that you will not sell your vehicle while crossing a country. We found this all very weird but followed the young guy who was sort of responsible for our case to the office. It is probably not difficult to imagine that we lost countenance considerably when a rather indifferent lady told us that this would be 5000USD in cash, thank you. No they would not take credit cards and the next teller was in the border-town 20ks away, easily reachable with a cab… Despite the unsurprising fact that we of course did not have said amount handy we were outraged as to why all of this was necessary. Whoever has laid their eyes on troopy knows that yes, he is a strikingly good looking car and yes, his worth for us is rather immeasurable, but no, in plain money he is not worth 5000USD – and why would somebody in POLAND of all places be interested in buying him!?!

We spent a ‘fun’ afternoon in the border office, talking to different officials, persuading them that it was rather idiotic to ship a car worth 5000AUD for 4000AUD to Russia, drive it for several thousand Ks (not to mention several thousand dollars worth of petrol) through Russia and Mongolia to sell it in Poland while we are on our way to Germany… Until finally after about 2 hours of unnerving hanging out and lamenting, a lady-officer who spoke really good English listened again to our story, translated it to some higher ranking guys who after a discussion, that felt like the 123^rd that afternoon, decided that we had two choices: Either pay the bond or simply drive away. Aha. Their rather lame argument in favor of option a was that we might have difficulties with the German customs if we just drove off but how the bond was connected to this they could not really explain… hence we drove off, relieved and pumped with adrenalin. After all the places we had been through getting into Poland turned out to be the biggest issue – who would have thought that!

We drove deep into the night to make some mileage and stopped at a really nice hotel which had a room available. We had to revive our Frensch because the staff spoke Polish and French but no English :o) Finding a bed turned out to be difficult because it was a Saturday and most hotels we stopped were fully booked because of weddings taking place. The Polish roads were absolutely fantastic, road-signs told you the outside temperature, the street-temperature and we saw soooo many shiny new cars. Everything was clean and neat and the streets were lined with Carrefours, Mediamarkt and Lidl, Penny etc.

We were back in Europe! Now nothing could stop us and when we really made great progress thanks to German and Polish Autobahnen on Sunday we decided to arrive a day early.

The last K’s were weird and we talked about how the adventure was coming to an end but also about the new things awaiting us, it was very exciting!!! We arrived at around 10pm, and in Minden our families had prepared a spontaneous welcome (my branch had just returned from a holiday the same night). It was so great to meet them all again, it was a cheerful occasion and we had some champagne and exchanged a zillion hugs :o)

Ukraine, 7.10.-8.10.2010

Although we had initially intended to stay in the Ukraine a bit longer we soon decided that we would merely drive through. After all it was already October and the weather did not allow for a lot of outdoor fun anymore. Besides the first stretch of the Ukraine we went through was heavily industrialised and to get to the without a doubt beautiful Carpathian mountains would have meant a considerable detour which we were hesitant about. Kiew sounded promising but same as Moscow we would have preferred to visit these cities by themselves on separate trips and we did not feel like visiting big cities at the time.

The Ukraine was a mixed bag, and we did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped and in many ways it was a step down from the conditions in Russia. Entering the country in itself proved to be the first adventure and this was the only time ever that we had to pay an ‘extra fee’. Border procedures can be tiring and usually involve several stations: 1) Hand in papers for a first check to be allowed to enter the actual border compound; 2a) Do the immigration bit, optional: 2b) medical check; 3) Do the customs bit 4) When leaving compound hand in pieces of paper you have been given while doing 2) & 3). We thought we were lucky because apparently we had picked a border crossing which was not too busy. However, when Holger approached the first border point the following conversation allegedly happened:

Guard: You want to Ukraine quick?

Holger: Yes, only two days for Ukraine…

Guard: No, I mean QUICK!!!

Holger: ???

Guard (gesturing money counting): QUICK!?!

Holger shifting over 10 USD: ‘Ah, quick!’

Guard: You pay, you quick Ukraine: Two minutes!

Guard (gesturing more)…

In the end Holger payed 30USD ‘Extra Fee’ as apparently there were three people involved. In the end it took longer than 2 minutes because the border guards were in general confused (again I’d have to say) that two Germans would drive with an Australian car. We also had a feeling they were trying to get more money from us because suddenly one passport seemed to have gone missing but because their English was just as bad as our Ukrainian we were stubborn and after a couple of minutes the passport appeared and they let us go. We still don’t have a clue whether the 30 dollars sped anything up but at least there it was: Our bribe story ;o) Aaprt from the first 30 minutes, the Ukrainian people we met were again really helpful and nice. Even the policemen we met were cheery fellows, despite the horrible stories we had heard. To be honest, after the episode at the border we had expected to be pulled over regularly for money which had also curbed our enthusiasm for the Ukraine but thankfully this never happened.

In the two days that followed we had some fab Bortsch for breakfast...

...took the wrong turn several times, again came across a McDonalds (the last until Germany), slept in some really horrible beds where the linen had not been changed in a while but hey, it was half price because we only stayed 12 hours! We had some fantastic mushroom-omelette in a bee-style cafeteria we could just not drive by … The roads were pretty horrible and the landscapes and places we drove through ranged form heavy industry zones to the smallest little farming villages...

... and the living conditions seemed to be in general rather poor. In the end we were glad when we approached the Polish border but also sad that we did not get to see more nice sides of Ukraine – well, we have to go there again in summer, I reckon :o)

Volgograd, 5.10.-6.10.2010

We crossed the Volga at nightfall and did not get to see much of the river but had to drive over a very long bridge to cross it. The reflections of the city of Saratov gave us an idea of how wide the river runs. After some nights in rather crappy places we were looking forward to explore a bit of city life again in Volgograd (formerly named Stalingrad) and we were not disappointed: Volgograd was stunning. Although most of the city was destroyed in WWII during the monstrous battle of Stalingrad the remains of pre-war Volgograd displayed an aura of splendidness and grandeur. As per usual we spend about an hour driving though the city to find our bearings and discovered that the old city where the hotel was situated we were looking for is not where the city’s heart beats nowadays. ‘Downtown’ is a fairly modern affair with big shopping malls, designer shops and – tatterattatata – McDonalds! What a joy that was :o) The fast-food outlet had just been opened and was swamped with people, young and old. It was huge and quite chic, the staff had handheld POSs to limit the queues and in no time we had placed an order with a friendly lady who spoke some English.

After lunch we set off to find the hotel and some friendly locals showed us where to go to come to the old part of the city. The hotel was probably the most luxurious place we had been to during the whole journey. It spanned a block and had several restaurants attached to it, among them a premium coffee-bar and a very decent looking pizza-place.

The entrance hall was all marble with huge paintings, thick carpets, plush sofas and doormen in livree. The staff spoke several languages and because not all rooms (particularly the bath rooms) have been renovated they also had economy-rooms which were in our price range. The room was furnished in dark wood, had red curtains and high ceilings, it also overlooked a large plaza. Breakfast was included and the next morning saw us face the last Russian style breakfast on the tour which we made the most of :o)))))

After check-in we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the famous memorial park situated on a hill which was a main battleground in the battle over Stalingrad. The park is called Мамаев Курган (Mamajew Kurgan). At the heart of the richly decorated park is a statue of a fiercely looking Mother Russia stretching a sword into the sky.

The statue is huge, apparently about 80 metres high and can still be seen from very far away. Many vendors have stalls set up along the steps leading up to the statue and the memorial hall, selling souvenirs ranging from beer mugs to medals. Old grannies sell flowers and the memorial hall with its eternal flame and the massive rolls of honour was a prominent spot for photographs. In summer the place is probably buzzing with tourists but the approaching dark and the chilly wind saw only a few people explore the area.

Next day we set off to organize a ‘green card’ for troopy which is obligatory for cars not registered in Europe but roaming European streets. While trying to find the right building we encountered again numerous adventures: I was nearly imprisoned because I entered the wrong building (which was a bank and had a security gate I kinda ignored on my quest); we met the slowest teller machine ever (which needed 5 minutes to give us the cash – I am not exaggerating here); walked into a shop where you could buy really big bolts for tractors and the like before finally entering the right building!

Getting to the Ukrainian border took us another day and a half and the drive was not very memorable because the road was full of trucks and since we had left the Ural the country was heavily plastered with industries and large agricultural facilities.

Barnaul to Volgograd, 31.9. – 5.10.2010

Ok, it’s been a while since we arrived back home and because there is a bit of free time in the Christmas-break I thought I might finish the blog with an account of the last two weeks of our fabulous trip! Where were we… ah ja, in Barnaul!

Altogether we stayed a full week in Barnaul waiting for mail Borut had kindly posted in Perth for us. I have to say the staff at he Barnaul Hotel proved to be unbelievably helpful in retrieving our parcel (which Post Australia was not, actually that was quite a frustrating ‘customer service’, or rather ‘non-service’ experience). Once we had communicated that we were waiting for a delivery receptionists called the Russian Postal Service to find out about the whereabouts of the parcel containing some 4WD goodies and did the best they could to get things going. Meanwhile we enjoyed living in a clean modern hotel room which was for our standards unprecedented luxurious, i.e. the bathroom appliances did not fall off the wall and there was hot water all day around :o))))) The price for the room was one of the most economic we had come across on our tour and so we took the time to relax, read books, go for coffees, do some internetting, plan the route to get back to Europe and to sample Russian food-stalls (restaurants are really expensive and our budget did not include any extras given that we stayed in a hotel).

However, we were glad once we got the parcel to able to head off. In Barnaul we had decided to drive first a bit up north to go around Kasachstan and then head west along the Southern border of Russia via Omsk, Kurgan, Ufa, Saratov and then stay a day in Volgograd before reaching the border to the Ukraine. The weather was by now surprisingly chilly and every night was below 0° degrees hence we had to skip our plans to enjoy some more camping. As a consequence we stopped over in truck stops and motels the numbers of which were increasing as this was a major truck route through Russia. I have to say from now on accommodation deteriorated significantly until we reached Poland with the exception of Volgograd. There were many deserted army barracks on the way which served as privately run ‘motels’. The little huts with a communal ‘bathroom’ and two or three bedrooms/dorms were often arranged like satellites and connected by a pipe system delivering hot water for showers and heating. One camp was situated in a copse and enclosed by a fence, to enter the compound and get to the administration office you had to pass a turnpike and fill out a form with a stern looking military-clad guy. Usually, there hardly was more furniture other than a table and some beds and chairs in a room. For the sake of the experience and because the better-looking truck stops were often fully booked we stayed in one for a night. By the looks of it, in this army barrack they had not even bothered to change the mattresses which were really a bit disgusting and very likely the original mattresses – good thing we had the sleeping bags and hence did not have to touch the mattress and the linen :o)


To go easy on the budget we planned to do the last bit of driving through Russia in a week which basically meant doing around 600-800k’s a day, with an average speed out of town around 80-90Ks. The road conditions were most of the time good, even with some stretches of Autobahn in between, but still it was a hard drive and we had to pull long hours sometimes driving for 10 to 12 hours.

Of course with this schedule we were less inclined to stop and cook therefore we fed mainly on the widely available goulash. It is usually the most economic option, the quality and the meat contents vary greatly and it is either served with bread and rice or pasta or, that was a bit odd, fries.

We drove once more for a while through Siberia and had one of the most surprising encounters on the whole journey. While we were taking a nature break a large 4WD truck honked and once the inmates left the car we were staggered to realize that we had met these guys, father and son, before when driving from Khabarovsk to Chita in Far Eastern Russia where they had stumbled in a road side café with their pet-snake Jeanette. How weird is that to meet the same people twice in a time period of 7 weeks in a different place in a vast landscape such as Siberia!?! They had easily recognized Melville, couldn't believe and stopped. After a big hello, we each made some pictures. Such Lovely guys, as a farewell present they gave us a CD of a Russian singer and we gave them some German schnapps in return.

Siberia: Barnaul, 24.9.-27.9.2010

While I am writing this we are watching Russian TV and a short while ago Holger was laughing his arse off while watching Ice Age in Russian :o) ... The last two days saw us drive towards Barnaul with an overnight stop in Gorno-Altaisk. The landscape has changed again and this is now very much like Europe already, a mixture of forests and agriculture.

But first things first. Following the Katun river coming up to Gorno-Altaisk we drove again through beautiful areas.

The Katun river is very wide and in summer a popular destination for Russian holidaymakers and offers plenty of whitewater-rafting.

Watching the river for a little while you know why :o) As in so many other places before many facilities have closed down already.

The day before we had noticed that clutch was giving us a bit trouble: the clutch master cylinder was leaking a bit and when we saw a garage in a village we stopped to see what they could do. Three hours later we were quite a few Rubel poorer and none the wiser. The guys could not fix it and were quite brutal and when they wanted to cut a hose and solder it to a different cylinder which was not quite fitting Holger, already getting a bit nervous, intervened. Actually he started to get nervous when he had to lend the guys some tools… Well, the old cylinder was put back in and we now hope to make it until we find a Toyota dealer or maybe until we get home… Fingers crossed!

Gorno Altaiks was very busy and we had to drive around quite a bit until we found a hotel with a vacant room (which was room with a single 90cm-bed and we solved the problem by one person lying upside down :o)…) Next day we made it to Barnaul (roughly the size of Hanover) where we are now awaiting the arrival of a parcel Borut send us from Australia with some parts. The Hotel, Hotel Barnaul, is really good: everything is very clean and fully functioning, the bathroom is in full working order, there is WiFi and all appliances are attached – quite luxurious circumstances :o)

We made the most of it by sleeping in … and in… and in… and watching TV and going for walks and coffee and getting cookies from the bakery around the corner, nmnmnm!!! Such a treat to be in a city with all the amenities :o) So many people in the streets, music and a Skateboard event, a Hare Krishna parade (not what you expect in Siberia , that’s for sure)…!


We now have around 4000k’s more to go in Russia and then about 3000 to get home which we want to do in the next three weeks, our aim is to reach Minden about the 12th or 13th of October.

Parcel from Mongolia, catching up with ‘Peking to Paris’ & a speedily border crossing, 21.9.-23.9.2010

To thank our dear friend Borut for all his efforts we wanted to send him a bottle of Ghinggis Gold, arguably the best Mongolian vodka. Hence we packed a parcel and went to the post office. However, before sending a parcel overseas you have to get it through customs, I guess they want to make sure that you do not send out any antiquities or petrified dinosaur eggs and the like. So next morning saw us at the customs office and where we again had to face Mongolian officialdom. First of all there was nobody in the office so we went upstairs and were told that customs inspector was situated downstairs, we checked again and then went up once more to tell the officers that there was no one. A phone call was made and then another one and after much talking we were told somebody would be down soon. About 5 minutes later a group of young women came in (we don’t know from where, I’d say a meeting, Holger suggested a coffee shop) and the door was opened. We showed our parcel and after inspection every corner was meticulously plastered with scotch tape. An official looking woman in a uniform arrived and asked us about our journey, the contents of the parcel and the receiver’s address and translated the information while another lady wrote these details in a book. All this happened with much giggling and good humored joking around. We were told that it would take a little while and I had to sign the book and we spoke a bit more about our travels to the lady in uniform. After some more waiting the door suddenly threw open and a guy burst in, rushing to a cabinet with a key in his hands, took out a briefcase and – tatarattata – the stamp appeared which was the missing bit we still needed. Guy disappeared in a flash and we were good to go to the post office again, which by now was of course closed for lunch break ;o)

We went to have lunch at the small eatery again and farewelled Arnauld and Gregore who were also having lunch there as well. They also intended to leave for the border that day but would presumably arrive a day later. After finally delivering the parcel to the post office we could leave Oelgyi. When leaving the town we saw an oldtimer with a large sticker ‘Rallye Peking to Paris’ on its sides and also a start number, we got excited and hoped to see him again later.

The road to the border point was paved for some k’s and we enjoyed the sound of asphalt under our wheels. Once the asphalt ended we drove over a pass which brought us up to about 2600m and enabled us to see some more of the Altai mountains in their full glory, quite spectacular actually. There was a huge ovoo and for a last time I did an Ovoo-Walk and offered some of the small money I had left :o)

Sad moment, our last pass in Mongolia :o(

We passed Tsagaanuur, a scruffy windswept border town and headed further East. Given our experience when entering Mongolia we wanted to be at the border as early as possible and wanted to camp simply a few k’s before the checkpoints. But, as on so many occasions before, we were again surprised. Probably 10k’s before the border we saw some more Oldtimer and also a camp where more were parked and constantly arriving.

WOW- No way we would pass that possibility on! We asked the officials who were timing the participants' arrival if we could have a look around and they were happy to let us in. On the way into the camp some flags marked the way but there were also some which indicated where there were muddy spots better not to be driven through – well, how on earth were we supposed to know that!?! We found out the hard way and while the cars from early 1900s kept on passing by we were trying to dig our good ole’ 1984 4x4 Landcruiser out and after getting nowhere for a while gladly excepted the offer of one of the guys from the support team to pull us out (we would have gotten us out eventually but it felt a bit stupid to start a big rescue mission while help was so readily available). The guy belonged to the support crew and his job was solely to pull cars out, he had all the gear readily available and told us he had used it that day already… Needless to say that Holgi was furious (not to say embarrassed) but by now shares my opinion that it makes for an excellent story :o)

Walking around the camp was fun, all those beautiful old vehicles, the buzzing atmosphere and the sound of cursing men trying to fix mechanical or electric issues – Ah, the sound of a racetrack, how had I missed it ;o) Holgi quickly started chatting to the (mostly) guys about their machines and the rallye. 100+ vehicles had started 11 days ago in Bejing and were now making their way to Paris through China, Mongolia, Russia, the Middle East and Europe, to reach Paris after altogether 35 or so days of racing.

This is the Itala from 1907.

Aaaah, oooh a Bentley

The Aston Martin :o), yeah!

Many people were setting up their tents and more cars kep on arriving. Holger particularly admired an Itala (pre-1910) which did neither have a roof nor a windscreen and an Aston Martin, slightly modified for off road use. Most drivers’ were happy to have a chat and tell us about their adventures and their motor situation, everybody was very excite and cheery.

There was, however, a slight difference in between their travel experience and our travel experience. They hardly had any contact with Mongolian people nor did they have time for decent stops, at least in case they were seriously competing. They had a support crew with 5 mechanical teams and several organization vans, they had a paramedic and in every country heaps of ‘fixers’. To participate apparently 35000 British Pounds starting fee are needed per party + all the additional costs for getting the vehicles there, not to mention getting the actual vehicles in shape (several vintage Bentleys, Rolls Royce, etc), the whole event had ‘Big Money’ written all over it. In Mongolia ‘Nomads’ a well established tour operator had deployed two teams of large 4x4 busses and trucks carrying numerous staff, generators and supplies to each stop. The Mongols also dug out toilets, set up a canteen with a kitchen and cooks and installed showers. So much effort and comfort – unbelievable! It was a bit sad, though, to hear some (uppity) drivers complain about warm beer or the temperature of the showers and such petty things. Unfortunately they had had some not so good experiences in UB where some participants became victims of pick-pocketing and this had tainted their experience of Mongolia and their opinion of Mongolian people. It sounded as if they were travelling in their own little rally-bubble, but then again not everybody is able to drive 300ks in Mongolia in one day in an oldtimer (let alone one without a windscreen) and after all is was a race not traveling.

The rally also wanted to cross the border next day which had our inner alarm clocks shrill, even though they might have had all the paperwork together for the large party we did not really want to have to wait with about 120 odd vehicles at the border, given our previous experiences with Mongolian officialdom. Hence we decided to rock up real early and camped about 5k's from the border, our last night in Mongolia, sniff...

After a really cold night (apparently it went down to -12 (!) degree and the car windows were again frozen from the inside) ...

... we were at the border at about 7ish, only two cars of the rally-organization had beat us. Unfortunately we had to wait until 9 for the border to open – not so much fun when it’s below 0 degree and you do not have a stand-heating… Anyway, we were there & we were in front of the pack! Turns out that, as we had expected, the Mongolian officials had problems with grasping the situation and it was obviously very confusing for them that yes, we were international travelers but no, we were not part of the rally, sigh! It took some time to get that sorted although I still cannot see how they could overlook the fact that we did not have a meter-high starting number in black on the car (or any other stickers indicating our participation). What made me even a bit angrier was when one of the rallye-guys became a bit pushy and kind of jumped the queue so to speak which confused the customs guy even more, he mixed up the papers and clearly was unsure how to proceed. This was a bit of a nuisance, this particular officer held tight to Holger’s passport and was running around the compound with me, of course, following suit because of the passport, aarghh!!! Anyway after repeatedly pointing out to the customs officer in question (Njet Rallye!!!) that we were not part of the rally and some support from the other non-pushy rally people we eventually got the guy to check our car and let us go through passport control the final hurdle… We then drove through some no-man’s land and finally reached Tashanta and without any problems entered Russia again. This was all very turbulent but it took only 2.5 hours – Hoorayh, we were in Russia!

The next few hours were fantastic, we drove through the Altai Mountains on paved roads – what a treat!

The area was so impressive that it is hard to put it in words: The mountains are so massive, you can see snow capped mountains all along the way, the road is winding around mountains and going over steep passes or through scenic valleys, often following fast flowing rivers, all is dressed in very bright autumn colors (which was such a change to the bright green Siberia we had left 6 weeks ago), wonderful little villages are snuggling in valleys, stunning!

For quite some time we were following the Itala which had caught up with is and admired the beautiful machine:

After a stop for Ghulash we saw even more cars and decided to camp along the river to watch more of them passing through. Imitating good ole’ Tour De France- behavior Holger took his folding stool, a yummy beverage and sat on a rock beside the road viewing the cars speeding by and taking heaps of pictures :o)

Oelgyi, 19.9.-21.9.2010

Next day we made for Oelgyi and the drive there was one of the best once we had: Going through really high mountainous terrain and dunes, being surrounded by snow-capped 4k mountain tops and then cutting through a steep valley in autumn colors following a fast flowing river threw us into an unbelievable scenery, truly awe-inspiring! Oelgyi itself proved to be a lively charming place and the change in the scenery also reflected a change in people as Oelgyi is mainly inhabited by Kazakhs.

The hotel we found was quite nice and affordable, everything was fairly new and included the usual little hiccups: plumbing was not invented in Mongolia and it’s always best to bring your own toilet paper :o) But the water was hot, the city offered many options to enjoy food and had a nice vibe about it, so were really contend.

The first room (we moved after the first night from a single to a double room) also had satellite TV and we could sit in bed and watch Boney M videos on VH1 :o) Oelgyi is a nice little town situated beautifully in the dramatic Altai Mountains.

We spend two fun days there and met two cheery Belgian cyclists, Arnauld and Gregore. They had been on the road since October 2009, starting in Turkey and were now on their way to Russia to take the train back to Belgium. Wow, a whole year on the road – we truly enjoyed our time on the road (and there is much to be said about the excitement when starting the day and being on the road or to be able to spontaneously throw over itineraries in favor of other plans – I absolutely love it!) but we could also feel that now, after nearly 9 weeks and while getting closer to Germany there was an emerging sense of wanting to be there, to be with family & friends and to start a new part of our live, having lived far away for more than 5 years. From this perspective, a whole year seemed very long. We met for lunch, the two showed us a good budget eatery where we had for the last time some Mongolian noodles, booz and milk tea and listened to the fantastic tales the two had to tell.