Western Siberia

Western Siberia
We have now travelled over 4,500 kms since leaving Beijing and arrived in Novosibirsk late yesterday, we travelled through rain all day (our first) and a temps of 12- 14c so it was much cooler than we have experienced. .Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia, next to Moscow and St Petersburg. It is also the capital of Siberia and established as part of the connection of the Trans Siberian railway link to Kazakhstan in the late 1800s. We are on an amazing journey which has confirmed some of our preconceptions and totally changed others. We have been stopped by the police 3 times so far (twice yesterday) There are police road barriers all along the highway, they step out and point their baton at you which means pull over NOW. Fortunately a little forethought before departing means that we have a laminated note which explains we are from the small friendly county of NZ in the South Pacific and thanking them for allowing us to drive through their beautiful country. It works every time, well it has so far, let’s see how we get on in Moscow.
The steppes of Siberia are beautifully green with lots of Silver Birch trees and Pines, plus millions of acres (no exaggeration) of wheat, maze, rape seed (used for making Canola oil) wild flowers which at times are breath taking. No fences and very little stock, although it must be somewhere as farmers are busy cutting and bailing hay. Since leaving Krasnovkaya the roads have improved a little which makes driving easier, however one still has to watch out for the crazy drivers who will pass two trucks on a blind corner or with oncoming traffic very close, I am sure this is where the term “Russian Roulette” comes from. We have seen some horrific accidents.
For those of you who saw inside Moggie before we left and were worried about how many pairs of shoes and which pair of jeans I might be able to pack based on the room inside, I can honestly report we have ample space, in fact if I am honest I brought too many clothes, but as Laundromats are few and far between it is not an issue.
We have taken the opportunity to sleep over in little villages where we can find suitable overnight parking and feel safe. We always create a certain level of interest and have cars, cycles passing by until it’s dark which in this part of the world at about 10.30pm at present. These villages are more often little farming cooperatives responsible for the large crop areas mentioned above. The houses are built from wood and have very bright blue and white shutters; some also have painted their fences a very bright green. Each house has the most amazing vegetable garden; occasionally they have planted sun flowers. Winters here are so long and cold that they must grow enough vegetables to see them through to next summer. Most of the vegetables that cannot be stored are pickled. They grow more potatoes here than the Irish. They also have the most amazing log piles ready for the winter. The roads through the little villages are not paved as this is up to the local councils and one imagines that funding for such is limited. The main highways are the responsibility of the government. Due to so many heavy long haul trucks passing through the villages, the roads are pot holed and rutted, plus the houses get covered in dust in summer. I imagine the house wives gave up dusting long ago
Sadly the people of Russia are not friendly, when they do speak to us they ask if we are American or English, when we say NZ they look blank as most do not know where NZ is.
The young women are very attractive, tall and well dressed; with 3women to every man they are obviously keen on attracting a husband. Today is Saturday and having just returned from exploring the city centre we were overcome by the number of your couples having their wedding photos taken around old buildings and in the central garden area which is very pretty and as the sun is shining and a temp of 28c and rising makes everyone happy.
This afternoon is vehicle maintenance time, and car washing. We broke a front coil spring about a 1000kms back due to shocking road surfaces, as it broke in the middle it seems to be holding. We have ordered a replacement in Moscow where the Mercedes garage will replace it for us. Other vehicles in our group had to replace shocks along the way; it’s all part of the ride. From here we will drive to Omsk, which is 700 km away (a long day’s drive) but as the Russian Govt would only give us a single entry 30 day visa we must press on.
I am persisting with up loading photos, it will not get the better of me. Keep watching the blog, one day soon our pics will appear.
Love to you all the Weranui Wanderers.