Russia / Ukraine

We bid farewell to Kazakhstan and head for the border! It’s a weekend and a small queue holds us up for a while but soon things get moving and we exit Kazakhstan with little trouble and enter Mother Russia. All our paper work gets checked by the border guards and we enter Russia with little hassle.

(Apart from one who never got a Russian visa!!! mention no names)

We enter the very tip of western Siberia and head for Kurgan well over 11,000 kms from our starting destination and our BMWs are going strong. The roads are fairly good and we start making progress with over a week to go before we come to the Ukraine border. We stop in Ufa where we take a fantastic ride on a river boat up the Volga River and combine this with a wonderful evening meal and magical river sunset. Riding is what we are all here for but it’s great to take in the sights and sounds of the cities we go through and one unforgettable experience is our stop in Volgograd formal Stalingrad ‘meaning city on the river’ where we are treated to a guided tour of the epic battle for the city in WW2. We visit the statue of Mother Russia and the Museum. It’s staggering to know that this city could have shifted the outcome of WW2 and to think of the many Russians who gave their lives protecting the city. In total over two million lives were lost over 201 days. A great film starring Jude Law was made based on a Russian sniper who inspired the Russian army to victory called ‘Enemy at the Gates’

We move on to Rostov our last night in Russia before we cross into Ukraine. Again we have no real dramas crossing from Russia into Ukraine and we notice a change in prosperity levels as we ride through small villages and towns. A farming community at heart we notice many sellers on the roads mainly selling produce that they grow either commercially or from home. The riding in Ukraine is stunning with rolling green hills and winding roads. Our last night takes us over the Ural mountain range and onto Uzghorod ready for our border crossing into Slovakia.

China

We arrive in Luan Nam Tha our last day in Laos before we cross at the Mengla Border into China. Laos has been stunning full of natural beauty combined with a basic infrastructure that allows its population to farm and be self stainable to the most part. A lovely people who are the friendliest we have encountered so far on this epic adventure.

South East China is currently experiencing heavy rain fall so we all make sure we are ready for any downpours. It doesn’t take long before the heavens open and the humid 34c drops to a nice 28c. We reach the Chinese border control and find an ultra Modern border crossing the likes we rarely see! We all seek cover in the arrivals building and find the Chinese border guards can not only speak English but they also have a top spec passport reader that scans your passport and prints your entry ticket into China and registers you on the authorities computers. There is a very small amount of motorbikes allowed into China each year and we feel privileged to be in this very elite club.

Border formalities over we meet with our Chinese guides and make our way to our chosen hotel. All our accommodation is chosen for its strategic location and themed settings and today’s accommodation in Jianshui is a perfect example of a 19th century Chinese house with picturesque gardens and a coy carp lake. Our rooms are no different with giant wooden doors and courtyards all around. We venture out to sample food and entertainment in the local town where we find traditional Chinese shows. Changing landscape as we head west from the paddy fields of south china to banana plantations and potato crops. The riding is challenging with all off your senses tested to the max, old roads meet new highways and small towns bleed into large cities, we soon head into to Chengdu with a population of over 14 million sky scrapers and a very nice hotel awaits that once used to be an army military academy for officers is now a 5 star hotel that is still used for top brass meetings and seminars. Our free day today includes a fantastic visit to see the giant Pandas of Chengdu, this is followed by an evening acrobatic show of epic proportions and face changers.

We leave Chengdu behind and marvel at the progress this great city is making. Xining in our sights we stop at some wonderful locations on route and ride some fantastic roads. We stop in a small village for lunch and as normal friendly crowds start to gather. Many Chinese have never seen a foreigner apart from on TV and we generate much interest not just because of our looks but also the motorbikes of this size and cc are really if ever seen by these small villages. The head of the village joins us at our roadside table and starts to bring food and drink on a banquet scale! We all eat our fill of wonderful local cuisine and after a few hours chatting and picture taking we ask for the bill. To our surprise the local food vendors have all contributed to our feast and refuse any offer of money. We thank everyone and make progress to our next encounter!

We continue with our journey west, heading for the walled city of Xian a great blend of western influence mixed with the affluent Chinese middle class. We stop for a rest day and take in the site, bell tower, city fortifications and the best of all the Terracotta Army. This magnificent attraction can be viewed in all its splender just 40 mins ride from our hotel. Our Chinese guides give us the guided tour and what a site to see. We return latter that day and few in the group succumb to the lure of the Mcey D’s just over the road from the hotel! Some of us head for a great French restaurant others opt for a German restaurant on the outskirts of town we have such a great choice of food Our time in China is slowly coming to an end as we head towards our crossing point into Kazakhstan. China still has a few surprises for us before we leave and our visit to China wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the great wall of China. Our Hotel in Dunhuang borders great sand dunes and sits within 10 mins of the great wall. Its a fantastic setting with dry high temperatures and sand all around. It’s now time to head towards our border crossing in Horgas and to make our way to our four day rest stop in Almatey for servicing and repairs. China was so many different things to so many of the group but we can all sum it up by saying that it has been the most challenging country to ride in some of the best food we have eaten, beautiful and mysterious!