We passed into Slovakia yesterday, through a checkpoint charlie ghost town, weeds growing around the buildings. A sign of past control and the freedom and unity of belonging to to the EU. It was a great days riding too through back country roads and forests and ending up here in Levoca south of the Polish […]
I was working in the lab …. – or so begins the Monster Mash song. And that was the tune ringing in our ears as we rode into The Alps of Transylvania, en route to the famous castle of Vlad situated at Dram, deep in the heart of this territory nowadays part of Romania, but […]
Leaving Moldova for Romania we soon arrived in Iasi (pronounced Yash) where UNICEF had organised a couple of field visits for us. They’re always a highlight of these motorcycle trips and you get a unique perspective on the country you’re passing through. In this case our organised programme was interrupted because the area had […]
Last bike in the group is the most vulnerable to being preyed on by the police in Russia. I was waved in and stopped and informed of the traffic rule I had supposedly broken, fabricated incident. Drivers license was examined in detail and I was told to get in the police car. No way I […]
Another of these rebellious provinces who have held a referendum & declared independence, Transdneister is a breakaway slither of Moldova and we were told by border guards not to enter. But we found a farm track and did, spending an educational night in Tiraspol it’s capital. We paid a price for our curiosity – a […]
We are out of Russia and looking back I have managed to change some of my preconceived ideas of this huge place. They are a generous and wonderful people and a country that you feel very safe in as a woman traveller. We have been directed across towns and and had folk turn up with […]
Friends and family back home often wondered just how close we were to conflict or danger. Even the Russians warned us about the dangers of riding our proposed route from Astrakhan to the Kersch strait. As we got closer to the south we asked locals like Alix and others and the reality was these routes […]
Our month traversing Russia from the Arctic to the Caspian has been a wonderful education. There is no doubt that this is a truly great nation with a history as epic as any, including China. And to come here, well after the fall of the ignominious experiment with Communism and see how the country […]
Well we have left the great nation now and have enjoyed it immensely – especially the massive difference between North and South Russia- both in terms of climate and ethnicity and friendliness of the people. But one thing has been consistent across the Motherland – and that is the bizarre behaviour of the road police. […]
M Aunt (or was it my mother)had a black coat of thin delicate sheep skin, very fine tight curls and exotic looking. It was along time ago, but I always remember it being called an Astrakhan coat. I came to Astrakhan looking for one, or maybe a hat of this exquisite material. No luck. But […]
