GSless Girl
Registered user
Ah jasus help him, I'm sure he's learned a lot in the last few days 
Bless him, have a beer in the fridge for him when he gets in
Bless him, have a beer in the fridge for him when he gets in
And they're off!!
- Thread starter Mide
- Start date
Jaws100
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- Joined
- Sep 10, 2007
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After reading that episodeI'm really looking forward to the ride report proper
Ditto....
The trip of dreams awaits.... Am excited about the next phase!
reonvore
Registered user
Adventures of THE LOST BOYS can't wait for the full ride report
They eventually got off the ferry this morning! There was no bar on it
They spent a few hours in customs, eventually got through, somebody ran out of petrol, the garage wouldn't take credit cards
They got that sorted, then promptly got lost
They found the place where the bikes are being crated and shipped from. Kev is concerned that it looked a bit 'dodgy', and he's an Essex boy
Anyway, left the bikes, walked for miles, got on the wrong metro, got off the wrong metro and got a bus that would bring them to the right metro
Jaysus! I'm exhausted just telling ye
Anyway, they've found their way to Mark's girlfriend's mother's house in the centre of St. Petersburg and she had dinner prepared for them
He'll be home tomorrow
If he can find the airport in the morning
Sounds like they found a bar after all
What a trip
Michaelk
Registered user
i reckon he will need a pint after all that
Reckon I'll need a pint after reading about it!
The tension mounts.........................
(RIP) petcul
Registered user
They eventually got off the ferry this morning! There was no bar on it
They spent a few hours in customs, eventually got through, somebody ran out of petrol
They got that sorted, then promptly got lost
They found the place where the bikes are being crated and shipped from. Kev is concerned that it looked a bit 'dodgy', and he's an Essex boy
Anyway, left the bikes, walked for miles, got on the wrong metro, got off the wrong metro and got a bus that would bring them to the right metro
Jaysus! I'm exhausted just telling ye
Anyway, they've found their way to Mark's girlfriend's mother's house in the centre of St. Petersburg and she had dinner prepared for them
He'll be home tomorrow
If he can find the airport in the morning
He does know he has to head east when the ride starts doesn't he?
Thank you all for your good wishes
Thanks a mil lads and lasses, even the pee takers
Here's whats happened so far :
http://youtu.be/X0kCeMZLqb4
On Friday Mide and I rode down from Holyhead on her bike to pick up my bike from Martin Wittering of Torq racing(Phil Gunn had delivered the bike to him a week before). Martin gave everything a good going over, checked all nuts and bolts, serviced it, changed front wheel bearing, changed the tyres and loads of other bits I keep noticing! Excellent job and very good price.
The following Monday Mark and I headed for the ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg which was a bit boring to say the least so Mark and I had a bit of a session which we regretted the next day with the ride and things we had to sort out, but boys will be boys (even ole boys).
Esbjerg ferry is very expensive at £346 for 2 people and 2 bikes and food/drink also ridiculous prices, over £5 a pint and £10 for tea and a sandwich! Must be run by Ryanair!!!
Got off the ferry at 1 o’clock local time and headed south east for Kiel stopping along the way at a KTM dealer to get Mark’s tyre put on which they charged him €50 to do, I know we should have done it ourselves but didn’t have the time to deal with any problems that might have come up.
Arrived in Kiel around 5ish then found there are 4 ferry ports about 15 miles apart and did not know which was ours but we tried the nearest one and got pointed in the right direction to which turned out to be the furthest away but we had plenty of time so no problem.
Ferry from Kiel to Ust-Luga in Russia was exceptional value and 3 tasty meals a day thrown in! €260 for the 2 of us with bikes and nice accommodation the entire length of the Baltic sea, 3 evening meals 2 lunches and 3 breakfast. On the Esbjerg ferry the food alone would have cost nearly that!
We pulled into Ust-luga at 9am on Friday morning and had to wait for customs to check our papers before we could get off, around 10 we were able to disembark to the Russian frontier office.
When we arrived at the Russian frontier and the red tape work began, first we had to stay on the boat for an hour and half whilst customs checked boat and passports, then we had to queue at a check point where there were two booths with Russian passport control men in.
Whilst in the queue a soldier made us unload the bags, empty our panniers and check all our contents so then we repacked, reloaded and moved to the first booth.
The guy in the first booth checked our papers, came out and looked at the bikes then made us take off our bags, empty our panniers and he checked our luggage!
Then on to the second booth and yes, you guessed it! Check papers, unload bike and empty panniers.
Then we thought that was it, we’re in, yay!!! Wrong!!! We had to then go through the barrier and into the office to fill out a couple of forms for the temporary import licence (this lasts 90 days after which you have to take the bike out of the country and back in to get another 90 days) and have our papers checked and stamped again! Finally we were outta there, the whole thing took about 3 and a half hours which was quick according to one chap who spent 7 hours last time! I think it was quicker because the ferry we were on was cargo and only allowed to take 10 passengers so not too many to process.
Due to not wanting to leave too much fuel in the bikes whilst shipping I ran out just after leaving Ust Luga ferry port but fortunately only held us up for 20 mins or so whilst we took a couple of litres from Mark’s bike. We were both a bit disorganised and had no Russian money and the petrol stations don’t take cards. Fortunately the cashpoints all take visa credit cards (but not debit cards) and plenty of them around in that part of Russia.
Fuel works out at only 52 pence or 64 cent a litre and beer/food in Russia seams very cheap, in a bar in the centre of St. Petes for 2 pints of carlsberg and 2 vodka redbulls £12.50 or €15.50
Next problem was trying to read the sat nav (which was working great thanks to Daithi) in the fast moving crowded roads of St. Petes, so we took a couple of wrong turns and paid tolls that were not necessary for us, arrived at shipping agent about 5 hours later than expected and poor Max, our fixer, had been waiting for 3 ½ hours.
The shipping agent looked a bit dodgy at first. Dirty, old, dark warehouse in the middle of nowhere with a few pallets and bits of wood lying around. Still we stripped the tall stuff off the bikes to make the crates as small as possible, took the cpu's out and lashed everything down before leaving the place for what good that would do.
The next day we returned with cash (they would not take any other form of payment)to pay the shipper and there was a new quad and a new ali speed boat in for crating and shipping which put us at ease a bit and the people were really nice so that helped too!
The problem now lays with the transfer in Vladivostok where we are changing agents for the ship to Magadan (first company only goes as far as Vlad) if that bit goes smoothly we're laughing though we won't know for another 4 weeks!
We had a guided tour of St. Petersburg on Friday night followed by a couple of beers before returning to Dublin via Helsinki Saturday morning
Now sitting on the plane looking forward to seeing my mrs and going to Liz's birthday party tonight (mrs 5eyes) it's gonna be great!
Thanks a mil lads and lasses, even the pee takers
Here's whats happened so far :
http://youtu.be/X0kCeMZLqb4
On Friday Mide and I rode down from Holyhead on her bike to pick up my bike from Martin Wittering of Torq racing(Phil Gunn had delivered the bike to him a week before). Martin gave everything a good going over, checked all nuts and bolts, serviced it, changed front wheel bearing, changed the tyres and loads of other bits I keep noticing! Excellent job and very good price.
The following Monday Mark and I headed for the ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg which was a bit boring to say the least so Mark and I had a bit of a session which we regretted the next day with the ride and things we had to sort out, but boys will be boys (even ole boys).
Esbjerg ferry is very expensive at £346 for 2 people and 2 bikes and food/drink also ridiculous prices, over £5 a pint and £10 for tea and a sandwich! Must be run by Ryanair!!!
Got off the ferry at 1 o’clock local time and headed south east for Kiel stopping along the way at a KTM dealer to get Mark’s tyre put on which they charged him €50 to do, I know we should have done it ourselves but didn’t have the time to deal with any problems that might have come up.
Arrived in Kiel around 5ish then found there are 4 ferry ports about 15 miles apart and did not know which was ours but we tried the nearest one and got pointed in the right direction to which turned out to be the furthest away but we had plenty of time so no problem.
Ferry from Kiel to Ust-Luga in Russia was exceptional value and 3 tasty meals a day thrown in! €260 for the 2 of us with bikes and nice accommodation the entire length of the Baltic sea, 3 evening meals 2 lunches and 3 breakfast. On the Esbjerg ferry the food alone would have cost nearly that!
We pulled into Ust-luga at 9am on Friday morning and had to wait for customs to check our papers before we could get off, around 10 we were able to disembark to the Russian frontier office.
When we arrived at the Russian frontier and the red tape work began, first we had to stay on the boat for an hour and half whilst customs checked boat and passports, then we had to queue at a check point where there were two booths with Russian passport control men in.
Whilst in the queue a soldier made us unload the bags, empty our panniers and check all our contents so then we repacked, reloaded and moved to the first booth.
The guy in the first booth checked our papers, came out and looked at the bikes then made us take off our bags, empty our panniers and he checked our luggage!
Then on to the second booth and yes, you guessed it! Check papers, unload bike and empty panniers.
Then we thought that was it, we’re in, yay!!! Wrong!!! We had to then go through the barrier and into the office to fill out a couple of forms for the temporary import licence (this lasts 90 days after which you have to take the bike out of the country and back in to get another 90 days) and have our papers checked and stamped again! Finally we were outta there, the whole thing took about 3 and a half hours which was quick according to one chap who spent 7 hours last time! I think it was quicker because the ferry we were on was cargo and only allowed to take 10 passengers so not too many to process.
Due to not wanting to leave too much fuel in the bikes whilst shipping I ran out just after leaving Ust Luga ferry port but fortunately only held us up for 20 mins or so whilst we took a couple of litres from Mark’s bike. We were both a bit disorganised and had no Russian money and the petrol stations don’t take cards. Fortunately the cashpoints all take visa credit cards (but not debit cards) and plenty of them around in that part of Russia.
Fuel works out at only 52 pence or 64 cent a litre and beer/food in Russia seams very cheap, in a bar in the centre of St. Petes for 2 pints of carlsberg and 2 vodka redbulls £12.50 or €15.50
Next problem was trying to read the sat nav (which was working great thanks to Daithi) in the fast moving crowded roads of St. Petes, so we took a couple of wrong turns and paid tolls that were not necessary for us, arrived at shipping agent about 5 hours later than expected and poor Max, our fixer, had been waiting for 3 ½ hours.
The shipping agent looked a bit dodgy at first. Dirty, old, dark warehouse in the middle of nowhere with a few pallets and bits of wood lying around. Still we stripped the tall stuff off the bikes to make the crates as small as possible, took the cpu's out and lashed everything down before leaving the place for what good that would do.
The next day we returned with cash (they would not take any other form of payment)to pay the shipper and there was a new quad and a new ali speed boat in for crating and shipping which put us at ease a bit and the people were really nice so that helped too!
The problem now lays with the transfer in Vladivostok where we are changing agents for the ship to Magadan (first company only goes as far as Vlad) if that bit goes smoothly we're laughing though we won't know for another 4 weeks!
We had a guided tour of St. Petersburg on Friday night followed by a couple of beers before returning to Dublin via Helsinki Saturday morning
Now sitting on the plane looking forward to seeing my mrs and going to Liz's birthday party tonight (mrs 5eyes) it's gonna be great!
eclectic
Registered user
great report Kev 
safe home and looking forward to next installment
safe home and looking forward to next installment
T900
Registered user
your taste in music is a lot to be desired 
mide done a deadly write up, bet you didn't type it up
other wise the video was okay,thought you would be a pothole master since your last episode in morocco.
can you tell I'm jealous yet
looking good so far,roll on the next installment !
mide done a deadly write up, bet you didn't type it up
other wise the video was okay,thought you would be a pothole master since your last episode in morocco.
can you tell I'm jealous yet
looking good so far,roll on the next installment !
mide done a deadly write up, bet you didn't type it up
I didn't write it!! It's all his own work
I did correct the spellings tho
Still not jealous.
Still not jealous.
Im still hoping one of us will have it off on the lotto Jim, You gotta come!
your taste in music is a lot to be desired
mide done a deadly write up, bet you didn't type it up
other wise the video was okay,thought you would be a pothole master since your last episode in morocco.
can you tell I'm jealous yet
looking good so far,roll on the next installment !
Ha ha, Cheers Ken. The music goes with my gay glasses!
Excellent, looking forward to part 2.
Cheers Damien, another 6 weeks before part duex but will post if we can.
Fankoo Ash x
bodge it
Registered user
Is that the 690 KTM Martin Whittering prepared ?
Yes, the white one at the back! he did a sterling job. I put all the rallyraid stuff on but he did a trip prep, service and tires for me.
Well recomended
frankie boy
Registered user
hi kev good to see you have crossed the first hurdle on your adventure and im sure there will be more to cross .but what an adventure you have ahead of you. wish you the best of luck, see you at horizons
