Siberian Extreme

enjoying the blog .. good to see your on a bike that u can pick up.. :hide
 
enjoying the blog .. good to see your on a bike that u can pick up.. :hide

Thanks Contact23. I'm getting photos and videos sorted at the moment for Western and Eastern Europe and hope to soon do a trip report on here that will be similar to the blog but not just a carbon copy.

Not everyone can ride to Siberia but most of us can ride around Europe and there are some real hidden gems in the East that were not even appearing on the Sat Nav. Montenegro and Macedonia being firm favourites of ours.

Of all the bikes mine was the heaviest but this was partly due to the fact that I was carrying a tent I had not originally planned on taking as my small one fell overboard on the ride to Touratech. Even with the addition of one of Walters tires and his excess baggage I could still pick mine up. My luggage weighed less than a set of empty alu panniers. I dropped it once and had no issues with the security, strength or durability of the Ortlieb bags.

On the next trip I will be taking even less and doubling the money :thumb

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Great reporting .. enjoying it immensely !!

+1 me too. Also looking forward to JFs report of his part of the journey - that part is more within my reach than the Russian/Siberian legs of Walter's epic I am really looking forward to a full trip report :thumb
 
On the next trip I will be taking even less and doubling the money :thumb

Gulp! I'm trying to take as little as possible already for our trip and we're hoping to make some money by selling Bigbadbaz's body to anyone who'll pay:thumb
 
Walter was a lot more organised in his funding and this project is his brainchild. He was thinking about for some time whereas my invite was in January. Someone asked about funding at the Touratech event and how is it possible to do a trip like this.

Personally speaking I resorted to flogging stuff on ebay. I was amazed at what people bought. Old computer games, a wind chime, bike bits, clothes. That raised about £400 for me which almost covered the petrol costs.

I also sold my car last year in order to get the bike. I'm not wealthy enough or have not been smart enough with my money to currently have a shiny new F800GS and a car. I had to change my girlfriend as the previous one didn't like bikes. I've also forgone traditional package holidays to sunny climes with the new girlfriend in order to do this trip which is why she is such a star.

Walter sold his R 1200 GS in order to fund the farkles for the G650 X challenge. I've not had my licence a year yet and this is my second big trip to Europe so I would say to anyone that a trip like this is totally possible no matter where you are in terms of readiness.

The £ versus the € is not as bad as it appears from blighty. We have lost our spending advantage but are now on a par. It certainly makes working out prices easier as we are on parity. Eastern Europe is cheaper by and large apart from the 'insurance' at the border posts of the Former Yugoslavia

Croatia - normal EU insurance is valid
Montenegro - €10
Bosnia - we didn't have to pay on the coastal strip the bisects Croatia.
Albania - They forgot to charge us for it
Macedonia - €50 (by far the worst)
Kosovo - €20
Serbia - They wouldn't let us in but I heard it's €80 (need to confirm that)

Most campsites were not open and so if travelling this early in the year be ready for the increased expense of a hotel. If travelling in 2's or 3's you can share rooms and then negate that cost. It can work out cheaper than a tent pitch for the night.

Wild camping was an option but there are a load of wild dogs about that are often feeding on rubbish by the roadside. You'll see this in Albania, Kosovo, Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia. The dogs might be fine but all the pooch's that saw me took exception to me and the bike. I suppose from a dog's point of view something that is all in black with a loud exhaust is going to seem quite threatening.

anyway before I get really stuck into this I will sort the photos out and start from the beginning when I get home this evening :D
 
Part One - Russia - North Caucasus

Time for an update of the pics. I have made it to Tashkent in sunny Uzbekistan ... 6 weeks, 12000 km and 25 countries into the trip.

I wont retype all the text .... easiest just to go direct to the blog for that: www.sibirskyextreme.com/blog ... but here are some photographic highlights from the last month:

Part one:

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... Some back roads in the Adegey Republic

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... Open space - Karachaevo

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.... River crossings - Karachaevo

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... A damn cold day in the North Caucasus

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... Just a few km from the Georgian border ;-)

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... The road to / from Mt Elbrus, Europes highest
 
Part 2 - Dagestan and Kalmykia

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... my Dagestan welcoming committee

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... Faces of the Nogai people ... military head honcho

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... A Nogai cowboy

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... Nogai schooolkids

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... "Dude, you want a Sheepskin"

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... last fuel before the Nogai Steppe

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... Steppe road to Kalmykia

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... Kalmyk border police ... middle of nowhere

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... The largest buddhist temple in Europe ... Kalmykia

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... Kalmyk faces

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... Zhenya the Kalmyk biker fixing my luggage

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... The track out of Kalmykia and on to Astrakhan

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... ditto
 
Part 3 - Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the best ... country in the world ... (actually I prefer Uzbekistan)
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... floating section "bridge" in the Volga delta ... really freaky riding across this thing while it rocks n rolls. There are no pontoons ... each section floats itself.

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... a pretty camel (if you are into that sort of thing

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... chance meeting with a former Soviet Enduro champion and red army motorcycle instructor led to a meeting with a couple of russians heading to Uzbekistan as well. Here is Lyosha in his heydey

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... Mad Max, Lyosha and myself ... in the dusty hillbilly town of Beyneu, Kazakhstan
 
Part Four - Uzbekistan

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... An old Karakalpak (BlackHat) gives Max advice on where to go

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... The former Muynak fishing fleet

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... I saw Russ Malkin riding around in Uzbekistan

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... A rather tall minaret, Khiva ...view from bottom

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... same minaret, view from top

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... sunset over a decent stretch of road, Kyzylkum (red sand) desert

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... the walls of ancient Bukhara

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... the central square in ancient Bukhara, being invaded by a bunch of Russian adventure motorcyclists ... and one Aussie / Brit.

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... chatting to locals in the Uzbek hills

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... morning tea Uzbek style, in a mountainside Chaikhana

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...The majestic Registan, Samarkand
 
Am I imagining it or did I see that sand coloured machine with another GS , a 1200 I think on the Brussels ring road on Monday ? I was in my car trying to drive in grid locked traffic and these 2 bikes with British number plates came through .... it was a fine sight :thumb

That was probably us, yes :)
 
[off-topic] @ Cole

Easiest way to reach you at the moment is through this thread :)

HID-Lights arrived. Will fiddle with them as soon as I can find some time, cheers

[/off-topic]

We enjoy your blog and are tempted to try the East one day :thumb
 
[off-topic] @ Cole

Easiest way to reach you at the moment is through this thread :)

HID-Lights arrived. Will fiddle with them as soon as I can find some time, cheers

[/off-topic]

We enjoy your blog and are tempted to try the East one day :thumb

excellent ...meant to ask you about that :)

Let me know how they go, and say hi to Dianne!
 
That was probably us, yes :)

after I originally said it wasn't :augie . Think I was as confused as the Garmin :D

It's strange because I cant remember much after Kasteelweg. I recollect Maastricht and Francochamps and cops hiding in bushes and thats it... I think I need a bigger SD card in my head :eek
 
after I originally said it wasn't :augie . Think I was as confused as the Garmin :D

It's strange because I cant remember much after Kasteelweg. I recollect Maastricht and Francochamps and cops hiding in bushes and thats it... I think I need a bigger SD card in my head :eek

Ah yes ... thats cause it was the afternoon / evening on the way to the castle ... not after it ;) ... you are remembering the Tuesday ... Bruxelles and getting to the castle was the Monday :augie
 
Wow!!
Thats some building feat - how old?

The Ark of Bukhara ... These are in inner walls to the citadel / palace complex thingy in the middle of the old town ... 5th - 7th century I believe.
 


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