Saturday 21st July 2012
Excitement reaching fever pitch now, Mark arrives in at 3.30 today as it was a good bit cheaper to fly from Dublin to Magadan then London to Magadan go figure.
Our flight is due to leave Dublin at 11pm so well head home for a bit off dinner and return to the airport later.
Sunday 22nd July 2012
Our flight was with S7 airlines which was nice they really looked after us and we paid for nothing which was strange after using Ryanair so much over the last couple of years.
We arrived in Moscow Domodedovo airport at 6am and had a 14hrs to wait until our connecting flight to Magadan, knowing this we had planned to do our currency conversion here because the rate was so much better in Moscow and there were 24hour banks open on Sunday to facilitate this.
After searching for a couple of hours for a bank that would change sterling for Mark (I had no problem with euros, all banks took them) we walked into red square to see the kremlin and we lay on the grass for a couple of hours watching the world go by, then off for a bit of lunch before heading out to a different airport for our onward jorney.
We arrived at the airport with hours to spare which was just as well because we were in the wrong airport! Oops now we have to get to the other side of Moscow to the right one which took 1 ¾ hours and left us 1 ½ hour before departure. Phew!!! Not quite sure how we got it so wrong in the first place but it was Marks fault!
Monday 23rd July 2012
Arrived in Magadan this morning at 1145 after a 8 hour flight from Moscow, The rain was tipping it down it was very cold and miserable.
There is a bus that takes you the 40km or so into Magadan for about £2 and jus about 3 or 4 km outside the city was the old airport with old rotting planes and helicopters on the runway, makes you wonder why they moved the new one so far away.
When we arrived at the bus station we were met by Vita and Alexander our land lord/lady for the next couple of nights, they took us to get sim cards for our phones and sorted our registration for Russian immigration (you have to register where you are staying withing 7 days of arriving in Russia but as mark and I will be travelling through we will have to register every week or so en route) then gave us a bit of a tour of Magadan and up to the Mask of Sorrow (Shorbi)
The apartment was very basic with no curtains on the windows (which didn’t help with the sleeping) but did the trick and is much cheaper than the hotels here. We sat up until midnight messing with sat navs and planning routes etc getting very excited about picking up the bikes in the next day or 2.
Tuesday 24th July 2012
Today we woke at 4am which was a bit of a combination of jetlag and a friend phoning me and waking the whole block of flats, we went for a strole to see if we could find milk for tea but none of the supermarkets open until 10am but luckily for us there was a bar that hadn’t closed yet so was able to sit drink tea (no really that’s all we drank) and eat peanuts. The bar was quite full for that time in the morning with a lot of pissed couples in it, will have to try and avoid that place if mark and I go for a bear any time this week as I couldn’t handle a session like that!
We headed back to the apartment for a bit of breakfast around 7 am after getting refused more tea in the bar (mark was getting a bit lairy
must have been the caffeine ) the bar was closing, at 7 am!
Around 10am we took a stroll down to the shipping agent to find out about our bikes, we knew the ship was in yesterday and they may take 2 days to get unloaded but when we finally found the company we were told the bikes would not be ready until Friday after 4pm! Bugger!!!! Back to the all night bar then!
We will have to find something to do tomorrow but it doesn’t look promising, today we walked all around the town but found nothing! On a plus side the sun has been out all day though the wind is bitterly could it’s still much nicer than yesterday.
Wednesday 26th July 2012
A bit of a wasted day as we sat drinking with an American, Australian, Russian and a Chec that we met in the steak house last night, was a bit of a session to say the least and didn’t get out of bed until 8pm the next day! The Russian vodka measures are a bit much!
We met a guy Phil (triumph Phil on the hub) who is doing a round the word trip on a triumph tiger, unfortunately the bike has had it so he plans to fly to Anchorage and buy a new bike there to carry on his trip. We are meeting Phil soon for a beer and to hopefully pick his brains on the road conditions ahead of us.
Thursday 27th July 2012
Oh dear, I can see a pattern forming after another messy night! Sat in a bar with Phil last night great guy and very interesting listening to what he has done so far, then we were joined by the local mafia who wanted us to sit and drink with them and that’s when it all went pear shaped was hoping for an early night after the night before.
I’m afraid that if the bike don’t turn up on Friday I will have to take my liver out and smother it in sudocrem and put it back in! The thing is that there is not a lot else to do here but go for a pint!
Went for a walk today and came across the Kudo support truck so looked around for the group and found them in a nearby hotel, they arrived in last night after a London to Magadan trip with 4 customers we are going to meet them for a pint tonight seemed like nice chaps and also have all the info on our route.
Friday 28th July 2012
It’s 5.30am and I’ve been awake for ages since the sun started beating in the windows, very exciting day if we get the bikes! We’ll head back up to the mask of sorrow to get some pic’s with the bikes and then hit the road. There is a track just outside Magadan that leads almost to the Old Summer Road (Road of bones) which avoids a big chunk of the m56 Kolimar highway and there for the traffic/lorries, we think it may be about 400km long so going to try to get that done today but none of the guys who arrived here over the last couple of days have done it so we’re unsure of its condition.
Well we didn’t go to see the Kudo lads last night as we were kind of trying to avoid the pub, when people arrive here it seems like a cause for massive celebrations as with Phil the night before so we’ll go see them this morning before we collect the bikes.
This will probably be the last post for a few days until we reach civilisation again but the exciting stuff is about to start so will keep you’s up to date as and when we can.
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
Excitement reaching fever pitch now, Mark arrives in at 3.30 today as it was a good bit cheaper to fly from Dublin to Magadan then London to Magadan go figure.
Our flight is due to leave Dublin at 11pm so well head home for a bit off dinner and return to the airport later.
Sunday 22nd July 2012
Our flight was with S7 airlines which was nice they really looked after us and we paid for nothing which was strange after using Ryanair so much over the last couple of years.
We arrived in Moscow Domodedovo airport at 6am and had a 14hrs to wait until our connecting flight to Magadan, knowing this we had planned to do our currency conversion here because the rate was so much better in Moscow and there were 24hour banks open on Sunday to facilitate this.
After searching for a couple of hours for a bank that would change sterling for Mark (I had no problem with euros, all banks took them) we walked into red square to see the kremlin and we lay on the grass for a couple of hours watching the world go by, then off for a bit of lunch before heading out to a different airport for our onward jorney.
We arrived at the airport with hours to spare which was just as well because we were in the wrong airport! Oops now we have to get to the other side of Moscow to the right one which took 1 ¾ hours and left us 1 ½ hour before departure. Phew!!! Not quite sure how we got it so wrong in the first place but it was Marks fault!
Monday 23rd July 2012
Arrived in Magadan this morning at 1145 after a 8 hour flight from Moscow, The rain was tipping it down it was very cold and miserable.
There is a bus that takes you the 40km or so into Magadan for about £2 and jus about 3 or 4 km outside the city was the old airport with old rotting planes and helicopters on the runway, makes you wonder why they moved the new one so far away.
When we arrived at the bus station we were met by Vita and Alexander our land lord/lady for the next couple of nights, they took us to get sim cards for our phones and sorted our registration for Russian immigration (you have to register where you are staying withing 7 days of arriving in Russia but as mark and I will be travelling through we will have to register every week or so en route) then gave us a bit of a tour of Magadan and up to the Mask of Sorrow (Shorbi)
The apartment was very basic with no curtains on the windows (which didn’t help with the sleeping) but did the trick and is much cheaper than the hotels here. We sat up until midnight messing with sat navs and planning routes etc getting very excited about picking up the bikes in the next day or 2.
Tuesday 24th July 2012
Today we woke at 4am which was a bit of a combination of jetlag and a friend phoning me and waking the whole block of flats, we went for a strole to see if we could find milk for tea but none of the supermarkets open until 10am but luckily for us there was a bar that hadn’t closed yet so was able to sit drink tea (no really that’s all we drank) and eat peanuts. The bar was quite full for that time in the morning with a lot of pissed couples in it, will have to try and avoid that place if mark and I go for a bear any time this week as I couldn’t handle a session like that!
We headed back to the apartment for a bit of breakfast around 7 am after getting refused more tea in the bar (mark was getting a bit lairy
must have been the caffeine ) the bar was closing, at 7 am!Around 10am we took a stroll down to the shipping agent to find out about our bikes, we knew the ship was in yesterday and they may take 2 days to get unloaded but when we finally found the company we were told the bikes would not be ready until Friday after 4pm! Bugger!!!! Back to the all night bar then!
We will have to find something to do tomorrow but it doesn’t look promising, today we walked all around the town but found nothing! On a plus side the sun has been out all day though the wind is bitterly could it’s still much nicer than yesterday.
Wednesday 26th July 2012
A bit of a wasted day as we sat drinking with an American, Australian, Russian and a Chec that we met in the steak house last night, was a bit of a session to say the least and didn’t get out of bed until 8pm the next day! The Russian vodka measures are a bit much!
We met a guy Phil (triumph Phil on the hub) who is doing a round the word trip on a triumph tiger, unfortunately the bike has had it so he plans to fly to Anchorage and buy a new bike there to carry on his trip. We are meeting Phil soon for a beer and to hopefully pick his brains on the road conditions ahead of us.
Thursday 27th July 2012
Oh dear, I can see a pattern forming after another messy night! Sat in a bar with Phil last night great guy and very interesting listening to what he has done so far, then we were joined by the local mafia who wanted us to sit and drink with them and that’s when it all went pear shaped was hoping for an early night after the night before.
I’m afraid that if the bike don’t turn up on Friday I will have to take my liver out and smother it in sudocrem and put it back in!
The thing is that there is not a lot else to do here but go for a pint!Went for a walk today and came across the Kudo support truck so looked around for the group and found them in a nearby hotel, they arrived in last night after a London to Magadan trip with 4 customers we are going to meet them for a pint tonight seemed like nice chaps and also have all the info on our route.
Friday 28th July 2012
It’s 5.30am and I’ve been awake for ages since the sun started beating in the windows, very exciting day if we get the bikes! We’ll head back up to the mask of sorrow to get some pic’s with the bikes and then hit the road. There is a track just outside Magadan that leads almost to the Old Summer Road (Road of bones) which avoids a big chunk of the m56 Kolimar highway and there for the traffic/lorries, we think it may be about 400km long so going to try to get that done today but none of the guys who arrived here over the last couple of days have done it so we’re unsure of its condition.
Well we didn’t go to see the Kudo lads last night as we were kind of trying to avoid the pub, when people arrive here it seems like a cause for massive celebrations as with Phil the night before so we’ll go see them this morning before we collect the bikes.
This will probably be the last post for a few days until we reach civilisation again but the exciting stuff is about to start so will keep you’s up to date as and when we can.
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/siberia2012
) but there have been not many takers so now may be time to up the anti! How about mohawks in mongolia? i'd look bloody stupid with the big kerry head on me but a small price to pay to help the Sunshine home and Laura Lynn house!
