motorradreise.de.tc - Drang nach Osten, Reiseberichte unserer Weltreise und anderer Reisen in Europa und der Welt - Maximicha, Baikal 03/04/06

Winter at Lake Baikal part IV

Time passes slow in Ulan-Ude – to slow for us, waiting for leaving to Maximicha to our last stay at Lake Baikal. Mascha needs to be repaired and Sergj who does it needs more time than expected.

So we uesed the time for changing the chain-kits at our bikes, applying for our exit-visas and a short slight-show in a German-class of the university of Ulan-Ude.

The twelve days pass and we can start to Lake Baikal at the 4^th of March with the repaired UAZ ‘Mascha’.

Expeditia-Trophy 2006

The Jeep which is oncoming us at high speed looks not as usual – lots of colorful stickers, many lights turned on and a cage inside. Also it isn’t one of the known Ladas, it’s a new Toyota.

After a few seconds the next one comes and after a few miles another one. This looks not only like a ralley, it is one! A ralley here on the road to Maximicha? Never!

But it is! At a fuel station we see another group of these colorful jeeps and stop for asking what’s going on here.

In finest American-English the driver of one of these jeeps explains us that we are in the middle of the “Expeditia Trophy Murmansk – Vladivostock. One of the longest trophys of the world. 16.000 km in the time from the 23^rd of February to the 8^th of March.

Not a long time for the participants of this trophy, but full of good experince we are told in German by a guy from Stuttgart.

Took a few photos we go on to Maximicha and have to stop after a few miles again. A traffic jam – jam, here? Today nothing is as usual!

Unfortunately two cars of the trophy have a big accident with one of these russian monster-trucks. One car has taken the way downhill into the snow the other sticks under the truck. Good thanks nobody is injured!

Because of the complicate works of ranging the only road to the North is blocked for a while and so the one and other car appears.

Some Russians seems to see their first jam in life – they take photos of each other standing belong the jam, before the road is free again.

Meeting of Freiburg in Maximicha

Five new and one known face welcome us when we arrive at the house of Eliane at Lake Baikal in the evening.

The known face is the one from Nicola who has just realized another dream and came across the ice from the island Ol’Chon by bicycle. We are very lucky to see “our Extrema” from Bochum again and that she made it, driving over the ice.

The still unknown faces are Hagen from Bonn, Bertie from London and Lalida, Julia and Anna from Freiburg. What a surprise – we never thought that we will meet neighbours from Freiburg here in Siberia!

It’s a funny group and it becomes a nice time before the five leave us at the 7^th of March. But before it’s time to say Good-by we have to take part at a small competition which is made at the end of the “Masleniza”-celebrations (pancake-week), here in the village.

Masleniza-Competition

Vera comes in the morning of the 6th of March and says that we have to hurry up for visiting the celebrations given to the end of the „Masleniza“.

So we take our clothes quickly and before we know what happend we are taking part at the competitions.

Football is played – the road becomes the field, four chairs the goals and it starts.

We are fighting bravely and loose 1:2 against the local team ;-))

At this moment we don’t know that we are taking part at the competion as the German team already.

But when we are announced like this at the next game we recognize it – at this moment we are in the middle of the games and a back out would not only unpolite, also a shame for us.

So we go on and have to compete with the russian hosts (Vera is already disappeared...). We take part at the following games:

Climbing about 7m up on a tree without branches
Beating each other with sacks sitting on a trank
Arm-wrestling

After this the final combat, combinated out of:

Stelzenlauf
Double-sack-hopping
Rolling a truck-tire filled with stones
Carring a big wooden beam
Drinking one liter of beer (we can take water instead) and searching a coin in a cup of flour with the mouth
Blowing a condom untill it bursts

In spite of lack of time for trainig and preparation we stay brave, are able to get the second place in the combination-combat and get the third place in the end – from three teams ;-))

Therefore we get a beautifull banner and a bottle of sweet red wine ;-))

After a funny time we say Good-by to our five new friends at the 7^th of March. Of course not without a small party at the last evening!

Nicola stays with us for some further days.

Expedition on the ice of Lake Baikal

Mascha bumps over the uncountable ice floes before she has the even ice of the Lake Baikal under her tires. Together with Eliane and Nicola we are on our way to the Holy Nose.

One night outside on the ice – another dream becomes true!

We are following the main road (yeah, it sounds funny but there are roads on the ice in fact!) which disappears suddenly and we have to cross the ice on our own pist. On the already driven roads it’s secure to drive but without any lane it becomes a little bit tricky. So we are lucky to reach one of the “Kamtschatkas” – a collection of fishermen huts is called so.

One of these huts which is standing alone we choose to be our camp and build up the tent next to the UAZ “Mascha”.

We are about four kilometers in front of the Holy Nose and a lovely colorful sundown let the ice floes and the mountains shine. Around us nothing than ice and snow and under us the Lake Baikal – it’s more than impressing!

A small stove is installed in the hut and we have enought fire-wood to make it comfortable inside. Out of some Omules we cook a tasty fish-soup, water for tea we get out of the hole in the ice made in the middle of the hut.

div class="MsoNormal">Bang! It’s a little bit incredibly when the ice moves and makes a noise which is undescribable. Especially when a new crack appears next to the tent and the crash wakes us up. Cracks are only a few millimeters wide and it’s not dangerous because of the ice is about one meter thick already. We find many of them next to our camp at the next morning.

But untill than we are freezing much – our sleeping bags are not build for temperatures about minus 30°C. And we have such frosty degrees this night!

It’s snowing in the tent when somebody moves – the breath is freezing. Carsten went out and into the hut at 2:00 am where he fires the stove untill it becomes comfortable +10°C inside. The others are freezing through the night, only Nicola has a suitable sleeping bag and may sleep untill the raising sun wakes her up.

Before we have coffee we have to go out on the ice with our cameras – the play of colors of the raising sun over the ice is to beautifull to not be watched!

Blue-violet at the beginning, the sky, the mountains of the Holy Nose and the ice become orange-red untill the sun is raised completly.

During we are taking our breakfast the owner of the hut comes along with his UAZ. He’s a little bit surprised about his guests but it’s ok for him that we used his hut. He wishes us a nice day and decides to come back tomorrow for pulling out the net just that we are able to finish our breakfast.

Just in the moment we want to leave this place a Fata-Morgana appears at the horizont – the coast of the Holy Nose and the ice seems to be there twice and floating. It looks really nice, a beautifull spectacle for Good-by!

Well refreshed we take our equipment and drive on, direction Ust-Barguzin. A often used pist shows us the way, Carsten is lucky to drive Mascha again ;-)). On our way we decide to visit the „Civirkujskij Zaliv“. We are now in the „Barguzinskij Zaliv“ – the bay north and south to the muddy land-bridge of the Holy Nose are named this way.

For getting into the northern bay, the „Civirkujskij Zaliv“, we have to drive some miles over land. A real difficult and slippy ice and snow pist will be taken. The road is so slippy that Mascha is only drivable in the second gear. On a downhill part the UAZ suddenly slides, turns 90° and we stopp in the snow, standing diagonally on the road. Short moment of fright – everything ok, noboby lost ;-))

Fortunately Mascha is not sticking and behind her is enough space left for turnig around and we can go on. We are lucky about reaching the even ice again!

A fantastic view to the, about 2600 m high mountains of the „Barguzinskij Hrebet“ – the mountains along the river Barguzin, going North at the coast of Lake Baikal – compensate us for the hard way passed.

We stop next to a small village, Katun, which can only reached by car in the wintertime, take some photos and drive on to a small cap where huge icicle comes down from the steep coast.

Because of everyone is tired and hungry we turn and now Eliane has to take the slippy road over land back to the „Barguzinskij Zaliv“.

At last back on the even ice again we enjoy to drive more faster and after we took some fuel out of the spare can into the empty fuel tank (driving in the second gear makes the UAZ extremly thursty...) we soon reach Ust-Barguzin.

Just bumping over another field of ice floes we pass a big “Kamtschatka” and stop directly in front of a “Posnaja”. Here we refresh with many of the tasty Posi and drive back to Maximicha on the well-known road.

Spring is coming slowly

The last days of our stay here in Maximicha we enjoy the silence, the life at the countryside and the first degrees over zero.

Snow is going back slowly and sun is warming more and more.

Flight out of Maximicha

Our internet has been finished already but actual happenings will be noted.

Wednesday, 03/29/06

It's knocking on our door, without bad thoughts Carsten opens. Our well known "friends" from the Miliz appear (see our last report).

This time they are three policemen and they want to see our passports at first.

Fine, our passports are in Ulan-Ude because of the process on our leaving visas and the needed permissions takes about four weeks. But we have copies of them and our registration. As they see the copies the Miliz starts talking about punishment and prison once again. Also that we are again not registrated in Ust-Barguzin makes them angry.

How can we drive through Buryatia without passports!

It's for going crazy - at the last visit at them Miliz in Ust-Barguzin they told us that our documents are ok. Now the same woman tells us the opposite!

One of the three policemen sniffs unpolite in every room before he went outside for putting his nose in every corner. We may hide some further foreigners...

They order us to come to the Miliz-station in Ust-Braguzin tomorrow. Alex has the good idea to tell them that our friend from Ulan-Ude will come tomorrow and that she may bring our passports. We can show them on Friday to the Miliz.

The three clowns agree and after unpleasant thirty minutes they leave.

After a phone-call to Eliane we decide to not visiting the Miliz on Friday - we will leave to Ulan-Ude.

Such a shit! We plannned saying goodby to our friends with a small dinner on Friday. Now we have to shorten it for days.

Before Eliane arrives on Thursday we visit our friends for goodby and telling them what happend. They are also angry about the stupid Miliz and want to visit them just now.

Fisherman Shenja gives us one of the typical fishes in Lake Baikal, a "Sig", for present.

We enjoy this tasty fish in the evening together with Kolja and Bajrma.

In the afternoon we say goodby to Father Baikal with some glaces of Vodka, laying on the ice.

After we loaded "Mascha", the UAZ we take the road to Ulan-Ude in the morning of the 31st of April.

This last goodby and the quick departure is not easy and we will think at our friends and this unique winter at Lake Baikal for a long time!

Inspite of the last days it has been a nice time but it doesn’t matters that it will go on soon – Canada is calling! :-))

We are looking forward to driving our bikes again and to be on the road! Also to using our motorcycle-wears for what they are made for – even if they are good to use as winter-dress ;-))

Somewhen at the 10^th of April we will leave Ulan-Ude, taking the road to Vladivostock where we are already invited by bikers of the “Russkji Samurai”.

But we have to make some miles untill than – we will report you...

So enjoy the spring, send us some sunbeams and come back again!

Greets out of Siberia, untill the next log,

Alex & Carsten