2017/09/19

Day 52: Caspian Sea (Camping) - Astrahan

I had a nice, quiet night on the Caspian Sea and wake up before sunrise. Very pretty. I have another coffee from the bag (one I will spare for Brigitte - who is pleased). I'm not in a hurry, it's only 230 km for today.

I'm struggling back to the main road on the sandy path. The ride on the road is very boring, but again and again I have to pay attention to the potholes. The road gets worse, the farther I'm getting closer to the Russian border. I do not envy the truck drivers who have to handle these kind of roads here.

During a short break for refueling, I'm booking a hotel, which is located on the central square in the city. A bit expensive, but well located.

I pass the border quite fast, I do not need an import declaration for the motorcycle again, as the Kazakh one does the job. The border is quite funny in terms of the landscape. The Kazakh side is located on one side of the river, on the bridge you get a kind of ticket for the Russian side, which I have to give back after I have passed the Russian border. Behind the bridge you first have to ride 10 km and then you arrive at the actual Russian border. The customs control is annoying, luckily I do not always have to open EVERYTHING. 

Back in USSR! Passed another border.

Into the direction of Astrakhan my GPS wants me to make a northern detour of about 50 km. I decide to take the direct route. Soon I arrive a river crossing in form of a pontoon bridge, for which I pay 50 rubles. Quite an adventure. The bridge consists of 10 m long metal parts that are flanged together so that they can move horizontally as well as vertically - almost impossible to cross with a motorcycle. In the middle of the bridge I have to stop, I just can keep the bike upright, at the left side of the bridge the waves are 50 cm high, the bridge is swinging hard. When the wind abates for a moment I start up again and finally arrive safely on the other side. Very exciting experience. Unfortunately, I did not have the action cam on my helmet. And by the way: this happend at almost 40 degrees celsius.

In Astrakhan, I realize that my Russian SIM card has to be recharged first, so I can not verify the booked price when I arrive at the hotel. With a little haggling I get the room including breakfast for 2,000 rubles. A nice room in a nice hotel in a brilliant location.

Opposite the hotel there is the Kremlin with a very beautiful cathedral. In the cathedral there's a live recitation and singing. Hidden away in a corner I discover three singers and a reciter. The singing is then joined by a young priest, while he nebulises the church with incense. Really a wonderful experience. And even the church itself is very coherent, in no way overloaded, with a few icons in front of which believers persist. In the courtyard of the Kremlin a lot of people go for a walk, all in all atmospherically very pleasant and architecturally very nice.

Later I go out again to find a restaurant. A few streets away from the hotel I cross a canal and get into a kind of lower town with some little dilapidated, but nice old buildings. The city as a whole is worth a visit. I find a restaurant with good food and a waiter who speaks English. Maxim, the waiter, is a young student studying English and Chinese. Talking to him I once again realize that the younger generation is very open-minded. It's always fun to talk to this younger generation.