I woke up and still couldn’t believe we had crossed the border to Russia.
From Vladikavkaz it was still about 1700km ride to the end destination but somehow it felt like “almost there”.
We rode along the mountains to Pyatigorsk to see Elbrus but couldn’t locate it on the horizon (on the third photo it should be somewhere behind the helmet). So I asked the locals: Where is it possible to see Elbrus from? From anywhere, they said, it’s just too cloudy today. Oh well, so we headed to a small super cute town called Blagodarnyi (literally translated as Grateful). The people there were very friendly and a bunch of local kids helped me to find my hotel for the night 🙂
Blagodanyi – Volgograd
Long straight plain roads that I usually quite dislike. But this time for some reason I loved them. Maybe it was the endlessness of the grassfields that kept my eyes excited, maybe the heat and sunshine that made me want to ride as fast as possible to catch a bit of refreshing breeze, or maybe it was the realization of how close I was getting to the destination. Anyway, the road was quite easy and enjoyable and pretty decent asphalt most of the way!
I took a longer break to explore Elista, the capital of the Kalmykia region, a very interesting place and very unlike anything I had ever seen in Russia before. It has a clear Eastern influence, the main religion is Buddhism, they speak a different language, have different traditions, and cuisine. Definitely on my list of cities to come back to!
Bee and I deserved some rest. A good night sleep and a day off to recharge batteries for the last stretch.
Volgograd – Saratov
Woke up in Volgograd, enjoyed a slow morning, did yoga, had breakfast.
I couldn’t figure out how to plan the day to max it out and get some rest at the same time. The logistics just didn’t seem to work. So I thought planning was overrated and I’d just do whatever feels right in the moment.
I packed everything (which was easy since I barely unpacked last night) and went to see the symbol of the city: the enormous Mother Russia statue on top of the Mamaev Kurgan Hill. It’s a massive memorial complex devoted to the WWII.
Having spent a decent amount of time walking around, I still had plenty of energy and decided to start riding towards the next stop: Saratov.
Before I knew it I covered more that half of the distance. And suddenly it got cold. Like seriously cold. From nearly 40 degrees in Volgograd to 10: a drop of almost 30 degrees in less than 3 hours felt pretty extreme.
I had to dig out all the warm layers from the luggage (I really didn’t think I’d be needing them again on this trip), put on the waterproofs for extra wind protection, and even turned on the grip heaters.
Frozen, hungry, and pretty tired but we made it to Saratov for the night.
Saratov – Togliatti
Spent the night in Saratov and left early next morning.
Didn’t see any of the city, but at that moment I didn’t care about sightseeing. I didn’t care about cold and rain either.
All I could think of was getting to my parents’ summer house and surprising them. They thought I was at least two days of riding away from them.
Rode through quite a bit of rain, but as I entered Samara region, I was greeted by blue skies and summer-like temperatures.
Stopped for a coffee in Syzran, called my parents to make sure they’re in the summerhouse. All good. Let’s go!
Watch the slightly anxious and really excited me arrive ☺️
A couple of days in the summerhouse, and I rode the last 25km to Togliatti, to the exact spot where I started the trip 10 months before.
THE END!
Totals: 10 months 22 countries 28943 km
