Fromeward Bound

Taking the long way home from Japan to Frome, UK

Category: russia (Page 1 of 3)

Candied Concrete Constructions

February 21, 2017 / / 6 Comments

I doubt this is the usual overlander/traveller blog topic! Nevertheless, as one travels through the countries that we have on Fromeward Bound there’s no doubting the influence that concrete has in shaping the region.

It should be noted that I’m a big fan of concrete; both as a building material and also aesthetically. I particularly love 1960s brutalism; as a child I would visit my uncle who lived in the Barbican and marvel at this unapologetic beast of a structure. (I’m no snob though, as I’m equally enamoured by car parks!) I love the rawness of the material, the colour palette, the different textures; it’s uncompromisingly scale and it’s innate strength. I’ve mixed concrete only once before when Captain and I laid some foundations for an extension. It’s pretty mind boggling that from four simple ingredients of sand, cement, aggregate and water one can create a material so hard and strong it can withstand a nuclear bomb.

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The Happy Ending Story

November 21, 2016 / / 2 Comments

(This should be read after A Story with a Happy Ending – a somewhat unflattering portrait of Russia.)

On our final night, probably ever, in Russia we ended up camping close to the Georgian border in the forecourt of a cafe/petrol station (avid fans will recall my blog post ‘Service Without a Smile‘ and know how these work). It was really cold outside so, having eaten in the cafe, we smuggled in a bottle of wine and some beer to drink in the warmth. We were half way through a rather dull game of Scrabble (yes – Captain was winning) when the friendly security guard approached for a chat and to give us some sweets.

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A Story with a Happy Ending

November 21, 2016 / / 0 Comments

(This should be read before The Happy Ending Story)

I’m starting off with two bits of good news: firstly, we found a bottle of port and some blue cheese in a supermarket in Atyrau! Secondly, as avid readers of the blog, you will no doubt already know that Brian was reunited with us – so I won’t bore you with the details of that. So with Brian back on board, the port safely stored away and the cheese stinking the car out we headed to the border with Russia. We only had a four day transit visa with which to travel through Russia and we had lost a day of that waiting for DHL to cough Brian up; so it was a case of ‘foot to the floor.’

Fun driving conditions

Fun driving conditions

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Russia Route (Third visit!)

November 19, 2016 / / 0 Comments

It’s hard to believe it was only 4 days ago that I posted our Kazakhstan route, bemoaning the difficulties we were having with DHL – feels like weeks ago.

On Wednesday we were finally able to collect Brian from the DHL office – hooray!!! There was sadly only time for a brief celebration as we had to hit the road to reach the Russian border that same day. It was a pretty grim drive due to the weather but we finally crossed into Russia at 10:30pm. Once in Russia the next few days were all about getting to Georgia; battling over-zealous/corrupt soldiers at every checkpoint, icy roads, snow storms and rain to finally cross into Georgia this morning.

We’re now booked into a guesthouse in Tibilsi, having spent a very pleasant, blue-skied day driving south through the Georgian mountains. After the monastacism of Uzbekistan, the bleak remoteness of Western Kazakhstan and the blur of Russia, it’s like being in heaven. Seemingly every second shop is full to the brim with bottles of wine and the restaurants serve salad!

Surprise, Surprise

October 22, 2016 / / 7 Comments

Nine months passed between deciding that Fromeward Bound was going to happen and finally leaving Tokyo. During that time I did a huge amount of researching and planning – reading blogs and forums, pouring over maps, etc. – and created quite a clear idea in my head of how I thought things would play out.

Despite all that ‘deep’ thinking, some things have turned out a bit differently…..

Our very first night on the road

Our very first night on the road

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Goodnight and Sweet Dreams

September 30, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors” – Melissandra – Game of Thrones

A heinous man, not four feet tall, approaches the car. His long pointed noise, crooked and bent, sniffs the cool night air like a hungry wolf. Greasy long blond hair lies in knotted strands down his hunched back. Black beady eyes peer through the open window and settle menacingly on my sleeping pale flesh. Suddenly he thrusts his hand through the open car window and grabs me: I wake with a start. I scream but no sound emerges from my mouth. I shout for Captain but no sound emerges from my mouth. Even my fast heaving breath makes not a ripple in the still night air. There is nothing but silence…..

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“And your top three highlights are…..”

September 28, 2016 / / 6 Comments

Now that we have been travelling for nearly three months we thought we’d both have a think about each of our three highlights so far. We didn’t confer on these and left the brief open. Interesting, I think, that most of these aren’t ‘tourist attractions’ or actual places we have visited but more a general sense of living so close to nature.

By the way being with me was Captain’s #4 😉

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Russia Route: Stage 4

September 12, 2016 / / 0 Comments

At the last update we were celebrating Clare’s birthday in style at the Hotel Central in Barnaul, Russia. Unfortunately, one night at the hotel turned into two – I won’t bore you with the gory details, but let’s just say the services of a reliable bathroom were required.

I think we both would’ve liked to stay another two nights in Barnaul, but sadly the budget wouldn’t stretch that far so we set off south for the Kazakh border. The intention was to camp fairly nearby ready to be first in the queue in the morning. As things turned out we didn’t really see anywhere we fancied worth camping so continued into Kazakhstan, crossing the border sometime around 7pm…..

[Stats: On this leg we travelled 1148km and reached a maximum height of 2490m]

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