31st Aug - Gorno Altaysk to Novosibirsk

Today was one of the very small numbers of days when I did not enjoy biking.

The road was busy, it was boring countryside, it was gray and just generally un-interesting. I was fed up with:

• Being on the other side of the world when my Grandfather is in hospital
• Missing my family and friends
• Having to find a safe place before dark
• Always being on my guard
• Always having to be on my "best" behavior with new people
• Always being careful with money
• Having to communicate with gestures and a translator rather than being able to have a deep conversation
  
• Always being on the move every day
• Not knowing where I would be that night
• Being behind on my diary and blog
• Being cold, wet, dirty and smelly
• Not being able to cuddle up and just watch a movie while a storm goes on outside.
• Worrying about catching trains and getting my bike on board

All of this is very unusual for me as I have been having the time of my life and the above does not normally bother me as the benefits far out way the disadvantages. But today I think I just felt homesick. I thought that it is about time that I get back home for a while.


I woke up well before the other guys that had all been up late. The electricity was off for some reason and so I used my gas stove to heat some water for coffee etc.

The others all woke up when one of their phones rang. I ended up making tea for everyone with my little gas stove. It was good that I could give back a small thing especially as I had take one of their beds and one of them had slept on the floor to make room for me :-)


They were funny always shouting "Emily, Emily" and then telling me do to something or sit somewhere. I joined them for a breakfast of extremely sweet condensed milk on sweet white bread with jam filling and chocolate biscuits. Apparently this was a suitable Kasak breakfast and would be good for me cycling rather than the "rabbit" food I was trying to eat i.e. oats, peanuts and dried fruit mixed together. They invited me to stay in the house for the day while they went off and explored the area in their 4x4 but I was worried that I needed to get to Biysk to get my Visa registered and also to push on so that I could leave Siberia and get back to the UK before the weather turned and so I decided to push on in the cold and the rain.


The guys tried to persuade me to convert to Islam over breakfast and let me know that it is OK for a Christian woman to marry a Muslim man as long as she converts. Apparently, I would make a lovely second wife....

By the time I had packed up, had a cold shower (no electricity), had breakfast and said good bye it was midday. I biked back into town and tried to find a police station to register my visa but failed and so just carried on thinking I would do it in Biysk.

The first 20km was all built up and gray and I then got out on to the main road to Biysk. This road was flat and very un-interesting. It dizzled all day.

I stopped for lunch in a small town along the way and did not get to Biysk until 7.30. During the journey I had decided to change my plans and instead of biking to Novosibirsk I decided to get the train to Moscow in Biysk. I found out that the next train was at 6pm the following evening.


I was not looking forward to having to find a hotel and buy a ticket to Moscow. I had just read a post a couple of days ago on a cycling forum that it is not illgal to take a bicycle on a Siberian train. This had been at the back of my mind for the last few days.

I do really seem to land on my feet. I thought that I had missed the train to Moscow that day but it turned out that the internet time were in Moscow time. I arrived at the station and who should turn up but a French man that I met a couple of weeks ago close to the Mongolian border. He was catching the train to Moscow that evening and spoke fluent Russian and helped me buy the ticket and an extra one for my bike. He also help by looking after my luggage while I loaded my things on board.


I could not have asked for it to work out any better. I had 1 hour to get a ticket and unpack all of my things and load my bike on the train. If you take off the wheels from the bike then it will fit on top of the luggage compartment within the carriage. It cost me £74 to get from Biysk to Moscow. I checked on the www.realrussia.co.uk website and they were charging £220 for the same journey! The make a huge profit just for putting it in English.


Russian trains are different to English trains. The tickets get cheaper closer to the time of travel rather than the opposite way round. It was good to natter with Clement and have some tea together before heading to sleep.

I had an OK nights sleep.


I was so happy to be on a train to Moscow. I enjoyed seeing Siberia but I am ready to get back to the UK now before the weather really turns. I have no interest in cycling in cold, wet weather through Europe in Nov! I have been out of the UK now for over 11 months. Time I said hello to everyone again.