Home » Russia Mongolia » Travel to St. Petersburg and Mongolia (part II)

The train from Moscow to Byisk takes 63 hours and costs $40.My friend Vladislav D. and I prefer hard sleeper without separate rooms (platskartnii vagon). Our closest neighbor, a 16 year old girl fed us with food carefully supplied for her journey by her parents and told us a bunch of stories about her tough life. From Byisk we took a bus to a remote corner of Altay, village Yst-Koksa. The bus ride was 10 hours long and cost $8. After initial fight for seats the atmosphere in the bus became peaceful and friendly. Especially touching was the care which the entire bus took care of a straw hat of a young lady from the old believer village Mylta.

Travel to St. Petersburg and Mongolia (part II)

Alex Mumzhiu
2006-03-22 18:19:28

Displayed times (last time: )

and rode down until the bike stopped.

We camped near the place where we crossed the river 24 years ago. We had dinner with good drinks. We remembered our trip and our friend Mark. It was very emotional moment. I did not expect that I will be able to get here again.

The next day we took a long trip back to Chuisky tract and along it to the Mongolian border. We rode by bus, hitchhiked in cars, and I rode my bike. One ride was pretty interesting. We stopped a heavy drilling truck. Two workers and a driver invited us to join them in the cabin, which was supposed to carry only three person. So my friend and I were half laying half sitting on the dashboard. The entire team was completely drunk. The truck was driven in the middle of the road. It was huge and had the upper hand on the road. The driver was in a good mood and wanted to entertain us. With every approaching car he asked "do you want me to drive it off the road?" We tried to convince him not to do it with this car, but when the next car approached he asked again do you want me to force him off the road?" On the last step of our journey, a small passenger car stopped for us, but could take only one person, so Vladia took it and I continued on my bike. When night approached I decided to camp on a river bank. I found a pretty site near a river, behind picturesque rocks. There was something peacefully and biblical in this place. I boiled water to make a cup of packet soup and suddenly a little kid (a young goat) came to my site. Keeping in mind my pastoral surroundings, I probably should say that God sent me this kid. But I was not sure if it was for my dinner or just as a good sign. Well, I decided to spare the kid and have a packet soup instead. The next day I rode my bike to the village of Kosh Agach where my friend waited for me. Kosh Agach, used to be a dirty remote village, now it has the Internet. While I was writing this Travel Note somebody stole my bicycle computer (trip computer). ...