Originally from America. Proud citizen of Australia. Currently riding my motorcycle around the world. 44 countries so far and counting. ;-)
On yer bike… A good ol’ Australian saying comes to mind. We got off the ferry and had some fairly nice roads. The one thing Walter brought up before we left is that today is the half bridge. It’s a bridge that crosses the water, but it just ends half way across and you go into the water to finish. How weird!! He told me the trouble they had with it last year...
Had a really nice run on the Viluisky Trakt today.. rigidy again (that’s my new word), but feeling comfortable and cruisin’. Walter waves me into a café for some lunch. The villages are more frequent along this stretch and there are roadside café’s for travellers. This is a true pleasure. After travelling the Road of Bones, new road and old...
I spent my first day in Yakutsk just catching up on regular life stuff. Doing laundry, and washing each piece of our riding suits one by one. Two hours in the...
Walter did carry on that night so as to meet his French friend Arnaud, who was staying in the next town called Khandyga, but needed to move on the next morning. I arrived in the rain about 9 AM, and called Walter to get instruction of where to go. Arnaud was just ready to leave and they would meet me instead. As upset as I was the night before, I was really glad...
We had ridden 150 km from Tomtor and crossed the big river. Walter doesn’t tell me, but we actually still have a full day’s ride ahead of us. It’s 3 or 4 in the afternoon by time we had crossed the river at Kyubeme and started the main road again. He does tell me there is some of the most beautiful scenery of the whole trip coming up.. So what was all...
I wasn’t looking much forward to getting on the road from Tomtor, because the road into town was so gravelly.. I didn’t like it. But I was pleasantly surprised that the road was good for a really long time! There had been a bit of rain, gravel was gone, and it was more like compacted hard mud. Very easy, and I was cruisin’!! Walter stops at one point to check...
I’m coming!! That little spot headlight down the road, is slow Sherri Jo! I’m slow, but I get there.. There are times where I can speed up, but I don’t get too crazy about it, as this road is completely un-maintained and unpredictable… There are serious hazards everywhere – and they love to surprise me! Sometimes they have these little creeks...
After leaving the deserted town, it’s just a small hop to the turn off that officially begins the “Road of Bones” Walter pulls off for a quick photo and all he says is “Now the hard part..” After the hundreds of kilometres on dirt roads, which is not particularly easy, as well as that gruelling test to the Gulag… I thought that was hard! You mean it gets...
We have arrived Mirny, a large diamond mining town in Yakutsk.. Really rough roads as usual, and so glad to have a town to rest in!! AND, as usual, the people in Yakutia are beyond welcoming and hospitable! We did not even make it into town.. but as we were pulling in, a bright blue Subaru pulled us over.. A blonde man jumps out and has...
Yay! I survived the Gulag road! Now that it’s over, it was actually quite an experience that I am glad I didn’t miss. I certainly learned a lot! About motorcycle riding in all sorts of ways, as well as the interesting history of the Gulag. Not many people know about them at all and particularly where they are, because they are such a dark and...