Life Won't Wait...

A satellite state is a political term for a country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country.

First and foremost thank you for the comments, I will reply to them individually at the end of this blog.

Its been three days since I left Tallinn, but a lot has happened so I thought I'd better update this before I start to forget stuff. I'll write another update tomorrow when I've had a chance to check out St Petersberg.

The day I left Tallinn I felt rough, the good weather had deserted me and five weeks of cycling had taken its toll. I've got no GPS so I rely on maps and a good sense of direction most of the time. This has several downsides: firstly, because of the distances I am travelling, the maps I have are usually 1:500,000 (1cm=3miles) so do not show enough deatil to navigate cities, secondly I now have ten maps in my front pannier that won't get used again on this trip and I havn't the heart to bin.  

I could post them home, but the postage would probably cost more than the maps are worth. And then theres the cost, I went all the way around France using a road atlas I bought for a tenner but when your crossing borders every few days you need new maps, and it all adds up. So I may invest in some kind of GPS mapping gizmo for the next trip.

Anyway this made finding my way out of Tallinn and onto the correct road tricky, I ended up following signs for the ring road which eventually saw me to the right road, but it was fecking frustrating and I lost a good few hours.

Then there was the weather.

I was cycling on the main road (another downside of having large scale maps is they won't show local roads) however by this point I'd made the executive decision to drop off the main road and follow a small B road that ran parrallel to the motorway after a few 'close shaves' with passing motorists who coulndn't see me.

The high point of the day was when an Estonian couple stopped and offered to put me up for the night, unfortunatly their house was a fair few km's from where I needed to be so I declined, but thanks for the offer guys!

I was aiming for a place called Aseri on the north coast where, according to my 'Baltic states camping map', there was a campsite. As I got closer I started to get a bit worried, no camping signs, but after a bit of searching I found the place. "Ah, we are not open until next week, but for you we will make an exception!" the owner said, top man.

Ten euros lighter and I had a pitch at what was probably the most picturesque campsite I've ever stayed at, and like a berk I forgot to take a picture. Half and hour and two packs of super noodles later I was fast asleep in my tube with a good 140kms behind me.

The next day was supposed to be an easy day, a quick 70km spin to Narva, change some cash and get ready to cross the border the next day.

I left the campsite at about half 9 and managed to get about 10kms up the road before a car came up behind me beeping his horn like a mad man. He pulled over in front of me, GB plate. It was only bloody Collin, the Brummie I met last week.

"What the f*cks taking you so long, you should be in Russia by now!" he shouted.

I felt like fetching the barstewerd a smack before I realised he was joking.

We had a chat and I tried to give him the address for this blog but he dosn't use computers, or even have a TV! 

"We're like Tom and Barbara off the good life!" he said

I was laughing, little things like that help lighten the mood.

"I hope I don't see you again!" he said.

They were heading to Narva but then back into the EU, no visas.

After that chance meeting I again decided to drop off the main road at a place called Aa and follow coast roads to the town of Sillamae. The miles were going slowly and my legs felt like lead. I think I was somewhere near the village of Valaste when a man and a woman pulled out in front of me. I rode up alongside and said hello, the man (Sergey) spoke perfect English but his wife Olga spoke about as much English as I speak Russian, actually she said hello, so she can speak more English than I can Russian. They were from St Petersburg!

I decided to tag along with the 'mad Russians', Sergey had some facinating stories about growing up in communist Russia and was very clued up on eastern European history so it was a very interesting few kms. Sergey and Olga were also heading for Narva and had a campsite in mind, so I decided to stick around.

A few kms down the road we got to the town of Sillamae, Sillamae was originally a military installation, and did not feature on any maps of the USSR. All of the buildings were very 'Stallinist' in style.

This picture isn't the best example, but you get the idea. Our trio had a quick pit stop at Sillamae to pick up some supplies, and a few Carlsbergs for later, before heading off to Narva-Joesuu to find a campsite for the night.

 Mad indeed...

Apparently the mad Russians had done their research, and we found a cracking spot just off the beach. The weather had cleared up and we spent the next few hours eating, drinking beer and watching the sun set on whats billed as 'the most beautiful beach in Estonia'. I also took the opportunity to grill Sergey some more on Russian History and recieved an eduction on Russian politics from the revolution right up to Putins vice like grip on power today.

A quick history on Kaliningrad, kind of gutted I didn't go there now because it has quite a colourful past. Kaliningrad is the only city that was named after a prominent party member, Mikhail Kalinin, chairman of the Presidium of the supreme Soviet who died 1946, that has retained its Soviet name after the fall of the USSR. Every other city reverted to its pre-soviet name i.e. Leningrad - Saint Petersburg. Kaliningrad used to be German Konigsberg, in the province of east Prussia, but was given to the Soviets after the 2nd world war as reparation. It is now the only Russian naval base that is ice-free all year round, so the old Ruskies are keen to keep their hands on it!

It rained a lot that night, and when I woke up It was still raining. I don't actually think theres anything worse than having to slide out of your tiny tent of a morning onto piss wet ground but I didn't really have a choice. After a bowel of porridge with my new friends we exchanged numbers with the intention of a meet in Saint Petersburg a few days leter.

I struggled to get going yesterday, the first 10 miles to the border were hell, the rain held off but the mist was back with a vengance. I cycled along the Narva river towards the 'Narva Friendship Bridge' (yes, it is really called that, another throwback to the Soviet era when Estonia was occupied!) the crossing point between Estonia and Russia. Watch towers on the Russian side of the river cast an ominous gaze.

A Russian T-34 tank, placed here as a memorial to Soviet troops who fell in the second world war. A Soviet memorial on Estonian soil seems kind of ironic. Apparently a few years ago the Estonians moved a statue in Tallinn that commemorated Soviet war dead and in retaliation Russia cut all rail links with the country!

Eventually I got to Narva and the crossing point. I showed the guy at border control my passport and visa and he asked where I was going. I was tempted to say 'Russia' but if I've learnt one thing over the last few weeks its not to mess with the Russian authorities...

A young woman saw the flag, came up to me and asked me if I was actually British at the border, she couldn't believe a Brit would want to come to Russia!

After an insane amount of paperwork but very little actual work from the staff at border control I was let through. Humming the James Bond theme tune as I took my first steps on Russian soil was definatly a high point of the trip.

And heres the photo you've all been waiting for:

By this point it was around 12 noon, the rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I remember seeing a sign that said 130kms to Saint Petersburg and thinking 'I'll never get there tonight, I'll have to stop on the way'. I got quite a few admiring beeps and waves from Russian motorists on the road and after 20 miles I got into the swing of things and the adrenaline kicked in.

One thing Sergey had talked to me about was the gap between rich and poor in Russia. In the large cities the starting salary is comparable with the UK, say 1000GBP a month, however in the countryside 100 GBP a month is considered a livable wage. Unbelievable. Most houses in the countryside are little more than large garden sheds with courregated iron roofs.

At around 4pm I passed another sign. Saint Petersburg 55kms. 'might just make it' I though. Under 40 miles and the road surface was quite good.

I rolled into Saint Petersburg at 8pm last night, 9pm in fact as Russia is +3 hours on UK time.

Fecking tired. So I found a reasonably cheap motel and crashed out. Last night I stayed on the very outskirts of the city so today I cycled to the centre and got a ridiculously expensive hotel. I really didn't have a choice as the cheaper places will not register your visa but on the plus side I get free Wifi
which lets me update this. First impressions of Saint Petersburg?

I like.

As I was mooching around looking for somewhere to stay I met this guy. He didn't speak English but the fact that he had a pet raven that sits on his shoulder while he walks around won instant cool points.

So I'll be staying here today and tomorrow. I'll try and stick up a few pictures of the city tomorrow and I'll give Sergay a ring tonight and see if we can arrange to meet up for a beer.

Fred- I like my half monged shropshire farmer accent, it lulls people into a false sense of security ;) you best get some tack together for our spin to Italy if your still game, I should be back in Blighty by the end of June and I'll have restless legs. Also don't forget the obligatory Barmouth pissup. 

Nigel- Nice to hear from you pal, you got any interesting jobs lately? Last time I saw you you had the remains of a moose hanging in your in-laws garage! And ta for dropping that metal detector back, did you find anything good with it? Dunno if my mom told you but I took it out in Chetwynd Firs a few weeks before I left and found a musketball!

Ed- Don't tempt me mate, If I had more time and ££ I'd be over there like a shot, probably only a month from here by bike. You working over there or what? Was the visa hard to get? And I bet the girls are good over there, I watched a film once, Asain Invasion....

*joking*

Oh and Gaz mate, If your reading this and your still at Doncs can you get Brian, Louie, and Adam Pardoe to drop us a text, or give them the address for this so they can get in touch on here. I lost all their numbers when I swapped phones and I want to organise a college re-union sometime this summer. Ta dude.

Until next time....