The forecast for Moscow: 1 Kelvin

After a somewhat sleepless night, I spent the morning before checking out looking for a hostel that was cheap to crash at for a few days. There was a fair few but actually the cheapest one was a place down the road, maybe only a mile away, so I booked myself there for 4 days.

I survived Moscow's crazy traffic and got there in no time. In fact I got there around 1130 (the check in time on booking.com's app said 12) but then could not find the damn place. I must have spent a good 15 minutes around the back of the building before heading to the front again where the concierge of the building shouted “hostel?".

After what an observer would possibly see as some sort of bizarre ‘Mime-off' between the two of us I was able to discern that the hostel was number 22 on the 6th floor and that I was able to use the lift for my bike ('Velo' in russian) and baggage.

Up on the sixth floor the hostel door was unmarked and also unremarkable compared to its opposite number. How anyone would know that place even existed was beyond me. I'd left my bike downstairs with the concierge and took the essentials with me, rang the door bell and the door opened automatically. I was greeted to the most miserable looking man I have ever met. He looked like I had crapped on his shoes, he was that bad. No English was spoken, but this guy had Google translate so we were both able to use the app on our respective phones to converse. Supposedly the check in time was at 1300 but I was ok to start bringing bags up. As always, the problem of where to store the bike was a mild concern, but I was able to put it in the rear stairwell what they used as a smoking area. By the time I'd brought everything up and locked my bike to some very rickety railings it was past 1300, so all was good.

The WiFi worked best in the main passageway of the hostel so I sat out there and contacted friends and family to let them know I was ok. As I was doing this a Chinese looking guy was asking the hostel guy for something, I can't remember what, in English and to no avail. He gave up and was putting on his boots to go out. I don't know what made me ask because I was literally going to just stay in the hostel and sulk for a few days, but I asked the guy where was heading and if he wanted any company. His practically jumped at the chance to hang out with someone and I was taken aback by his enthusiasm.

And so began the adventures of Kelvin and the Gog.

We both decided it would be prudent to go and get our bearings of the city, so we found our local metro stop and headed off to Red Oktober. I was really amazed with how deep the subway went. I had only ever been on a subway in Rome and that was just down one short flight of stairs. Me and Kelvin had gone down two massive escalators and it felt we were in the bowels of the city. I was surprised with how it didn't feel claustrophobic at all. The station stops were massive, and beautiful. I'm not even joking, the walls were all crimson marble and the ceilings were ornately decorated. It really wasn't what I expected (to be fair though I didn't really know what to expect but this wasn't it).

At Red Oktober, the two of us got lost in the under-road pedestrian crossings that snaked the whole area but eventually got out on the right side of the road and were greeted with the outer walls of the red square.

As you would imagine with somewhere touristy like this, there were tonnes of souvenir merchants pedaling things from the old Russian Dolls that everyone loves to bright pink Russian military hats. I don't know why but I really wanted get one for my Dad. I'm not entirely sure he would have wanted a bright pink one though.

When we got through the walls we could see the iconic sight of St. Basil's cathedral. It was absolutely breath taking. Or it would have been of not for the god awful scaffolding that was being put up in front of it. It turns out they were using the square for the morning ceremony for the Winter Olympics and the scaffolding would eventually look like a stage although I would leave Moscow before I get to see it complete.

We walked around the scaffolded area and made our way to the cathedral to take photos and the two of us agreed that everyone that was taking photos with tablet computers looked bloody ridiculous!

We went to get food at a soviet style cafe. It was really good (I had a chicken kiev) and really cheap too. Afterwards we walked around for a while longer before heading back and settling in for the night.

The day I gave up..

I woke up about 4am and looked out the window. I didn't known what I was expecting to see, but what I got was torrential rain. It was pitch black when I set off.

I made my way out of the city whilst trying to avoid the constant puddles (which were actually the size of lakes) not only to stay relatively drier, but it was a 50/50 affair with whether or not there was a pothole lurking under the turgid waters.

Getting onto the major truncation to the next town, I was a under a constant barrage of honking lorries, angry looking Russians (unaccustomed to cyclists) and, of course, the elements. I persevered on.

I decided to have a break and pulled over to seek refuge at a bus stop. I can't really explain what went through my head at that time but I looked at the road ahead, looked at the skies, looked at my fingers (which had gone white with numb) and though “sod this".

I turned around. I had already cycled 40 miles, but to even imagine I had another 100 to the next town filled me with despair. I had really given up. In my head I was going to go back to Kursk, catch a train to Moscow. Then go home, somehow.

It took me an age to get back to Kursk as my wheel had deteriorated even more. I knew then that I had made the right decision, what if I had have broken the wheel completely in the middle of nowhere? I dread to think.

I somehow got to the station, managed to get a train ticket and actually got on the train with little problem. Well, there was a slight problem. As I was getting onto the train with my bike frame, my glasses fell off and fell between the carriage and the platform. Goodbye glasses! Luckily I only really need my glasses to prevent me from going crossed eyed when I'm tired.

On the train, I was in a “Platzkart" carriage, so instead of the 4 bed ‘room' I had experienced before, this was 50 bed and open plan. I got the bike into what appeared to be the smokers section (just the bit in between the carriages) and got my crap onto the shelf above my bed. I made the bed with the bedding I was handed and fell asleep straight away. I was exhausted, emotionally drained and soaked right through.

When I got into Moscow I went and tried to get a sim card for my phone so I could use the internet, but to no avail. However, I did manage to get a hotel booked on the phone shop owner's computer.

So I found the hotel and got all my crap settled in then rang my parents. I told them I wanted to come home, but they told me to go and do some touristy things, see how I feel and then go from there.

I really wanted to go home though.

An apology..

Ok, just a quick note to say sorry for being so slow with updating my blog. I'm currently on my way to the Chinese border from Ulaanbaator and will catch the train to Beijing. Not entirely sure blogger works in China but I'll find some way around it. Anyway, sorry for being over a months behind.. I WILL get on it!!

All the best,

The Gog.

Kursk day 2

Not wanting to cycle with a wheel missing a spoke, I decided to stay in Kursk for another day. I couldn't justify staying at the posh hotel I stayed in last night so I found a cheap hotel down the road and checked out.

I needed to get some cash out so tried to take some out from the ATM in the hotel foyer to no avail. Luckily the English speaking concierge that helped me with my bags when I checked into the hotel was just starting his shift. He took me to the bank next door and translated the ATM for me.

I made my way to the hotel down the road and checked in. An elderly lady who spoke a phrase or two in English was at the desk and showed me to my room, handing me my room key with a key fob the size of a small child. The room was basic but clean and after I settled in (and left my bike in the security guard's hut) I headed off out for some grub.

It was around 2 miles away but I managed to find a supermarket . I stocked up on my usual diet (if I've not mentioned it before I have been living on chocolate bars with nuts, bananas, water, 7up, bread and whatever meat I can get) and treated myself with what passed as a pizza.

When I got to the till, the cashier screamed her head off. There was a fish from one of the counters wriggling around in a plastic bag. To be honest it scared the hell out of me too. Good to know the food's fresh here though. Maybe too fresh.

Back home, I had my pizza then looked for a place go have my bike fixed. Turns out the closest place was where I was meant to be heading to next. A good 140 miles away. I figured I'd have to leave crazily early in the morning to make good with time. And with the weather being cold but dry I thought I'd make it for sure, even with the wonky wheel.

I planned my route for the next day, got all my bags ready and had an early night.

Russia.

I got up pretty early and began my journey to the Russian border.

Not even twenty minutes in and I got knocked over by a car. A bus had pulled over at a bus stop so I pulled out and the bus decided to pull out too. I ended up getting sandwiches between the bus and a car. Not going to lie, I shat myself. The bike got thrown to the ground yet somehow I was able to get out of my pedals and was standing straight over the bike trying to lift it up and off the road before I got hit again. I was alright but the bike had yet another injury. A broken spoke on the front wheel. With no spares and no time to get it fixes I used my pliers to cut the flailing spoke from the wheel and carried on, avoiding buses as best as I could.

The journey to the Russian border seemed like a lifetime away, the hills and winding roads were hilly and winding. I overtook a local who had an electric assist bike, seemed like a good idea with the countryside the way it was.

I passed through a few towns and got the usual look of disbelief from the locals. As I got to the top of an extremely steep hill and was having a break I heard someone calling. I turned around to find the man with the electric bike coming up the hill. I turned out o had dropped a bottle of water along the way and he had followed me to give it back to me before cycling back the way he had just come. What a crazy, but helpful, guy!

I got to the border after a few hours and was greeted to the Ukraine guard post by a stray dog chasing me. The guard got out and went after it with a baton, chasing it off then waving me on to the next checkpoint on the Ukraine side. I had my passport stamped by a soldier and in was on my way to the Russian side of the border.

It was a very sleepy border crossing with only a few lorries waiting to pass through. I was fast tracked to the front if the queue by a laughing Russian official. In fact, all the officials at the border laughed at me, pointing out how skinny I am and how massive my bike was and how much I was carrying. I wasn't bothered about it, I am aware that I look ridiculous. In fact, being laughed through the border crossing made me forget how nervous I was before. You hear so many horror stories about border crossings, I would prefer to be laughed at than have to end up bribing people.

The road to Kursk was pretty uneventful. Just miles and miles of farmlands and small holdings.

I arrived in Kursk at dusk and checked into a rather luxurious hotel. I mean, my room even had a bath!

Coffee mines, a hat wearing Jesus and a cross country train ride through Ukraine

The day after the staying at Mykyta's friend's house he Picked me in the morning and we went to his.

There, I met couchsurfers he was hosting who were leaving to go out for the day. Mykyta needed to apply for jobs online so he sat at his computer for the majority of the day and I read my kindle and nodded off a few times.

Much later in the day he was heading off to play 5-a-side footie so asked if I wanted to cone with him for a quick tour of the city before he went to play.

It turned out that he is training to become a tour guide so I had a rather comprehensive tour within the time that we had. The main thing that stood out for me was the statue of Jesus wearing a hat. Supposedly its the only image of Jesus wearing a hat. It certainly looked bizarre..

Then something happened to me that hasn't happened in years. My gullibility got the better of me.

We went into a coffee house in the middle of Lviv which had what appeared to have a mine underneath. Mykyta explained to me that it was a coffee like mud that was extracted from the ground which was then used to make coffee.. It certainly smelled like a “coffee mine" and I could have sworn I saw people “mining". After about half an hour the empiricist in me pushed for answers about the “mine" to which I got the reply “It was a marketing gimmick". I felt like the gullible child I thought I had grown up from. The child who believed, amongst many other things, that Irn Bru was made from rusty girders and that a haggis was an animal from Scotland which had its legs on one side shorter than its other, leaving it perfectly adapted to run around Scottish mountains in a particular rotation. The way you would catch them would be to chase them the other way, causing them to roll down the mountain where people would catch them in tartan sacks.

I would like to add that all these stories where further embellished by my parents, making me look like a complete idiot in front of my friends and teachers, much to the entertainment of Mam and Dad. Cheers for that! Nothing like being scarred for life so that now I don't believe anything anyone says until I read up about it myself.

Anyway, enough of my parents' bizarre social experiments, back to Lviv. Mykyta left me in Lviv to go play football so I had an hour to kill in the city centre. I found a coffee house with WiFi and caught up with friends and family.

After meeting Mykyta again we went back to the flat I stayed at, had a bite to eat and grabbed my stuff and got a taxi to the station as it was pitch black.

We got there just in time and after saying my goodbyes the train departed from Lviv for an overnight journey to Kiev.

It was my first time in a sleeper train and I was impressed. I managed to shove the bike into the overhead compartment of the cabin in was in. I had the cabin to myself but after a few stops more people got on and I shared the rest of the journey with a family of Ukrainians, one of which spoke English (a stunning blonde woman who was possibly the same age as my own mother) and told me her son lived in Sheffield, which I found random.

We reached Kiev early morning and I had a two hour wait for catching the next train to Sumy. Getting onto that train was eventful. The guard did not want the bike on there and was just shouting in Ukrainian at me for a good twenty minutes. I finally got on and was sharing a cabin with a young woman and her three or four year old daughter. Both of whom laughed at the amount of junk I had.

We spent the majority of the journey miming to each other, with both of us using the odd words that we that the other would understand, the tiny amount of Russian I was able to learn from phrase book apps on my phone not really helping.

I got off at Sumy with help from the girl and her daughter. Who I waved off, much to the pleasure if the little girl!

Trying to find the hotel I had booked would turn out to be a nightmare, my GPS gave me the completely wrong location of where I was meant to be heading. I ended up on a dark street in the middle of an estate which I didn't feel safe at so I headed back to the train station and got a taxi instead. It was miles away from where my GPS had taken me.

I checked in, showered, rang my folks to let them know I was fine then headed out for supplies and something to eat before getting an early night. Russia tomorrow!

Luck in Lviv

The roads to Lviv were pretty good. According to the map in was following I was cycling on a motorway but it only a single carriageway for the majority of the trip.

Along the way I hit a bit of a milestone. One which I know I actually achieved a while back. According to the GPS I had cycled 1000 miles!

Rather annoyingly, there were large distances where I didn't use the GPS (the whole of UK and Belgium for instance) or the batteries had died without me realising. There was also the nuisance that the bike computer didn't work for a long time after the bike breaking in Belgium.

Despite this, I was very excited to get to that milestone!

I got to Lviv sometime around 1600 and was greeted with the usual potholes and cobbles I came to expect of larger towns.

I stopped somewhere in the middle of town and tried to get in contact with a guy I had contacted via Couchsurfing. He told me to try and call him again at 2100 and maybe he'd be able to help.

I couldn't wait around til that time for that level of uncertainty so I desperately looked for a hostel/hotel. With no internet I was really beginning to struggle. The joy of Europe was that I was able to pay for internet at least.

I ended up going through my emails and found that someone else from couch surfing had replied and gave me his number. I managed to get hold of him and he told me to wait at the train station. I was miles away from there but I took the chance and got there as soon as I could.

I think I was there for about 20 minutes before I met Mykyta.

I was in one of the waiting halls of the train station and must have stood out like a sore thumb because he just came straight up to me and asked asked “Martyn?"

He happened to have two Turkish guys who were travelling to Poland that he was hosting with him. They just looked at me in shock with how much I was carrying.

I had asked on my couchsurfing request if I could get help booking a  train ticket to the Russian border and Mykyta was more than willing to help. He suggested that whilst we were in the station that we get the ticket there and then.

After about an hour of having to wait in different queues (turns out the ticket offices are a mystery even to Lvuv locals) we managed to get my tickets.

A friend of Mykyta who showed later inputted the address of where I was heading for the night then they all left, leaving me to navigate Lvivs streets in a quickly darkening dusk.

The road was horrendous, added into the mix of potholes and cobbles were tram tracks which were little more than metal gutters that worsened the state of the road.

When I got to the address given to me, I was in a housing estate with blocks of flats as far as the eye could see. I felt a little nervous if I was being honest, just because these types of places are normally rough as hell back home.

Mykyta came and met me and gave me a hand with my stuff to the 6th floor in a lift no bigger than an airing cupboard. How I managed to get the bike up was nothing short of a miracle.

The flat itself was really nice, but I couldn't help notice the vast amounts of jars everywhere. It looked like a pickling factory.

There was a whole group of people here who I got introduced to systematically. Most of them spoke at least enough English to hold a conversation with.

One of the girls asked me if I liked sushi as they were having a party of sorts and were making it from scratch. To be honest I haven't had a lot of sushi, but what I have had I liked. I was even made to make some sushi myself, the inclusion was really nice!

After the sushi Mykyta took the Turkish guys to the bus station as they were leaving that night. So I was left alone with the rest of the party. I didn't feel at all nervous, everyone was extremely friendly. I also found out that thus wasn't Mykyta's flat, but I would be staying here out of convenience. 

Then the night took a turn that I never expected.

I was asked if I liked 7 wonders. I didn't understand and it was explained to me that it was a board game that these guys played. In the end I had an amazing night playing a highly strategic board game (I came a very close second place).

In went to bed feeling very lucky that I was able to get hold of Mykyta earlier that day.

In an alternate dimension I imagined myself still waiting for that other guy to get in contact with me.