Arrived at the Russian border

Thanks to all the friends who wrote that they were burning candles for the border crossing into Russia on Friday.

Why is it so strange for the Russian officials to see an old KLR motorbike from Limpopo in faraway South Africa crossing the border into THE COUNTRY?

Perhaps it is a strange sight 🙂

Whatever is going to happen tomorrow nothing is going to stop the ride to the Arctic Circle. If not from the east then from the west.

Also on Wednesday I had to ride quite a distance on gravel roads BUT THE SUN WAS SHINING!!

Not elephants crossing the road but moose. I haven’t seen one yet.

Also a warning sign for reindeer that may cross the road. I will be on the lookout for a figure dressed in red and a long white beard herding his reindeer together.

I rode up along one of Europe’s largest lakes. Fish in many forms and variations was sold next to the road.

The mosquitoes of these northern regions are as bad as their reputation. I’ve never experienced so many at any given time wherever one stops.

Blood-thirsty the little bastard.

I experienced one of the biggest surprises ever in Mustvee at Lake Peipus. I stopped at a Bed & Breakfast to ask for a room, and within a minute a couple on touring bicycles also stopped there. They completed their first day of cycling south to Poland. They introduced themselves. Piet and Martha van Zyl, Cape Town! Afrikaans-speaking. We spent a lovely afternoon and evening together. They are doing their fourth cycle tour within 5 years on different continents. What I like the most, it is not to cover so many kilometers as possible but rather to see and experience. Therefore a 40 km per day suits them fine.

Three South Africans meet in Estonia. What a coincidence!

Lake Peipus is the biggest trans-boundary lake in Europe between Estonia and Russia. It covers an area of 3 555 square km. The lake freezes late November and thaws late April.

Thursday: The three South Africans ready to leave, Piet and Martha south, and I north.

A lady doing back-breaking work on the fields.

On the way to my overnight spot on Thursday, a few kilometers before the Russian border.

Panorama photograph of the lake where I am tonight.

Do you see the red dot on top? That is where I am tonight.

Can you still see the red dot? I am ready to disappear over the horizon 🙂

Tonight the sets just before 22:30 and rises at about 4 AM. Then there is a period of a long dusk and dawn. That makes the nights so short.

The KLR is still doing fine. Within the next week I will have to change oil and clean filters. Amazing how the kilometers fly past.

I don’t know when the next post will be. Let life surprise us! Russia or Estonia or Finland, who knows? (And no-one really cares, as long as the ride continues!)