Barnaul to Moscow

6-11th September 2007: And what a road trip is was. First a 435K day then 700,785, 840, 667, and our final run into Moscow at 400kilometres. It was Bill and Gay’s part of the trip that they were responsible for and they will led us across Russia, until I pick up the lead again as we exit Russia into Estonia and to the UK. The road conditions varied continually, but generally improved as we headed west into the more populated areas. It was agreed that we should cover this part of the country relatively quickly, giving us more time in Moscow. At least 4 days for the city, and Andrey from the Russian 4x4 magazine suggested the possibility of seeing a 4x4 competition on the weekend.

After leaving the city of Barnaul we travelled long flat roads by endless wheat fields. The fields although vast in size were intermingled with clumps of birch trees. The country is very flat on the 600 kilometres road from Novosibirsk to Omsk the height above sea level never changed by more than 5 metres, it was to be another 1500K before we saw a rise above 100metres.

We think of Australia as a big country – think again, because Russia is hard to comprehend the size.

I have always thought of the Urals Mountains as an impressive range; however it is mostly only low hills around 250 metres. What is impressive is that it divides Europe from Asia and stretches from the Artic Circle to the Caspian Sea. The oil and mineral wealth of this area is driving the Russian economy. In Tyumen, the economic centre of the Urals the sky line is filled with construction cranes. Beside the freeway the new vehicle show rooms of BMW, Skoda, Chrysler, and VW are as impressive as any I have ever seen. On the streets, the vehicles are just as impressive – Hummers, Porsche, VW Tourags etc.

Most of the major towns we bypass, but in Yekaterinburg we insist we stop, to sight the place that the Bolsheviks in 1918 murdered Tsar Nicholas II and the rest of the Romanov family. The original merchants building was destroyed in 1977 under orders from Boris Yeltin, but in its place, and to commemorate the above, is one of the most elaborate, and expensive Roman Orthodox Churches ever built. We meekly open the large wooden doors to be spellbound with the ornate gold facade stretching 5 stories or more up above us. Yekaterinburg has only been opened to foreigners since 1990 as it was of major importance to the military as a weapons developmental area and many of the rockets and planes are proudly on display in school yards and parks. In fact at the entrance to the city is a sample of the SAM rocket that shot down the American U2 spy plane during the height of the cold war in 1962.

It was Saturday night, and we walked the wide streets to find a rock band playing in the town centre. The music echoed around the buildings and large TV screens carried the pictures and advertisements. The old 18th and 19th century buildings intermingled with modern structures shows the richness of this city and surrounding area. It is the gateway to Siberia from the east and the mineral wealth of the Urals just to the west.



Camp 76-79: Hotel Milan, Moscow

Current Position: Moscow or /Mockba.
Highlights: 4,000 Kilometre Road Trip
Total Distance to Date: 20,400 Kilometres