Day 8 2016.10.01 St. Petersburg

In the morning I went to the border were a polite borderpolice officer explained I need to make an appointment to cross the border. It felt like a joke when he explained I have to drive to the other end of the city to make the appointment and then I can come back. I did exactly that lost nearly an hour and 2€ for that bullshit. I could understand that for Trucks and also cars that could jam the whole city but come on it’s just a motorcycle. On the bridge I had the chance to take a picture of Hermannscastle.

First task in Russia was finding a post office and drop the parcel I was carrying with me. Again those who read the Sibera report will remember my promise to the youth of Kuanda to send some presents from Germany. To avoid custom problems and reduce shipping costs I decided to drop it in Russia myself. So the stuttering girl in the post office was a little annoyed of the stranger that couldn’t speak a word Russian but insisted on sending this parcel. I’m happy to tell that it already arrived. Outside of a postoffice a young man asked me about my story in English. He was impressed about the story and explained that it is a heartfelt wish to visit Lake Baikal someday too. I heard that very often from Russians. It felt strange that I already realized their dream and they can’t afford it even if they don’t have to leave their country.

My next stopover will be St. Petersburg. I was glad that Lena welcomed me and took the time to show me around in the city. We know each other from a desert camp in Morocco and stayed in contact since that time. Maybe you also find something about that Marocco Trip here 😉 St. Pete was recommended to me by many many people before and it’s definitely worth.

The only thing that really broke my heart were this busses. I’m involved in the development of gearboxes for busses and it’s really a shame to make a toilet out of a bus. I solaced myself with the thought they just do that with the old busses which are to worn to drive everyday. Coincidentally that brings me to the next topic. Putin seems to be much more popular in Russia then our media wants to show us. I could  resist to buy one of these shirts but i still regret that i haven’t bought on of the “Peter” caps. The weather and time was great for pictures. I wasn’t just thankful for the nice guidance also for the patience when I wanted to try several options for any of this pictures.