Day 7 Tyumen - Omsk
23450 - 24093 634 km
First of all: Sorry, now photos today. There was absolutely nothing to see on the way. There would have been a lot to see in Omsk but it was getting late, there was terrible traffic and I desperately wanted to find a decent hotel as fast as possible.
The road from Tyumen to Omsk was definitely the most boring part of my journey so far. Fields, same small forests and swamps. Hundreds of trucks to pass. And then pass again after refueling etc.
The road was partly build on swamp. Not the Finnish-like swamp that has moss and small trees but more like swamps of Florida. Still water, grass, dead trees etc. I don't even want to know the amount of bugs there is during summer. I think the bug problem of Lapland is nothing compared to that. Even though it was very cold today I managed to get some bugs to my helmet visor. The swamp sections of the road were at least 40 km long altogether. That's a hell of a lot of swamp!
The Russian culture of driving is weird. It is aggressive, fast and hectic. But the same time it's polite and smooth. No honking etc. When a faster one comes behind you, you get to the shoulder of the road and the one who passes, blinks ones four way signals to thank. Even motorcycles have four ways installed for that purpose.
This traffic makes me crazy. Not angry kind of crazy but bat shit crazy. I change lanes every other second in the cities. I pass whenever I can and speed all the time. Everyone is speeding and the police couldn't care less. Today a whole line of cars (including me with my motorcycle) passed a police car that went only 110 km/h at a 90 km/h zone. The craziest thing was when a truck passed a bus and I was wondering if I could pass them both by squeezing in between. I'm glad I didn't try...
I have seen only few other travelers on the road. On Saturday I saw someone with a bicycle somewhere south of Vologda and today another maybe 150 km east of Tyumen. I saw maybe one motorcycle on Sunday (might have been Finnish if I saw correctly from my rear view mirror) and three BMWs on Monday on my way to Yekaterinburg. Today someone came across with a motorcycle with some gear on but it might have been some local because the bike might have been Ural.
After long traveling through the land of swamp I arrived to Omsk. I had already yesterday found a hotel I targeted but... I never found it. I am sure I found the correct building but it just wasn't there. I entered a new one in Zumo as my phone's GPS misplaced me at least 5 km. I found the hotel easily but after yielding dozens of roller skiers I realized it was way out of my league. What now?
Booking.com showed a cheap solution in the center with a free parking. As I found the right building the was no place to park. Same in the next one. Again I took Google Maps. I knew where I was (not the same place Google thought I was) and there I found Complex Nika only 2 km away and according to Google it was cheap.
I got to the parking lot and the guard showed me a place to park. At this point I had decided that I will stay here no matter the price. I walked inside and found an English speaking receptionist. And the price (with breakfast) was only 2000RUB. Not bad I'd say. The cafeteria sold me Coke Zero and two slices of pizza. In my room I shaved my head (if I didn't I'd had to buy a guitar and I cannot carry it with me) and took a long hot shower. What else does a man need?
Tomorrow I will have another long and most likely boring day from Omsk to Novosibirsk. I have already found a hotel in Google Maps. Lets see how I'll manage tomorrow with finding it.
P.S. The city center of Omsk is absolutely beautiful! It's nothing like common Russian cities. There are old buildings in very good shape and many well maintained parks. Only problem (same as in most of the big cities) is the traffic. It brings so much noise, dust and smoke...
P.P.S. Ok. There was a little lie in the beginning. Here's two photos from my GPS Tracker.
That's the trip so far.
And there's where I'm going. Omsk-Novosibirsk-Barnaul-Biysk and south-east to the border.
First of all: Sorry, now photos today. There was absolutely nothing to see on the way. There would have been a lot to see in Omsk but it was getting late, there was terrible traffic and I desperately wanted to find a decent hotel as fast as possible.
The road from Tyumen to Omsk was definitely the most boring part of my journey so far. Fields, same small forests and swamps. Hundreds of trucks to pass. And then pass again after refueling etc.
The road was partly build on swamp. Not the Finnish-like swamp that has moss and small trees but more like swamps of Florida. Still water, grass, dead trees etc. I don't even want to know the amount of bugs there is during summer. I think the bug problem of Lapland is nothing compared to that. Even though it was very cold today I managed to get some bugs to my helmet visor. The swamp sections of the road were at least 40 km long altogether. That's a hell of a lot of swamp!
The Russian culture of driving is weird. It is aggressive, fast and hectic. But the same time it's polite and smooth. No honking etc. When a faster one comes behind you, you get to the shoulder of the road and the one who passes, blinks ones four way signals to thank. Even motorcycles have four ways installed for that purpose.
This traffic makes me crazy. Not angry kind of crazy but bat shit crazy. I change lanes every other second in the cities. I pass whenever I can and speed all the time. Everyone is speeding and the police couldn't care less. Today a whole line of cars (including me with my motorcycle) passed a police car that went only 110 km/h at a 90 km/h zone. The craziest thing was when a truck passed a bus and I was wondering if I could pass them both by squeezing in between. I'm glad I didn't try...
I have seen only few other travelers on the road. On Saturday I saw someone with a bicycle somewhere south of Vologda and today another maybe 150 km east of Tyumen. I saw maybe one motorcycle on Sunday (might have been Finnish if I saw correctly from my rear view mirror) and three BMWs on Monday on my way to Yekaterinburg. Today someone came across with a motorcycle with some gear on but it might have been some local because the bike might have been Ural.
After long traveling through the land of swamp I arrived to Omsk. I had already yesterday found a hotel I targeted but... I never found it. I am sure I found the correct building but it just wasn't there. I entered a new one in Zumo as my phone's GPS misplaced me at least 5 km. I found the hotel easily but after yielding dozens of roller skiers I realized it was way out of my league. What now?
Booking.com showed a cheap solution in the center with a free parking. As I found the right building the was no place to park. Same in the next one. Again I took Google Maps. I knew where I was (not the same place Google thought I was) and there I found Complex Nika only 2 km away and according to Google it was cheap.
I got to the parking lot and the guard showed me a place to park. At this point I had decided that I will stay here no matter the price. I walked inside and found an English speaking receptionist. And the price (with breakfast) was only 2000RUB. Not bad I'd say. The cafeteria sold me Coke Zero and two slices of pizza. In my room I shaved my head (if I didn't I'd had to buy a guitar and I cannot carry it with me) and took a long hot shower. What else does a man need?
Tomorrow I will have another long and most likely boring day from Omsk to Novosibirsk. I have already found a hotel in Google Maps. Lets see how I'll manage tomorrow with finding it.
P.S. The city center of Omsk is absolutely beautiful! It's nothing like common Russian cities. There are old buildings in very good shape and many well maintained parks. Only problem (same as in most of the big cities) is the traffic. It brings so much noise, dust and smoke...
P.P.S. Ok. There was a little lie in the beginning. Here's two photos from my GPS Tracker.
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