14 May Eastern Kazakhstan

We are having trouble getting into our Gmail accounts and the blog which we have not been able to check for over a week.  Does it look OK that end?  Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.  Meanwhile here is a  of our first camels.

10 May (Atirau Kazakhstan 51 deg 54' E (3700 miles and 4 time zones so far): Eastern Ukraine and Russia

From Dnipropetrovsk the fields seem to get bigger and bigger with fewer and fewer villages,  we think Stalin had something to do with the depopulation of this area.  Camp stops are beginning to become a bit of blur in the memory  3 weeks into the trip, but the last but one in Ukraine was spent in the car park of a very nice motel (Ismailovski Dvor www.motel-ukr.com.ua), where we had a  warm welcome from three friendly women, and the last was a truck stop close to the Russian border.   One village in the east of Ukraine was selling strawberries - they were delicious (Carol reckons Mike was fleeced by the lady selling them).  Eastern Ukraine is a big coal mining area - or to be precise, it was.  Everywhere you see huge slag heaps and large mining equipment and railways going everywhere but most of the pits seem to be closed and delapidated.  Another characteristic of the area is lilac bushes, all in flower as we came through, adorning every garden and a lot of the rough ground too.  The   fragrance wafted into the car on occasions.   The national pastime (for men & women) seems to be angling and most lakes and rivers has a retinue of these patient hunters.  The banks were particularly busy during the public holidays of 1 and 2 May.  We got to the Russian border early on the morning of 3rd May.  It took us 2 hours 20 mins to exit Ukraine and enter Russia which by all accounts is quite quick.  We had expected a difficult time but we did not get it, in fact we found all the officials on the Russian side especially helpful.  Getting the Tab in was not a problem as had been suggested by some, but we were glad we entered the Tab serial numbers on the vehicle V5 form, which seems to work.  (See ‘Home page’ for some extra comments on border procedures vehicle insurance etc).

Russia was not instantly different to Ukraine, it was of course the same county only 20 odd years ago but the countryside changes subtly every day.  At first there were huge wheatfields, with growing wheat (it was still being planted in Ukraine)  but this gave way to grassland and true tree-less steppe as we sent south from Volgograd to Astrakhan at the mouth of the Volga river to the Caspian Sea.   This bit of country is basically like Arabian sand dunes with grass so we felt quite at home.  The Volga is huge, at least a kilometer across, and at this time of year is in flood with many low pastures inundated.and all kinds of debris floating down river, including whole trees.   Astrakhan is the last town in Russia before Kazakhstan, where we had another truck stop.  Another Land Rover zoomed by us on 5th as we were having lunch - tooting, the first we had seen since Slovakia.  Plenty of big flash Range Rovers though, we imagine the vehicle of choice of the well-to-do local gangster!  After the mini heat-wave in central Ukraine the weather got cool again for a few days but by the time we got to Astrakhan it was hot once more  and may stay that way until the Altai mountains at the end of June.  On the 4th Carol had a moment (well two in fact) of madness when we got lost (we feel there is rather a dearth of signposts) and decided to ask a policeman the way. Having heard from various sources how the Russian police will take any opportunity to stop & fine you/solicit a bribe, she also then threw caution completely to the wind and crossed the road to park on the wrong side of the road - an offence in Russia. We were duly given a long lecture in Russian which we vaguely understood meant we had broken the law and our Green card was taken away for inspection. We were then left to sweat (also literally in the hot sun), Carol feeling somewhat sick,  for 10 minutes or so awaiting out fate. The policeman then returned smiling, asked to see our road map and sent us off in the right direction! Phew! In the Ukraine the police are marked ДАI and in Russia ДПС. In our experience they mainly occur just before towns & villages and there are signs several km in advance so you know to slow down. Occasionally they were to be found just over the brow of a hill or round a corner with no warning but cars coming in the opposite direction had usually been flashing us. We only had a couple of weeks’ experience but we passed a lot of police and were only stopped a few times and each time the police were very polite and friendly, perhaps asked us for some ID and where we were going then confirmed we were in the right direction and wished us luck. We imagine that avoiding the big cities is an advantage?
  We saw our first dragonfly on our second day in Russian but didn’t manage to get a great pic. We also saw masses of Clouded Yellows near the Volga but didn’t get any pics at all! The steppes and the Volga lowlands are the domain of the Calandra Lark and the Isabelline Wheatear.  The latter is a common winter visitor to Arabia and so it was nice to see them in their typical breeding habitat.  Other nice birds have been White-tailed Eagle, Red-footed Falcon and Montagu’s Harrier, Red-crested Pochhard, Ferruginous Duck, Golden-eye, Red-necked Grebe - to mention a few.

Our truck stop just north of Astrakhan had a very good shower and the added attraction of five  puppies playing round the van endlessly. We ended up staying there for 3 nights and doing a couple of day trips out with the luxury of leaving the TAB behind & just taking PYJ. The first night Carol left her crocs outside and was very upset in the morning to find they had disappeared. Initially assuming the worst of our fellow ‘campers’ we then remembered that a certain puppy we used to know (see Charities page - Hearing Dogs) had a penchant for shoes and sure enough Mike then found one Croc in the puppy den and another a bit further away - along with four other shoes!

We will provide details of our first days in Kazakhstan in a future post.

See the way-points file posted to the file sharing site which gives precision to camp sites etc.

Thanks for the comments we are getting on the blog and in emails and texts.  Sorry we are not able to reply to them all individually but our time on the internet is limited.  But keep them coming it is a great encouragement us.

Mike buys the first Ukrainian strawberries  of the season and pays the price

A Ukraine power station - or something like that

Large pipes snake across the countryside , gas?

Derelict coal mine lift, Ukraine

Lots of lilac in the Ukraine villages - also next picture

High rise flats in Ukrainian coalfield area

Last lunch stop in the Ukraine

We race a train across the steppes

Military monument eastern Ukraine

Our first truck stop camp site in Russia en route to Volgograd - all mod cons!!

A church in Russia - this one was old, many in Ukraine were new

Dried fish for sale at the side of the road along the Volga river

One of many noisy marsh inhabitants - see video above 

30 April: to Dnipropetrovsk 35 degrees east (2352 miles so far)

By the way, in case you do not know, our home in the fens sits on the Greenwich meridian, to be precise it runs between the fruit cage and the ash tree in our back garden. So the degrees east mentioned in the blog are a precise measurement from our home.


On 29^th we visited the Sofiya gardens in Uman. These beautifully wild gardens were laid out in the late 18^th Century by a love struck Polish count in honour of his Greek wife Sofiya. They cover 200 or more acres and are filled with mock caves, cliffs, grottos, statues, waterfalls and lakes. Sofia cheated on the count so it did not end happily. The park is now mostly a botanical garden with lots of wild flowers. We visited the park on a Sunday when everyone goes there to promenade, and it is a favourite place for new brides to have their picturers taken. We saw a Wryneck there (sort of woodpecker).

On, on, ever onwards, east, and by the evening of 30^th we had reached Dnipropetrovsk a large city. We were both feeling tired so we decided to take a hotel for the night. The Comfort Motel (http://www.comfort.cc/) is brand new, we reckon we are the first guests. It is all ready to be wrecked by football fans in a few weeks. The last 300 miles have mostly been huge fields all ploughed up and harrowed and being drilled. We understand wheat and sunflowers are the main crops but we have seen several fields of rapeseed already in flower. There have been far fewer villages and we have missed seeing all the local produce for sale by the locals at the side of the road. We hope to get pics for posting later. The main products for sale are apples, potatoes, honey & eggs. Lots of vans bussing 50 or so hives of bees around on carts - we would hate to have an accident with one of those. We noticed how rubbish free the roadsides are and have seen several teams of people (mainly women) picking all the litter up.

See update pics in the Ukraine, Coeliacs and Inverts pages.  Mike will also add the April bird sightings on the file sharing site.

Carol just can't resist a cute dog.

Sofiya park Uman - and next photos

Mike calls room service in Dnipropetrovsk

Just before we left we bought a little gadget called a Kelly Kettle.  It is a stainless steel jacket which is filled with water and then a small fire is lit in the base.  It works like a dream and boils a litre of water in just a couple of minutes.  Any old bits of wood or dead plants laying around are all the fuel you need. You can also cook on it.

Carol and wildflowers, Sofiya park, Uman

28th April: To Central Ukraine at 29 deg 42' E. (20 miles west of Uman, 1996 miles so far)

Stork on nest - common in Ukraine villages

Lunch stop in western Ukraine

Lorry park campsite - the woman in charge made us camp next to the only other lorry in the place. 



Levoca

 The second day at the excellent Levoca camp site was marred by far to much rain but before we left on 25^th we had heard Tengmalm’s owl there and found a pair of Hawfinches nest building. We moved on towards the border not quite knowing where we might camp or where we might get to. The countryside changed from pine clad hillsides to open undulating farmland with a rather high population density. There were several White Storks already nesting in many villages but the area was not really suitable for camping away from it all. We got as far as the border and saw the km long queue of vehicles before turning back to camp in the fenced lorry park of a local transport café. Actually we had a very pleasant afternoon in this car park in the warmest sunshine we have seen and we had 26 bird species from our deck chairs, including three nightingales in a competitive singing contest. (They sing also during the day, despite repute). In this area each town and settlement has a very distinct community of Roma, they seem very much the underclass here. (It was very noticeable that there are no Roma at all in Ukraine)

The lorry park was a surprisingly good nights sleep considering the coming and goings of 40 tonners all night. We were almost first at the border at 0530 am and were through the Slovakian and Ukrainian customs and immigration surprisingly quickly, only 3/4 hour. The only thing that surprised us was that both sides wanted to see documentation for the Tab - apparently caravans here have their own documents. Luckily we had written the Tab serial numbers on the vehicle V5 and other vehicle docs. First impressions of Ukraine (other than a very aggressive first border guard) were very good, it was similar mountain country to the Slovakian hills and rose to 770 m in one point. But after that the lowlands started and it was then farmland for a very long time, with villages frequently. The road quality was quite poor and followers are advised to keep on the main border - Lviv - Kiev road rather than stay on the E50 after Stryj as we did if you want to keep your speed up.(it had been quite reasonable to that point). It was very bumpy and potholed and really shook the TAB around. It is more direct to the south-east but seemingly slower. We could not even get up to 40 mph let alone our target 50 mph! Another lorry park camp at Rogatin 24.5 E. We saw five species of butterflies today, see the invertebrates page for pix.


Our second & third days in Ukraine have been a really enjoyable journey through the country from west to east. After a few more miles on the E50 the road improved somewhat so we decided to stick with it rather than diverting a couple of hundred miles or so north just to get onto some motorway.. Although it has brought our average speed down quite a bit (10mph through one very long town with cobbled streets all the way) we didn’t regret it and have enjoyed seeing the villages, stopping at the local shops and exchanging waves & smiles with the people here - we had a father & son come & check out our "cool car" while we were having lunch at the side of the road. The small farms of the first day, with lots of people working in the fields and horse drawn ploughs, were largely replaced by vast fields being ploughed by vast tractors. All the village houses though seem to have their own large plot of land which is in the process of being planted.
After coming through to the Carpathians with spring seeming to be on hold (in some places less green than in the UK) here on the plains it is suddenly in its full glory with everything much greener and beautiful blossoms everywhere (they grow a lot of pears here amongst other things). It is also much sunnier & warmer with day time temperatures yesterday afternoon and today into the high 20's.

Mike officially became an old age pensioner today!!

(You can see details of the Vidlak site at  www.campimngvidlak.cz and the Levoca site at www.rzlevoca.sk)

24 April : We leave Prague, we like Slovakia

After our two nights in Prague we set off east, the motor way became very bumpy, it’s the concrete slabs which get misaligned by too many heavy lorries. We had a really nice camp site by a lake (Vidlak) near Opatov. The camp site is run by a Dutch couple, we were the only guests until late at night when a Slovenian camper van turned up, they had been on the same site as us in Prague and the guy greeted mike like a long lost friend, despite only having nodded previously. We had a really pleasant walk round the lake the next morning. The bird life is now distinctly eastern Europe with Black Stork, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Serin , Hoopoe to name a few, we also had a Stone Martin in the woods, a few Red Deer and Wild Boar had been digging up the ground in some places. On eastwards we went and ended up at Roznov near the Slovakian border. If the lake site was the best camp so far then this was the worst. It looked as thought it was a communist era holiday camp where commissars sent the workers who had met their quotas. It seemed not to have had much paint since. The fences were a bit too high to be comfortable, there was a dog barking somewhere and one expected searchlights on the campers at night. We were the only visitors that night, perhaps all year? There were Hawfinches in the trees so the place was not a complete write-off. It rained all night and in the morning we did not feel inspired to go for a walk so we packed up early as our washing continued to dry on a clothes line from Pyj to a nearby Hazel tree. We got to Slovakia very soon after setting off, we still have not seen a proper border post with checks etc, since we left home. But we got pulled over by the police after a few miles. Carol had to show her license, PP and vehicle papers. They were just checking - something about a break out at a camp in Roznov!! Slovakia has an attractive alpine, rustic feel about it. Lots of pine forests and meadows its beautiful with snow capped mountains (Tatra range) . The last camp site going east in our book was at Levoca which we pulled into at 1450 hours. Lovely setting in a quite side valley with pine forests and a good outlook. Nice couple running it but not much English around. We make do with a spattering of German. In both Czech and Slovakia we have seen huge arrays of solar panels - the farmers here are on to a nice little earner it seems.  (Please see the Europe page for extra photos of our trip so far).

20 April: Prague in spring

Really helpful German footpath sign, why can't we
have these at home?

  

Our second camp site in Germany was just after Nuremberg at a little lake called Murner See, probably a bit touristy in season but nice & quiet right now. The fine weather holding and the days have been quite warm but it drops to near zero at night. Thirty five bird species at the camp site including Goldeneye and Egyptian Goose. The latter was a surprise - they are an East Anglian and Fenland specialty but we did not know they occurred here too. We arrived in Prague late afternoon on 19^th at a campsite about 25 minutes from the city by underground. Did a bit of shopping at Lidl - didn’t feel like the extra walk to Tesco! A thunderstorm hit us in the evening, our first rain. We did Prague on 20^th. Lots of tourists around but then it is a very pleasant place. We walked round and saw the sites, there is a huge tower in the city centre, probably got a name but we had no guide book, with a huge ornate clock with lots of moving parts that come into action on the hour. We could not understand why 300 tourists had gathered to look at the clock, just before 11 am. Then it all began, skeletons ringing bells, figures appearing at windows etc, quite a show but we thought the clapping an cheering was a bit over the top for a clock. Lots of other grand buildings in the city, we loved climbing to the top of the tower (Carol points out it had a lift which we used!) for the city scape. We also loved Charles bridge and we especially loved the ancient street buskers. One guy playing a saxophone must have been 90.

One view from the tower





Come to Prague and cheer the clock



Young busker fan

 

18 April: So far so good

We left home after lunch on Sunday 14^th April in a typical April shower - just enough to spoil the departure photo. As we moved south down the M11 some of Mike’ family came out to wave to us from a road bridge. Our camp site in Kent was only a few miles from the Dover ferry to make an easy journey in the morning. Some woods nearby were full of primroses, Wood Anemones and some really early bluebells (by Cambs standards). An Eagle Owl calling in the night got Mike quiet excited until he found it the next morning in an aviary! The ferry went to Calais at 0735, formalities were non existent at either end and so even with an extra hour for the continental timing we were on our journey by 10 am. We made good time to Belgium and our first continental camp was near Genk just on the Dutch border, a big camp site but off season so eerily quiet. The site was right next to a nature reserve where we had a good walk the next morning and heard our first Cuckoo of the year, we also had fine views of Red Squirrel and Roe Deer. A pair of Greylag Geese on the lake were perhaps about to nest and feral just as they are on our pond at home (ours laid eggs for the first time just a couple of days before we left). We made a decision before we left not to exceed 50 mph (quite fast in a Land Rover) this not only keeps fuel consumption down but also we have found more relaxing - we have not overtaken once - and we have more enjoyment of the journey for its own sake, rather than just as a means to getting there. Pity about all the tractors overtaking! We camped twice in Germany once almost at the Rhine near Mainz, and again near Amberg on the road to the Czech republic.

Eve of departure

Well all the planning is done, all the listing of things to do, and get, and mend, and install are ticked off and we are on the eve of departure.

At this point in our 18 month plan we would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who has helped us and encouraged us at every stage.  We have especially had a very large number of well wishers in the last few days since we went public.  To all those who responded please accept our apologies that we have not had the time to reply individually.

When we have told people what we are doing we have always got a reaction.  It is true many have doubted our sanity but mostly it has been one of pleasure and excitement for us.  There has also been a lot of nice envy - from those who would like to do something similar but perhaps do not have the circumstances to do it. To those we would say, ‘why not’,  maybe you can, but you need to think big and be brave.  Start planning now and follow us.

Love,

Mike and Carol

All kit and stuff assembled, weighed and trial packed

Our kit - now you see it...

...now you don't

The big day looms and yesterday we got all our equipment together for the first time and fitted it into the Tab and the Land Rover.  See picture ‘Our kit’, the items not in the picture are lubricants and spares.  By the way to save time and  a few key strokes we call our Land Rover ‘Pyj’ after its registration number.  It all fitted in easily as we had planned it carefully, as you can see in the second picture. Mike then nipped round to the local gravel pit to get it weighed on their weighbridge. The complete unit was 3.320 tonnes and individually the Land Rover was 2.5 tonnes and the Tab  0.820 tonnes. The caravan nose weight was only 63 kg, all within specifications.  However the water jerrycans on the front of the Tab were empty at the time.  When they are filled up the nose weight goes up to 93 kg - not quite so good.   Pyj was a bit down at the back when loaded and in the afternoon the roof box of lubs and the diesel jerrycans (one empty at the moment) were moved forward on the roof rack to try to even up the overall load. Later, a  re-examination of all our stuff revealed that several of the heavy but not so essential items could be discarded  to save a bit of weight - in fact we shed about 40 kg of kit and tools.  This included the bird table! Not such a daft idea - we started using a bird table last September in Scotland and on our first day we had Crested Tit on it!

Opening for business soon

We will start blogging soon.  Please see our 'Home' page for details of our plan and trip.  There are also pages on preparation stuff, visas and things close to us.