People prefer travelling in summer… But winter is also very good for travelling to places that are usually overcrowded by tourists. Cheap hotels, lonely cafes and restaurants, calmness and peace…
– Where will we go this winter? – we were discussing with friends.
– What about Turkey? There are some Ski Resorts there…
– Skiing? In Turkey? Hmm… Why not!
That’s how our sightseeing and skiing tour over Turkey and Caucasus started.
Two cars, two crews, 20 000 kilometers of roads!
The road starts in Novosibirsk and its first part is traditionally short. We reached Kuybyshev (my hometown). This point is a beginning of our way.
Day 1
December 22, 2013. Kuybyshev is behind us, we’re moving to Chelyabinsk…
Tuning into fields. I decided to turn 4WD mode on. Pulling gearshift lever… It is in my hands 😀 It looks like it was wrongly attached during the car lift. Putting it back and we’re back on the road 🙂
The first day of Novosibirsk-Istanbul way over. We’re resting in Ilyich (Vladimir Lenin) Hotel, near Ishim.
The closest sightseeing on our way is 4200 km far. So this post will mostly describe roads.
As for Ishim’s neighbourghood, there are no roads. Do not even try to find 🙂 There are only directions 😀
Also our route became unexpectedly blessed. What happened? That’s what…
Strange guy came to me while I was filling fuel tanks on gas station:
– Can you borrow me some gasoline. – he asked, holding a plastic bottle in his hands.
– Sure!
I filled his bottle.
– Thank you!
– You are welcome, no problem!
– Thank you! Thank you so much! – the strange kept thanking.
– God bless you… – I said and shaked his hand.
My blessing words made strange effect on that stranger. Suddenly he unbuttoned his coat and exposed the cross and the long robe. Was it good idea to bless the priest? 😀
So he blessed me, my car and run away 🙂
Day 2
The second day ended in Yuruzan (Ural). Nothing interesting happened.
Day 3
We’re going to Samara.
It is -2 outside, but snow is melting. Someone made this road sign to be funny:
Ural is almost blocked by trucks sliding on the slopes.
The day ended in Samara.
Day 4
Driving to Volgograd and Elista. The road is totally damaged, fields around…
It is +2 so the road is dry.
Yesterday we stuck in a traffic jam. So we could pass only 650 km. We are planning to do 800-1100 km today.
We’re reaching cities with weird names: Marx and Engels 🙂
The gas stations are quite rare. And it is better to use “branded” gas stations, because no-name stations can sell you a water 🙂 So we decided to get to Lukoil gas station. 20 km before the station and three minutes after phrase “We will certainly get there before gasoline ends!”, the car stopped.
Vitara has 60-litre fuel tank, Patriot has two 39-litre tanks. The fuel consumption is 10 and 13 litres per 100 km accordingly. So we usually refuel both cars at once. But this time it didn’t work 😀 Patriot stopped, but Vitara kept moving 🙂
Day 5
We are in Volgograd.
It is not clear how far we can get today. Yesterday we did only 700 km because of the fog.
Elista is 300 km far, but we will probably keep going, even though Dagestan is not a perfect place for staying at night 🙂
Volgograd’s graffiti:
We’re sleeping in fields of Dagestan.
Two motels we tried to stay in were so unpleasant, so we decided to stay in fields for the night.
Moon, stars, river behind… 🙂
Makhachkala and Khasavurt are waiting for us!
Day 6
We’re reaching Derbent and visiting its fortress!
The city name can be translated as “gate”. It is located in a narrow pass between Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains. So this city used to be a custom post on a Great Silk Road.
The oldest Russian mosque is located in the city. And the oldest Russian christian church is located on the fortress’ territory.
More fortress photoes here.
Some more Dagestan photos:
Local version of Hollywood!
Climbing to the hill:
The next point is Azerbaijan. We will continue our trip in one of the next posts.
