Russia > Besieged by flies

Day 87 of the trip. The end is approaching. Along the way, I sometimes get asked if I miss anything from the Netherlands. Over the past few days, we’ve had warm showers and decent beds. The hard mattresses—or rather, wooden planks—from Mongolia are now behind us. What I probably miss most from home is just fresh bread. Every country has its own bread tradition. It starts with the slightly sour bread in Germany and the baguettes in France. In the countries we’ve traveled through, each has its own type of bread: round, flat, thick, small, or large. But almost everywhere, bread is only briefly truly fresh. Even in Russia, it’s hard to find good bread. Figuratively speaking, you could give someone a solid whack with it without denting the loaf. On top of that, people here don’t eat bread at lunch. In restaurants, the dinner menu is always served right away. Nothing beats a nice brown sandwich with cheese from the Netherlands. Today, we decide to drive a bit further than originally planned. At Belogorsk, the previously planned endpoint for the day, we turn right and continue toward the Chinese border. Here lies the border city of Blagoveshchensk, which is larger than Belogorsk. It’s probably a more pleasant city to stay in for two nights. The route today goes smoothly. The road keeps improving, and traffic gradually increases, especially more trucks on the road. After about 250 kilometers, we decide to stop for lunch. We drive the car down a small path. Just as the coffee is ready and we want to cook some eggs, we are swarmed by flies and mosquitoes. The horsefly-like biting flies are particularly annoying. We abandon the egg plan, quickly finish the coffee, and depart. It takes a while to get all the biting flies out of the car. Shortly after the failed lunch, the water temperature warning light comes on again. Until now, yesterday’s repair had seemed successful. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. We pull the car over. The problem hasn’t been solved. After a short break, we drive cautiously onward. At some roadworks, the light comes on again. Workers come over. Do we need water? They take out their bottle. When it turns out more water is needed, they tap water from the roller. We add four liters. They also give us a full bottle to take, but warn it is absolutely not drinking water. Apparently, the water has been in the roller for months as ballast. With the extra water, things go well. In the afternoon, we enter Blagoveshchensk. From the Lonely Planet hotel, we can only find the street. Upon arrival, it turns out to be a dirt road. That can’t be right. On the other side of the city center, the street continues, but we still can’t find the hotel.

Russia - Via a spectacular descent from Kazbeki Monastery

There is another hotel nearby—maybe it has a different name? The large hotel lies close to the boulevard. Inside, the reception area is also large, in a typical Russian style. We book two rooms for four people. After the passports have been copied and we receive the keys, it turns out we were given two single rooms. Apparently, there are no twin rooms, at least not for “tourists.” We’re completely baffled—such a large hotel. After some insistence, there are rooms, but with double beds. We don’t need that. We start looking for another hotel. The next hotel has rooms, but no parking. The receptionist herself suggests Hotel Asia, which does have parking. She draws us a map. This turns out to be a perfect choice. From the thirteenth floor, we can see China across the Amur River.