Quick trip to Moldova

Issues with my Visa I have to straighten out. I already got a new visa inserted in my passport now I need to leave Ukraine and come back in. Where to go where to go. AHH some friends are in Chiseneau! Looks like a winner

I headed out early from work on a Friday. Driving towards the northern border, careful to avoid Transnistria per my works request. The border crossing was easy and no problems. I had arranged for my friend to meet me in Soroca. We would stay the night there then drive back to Chiseneau the next day

I didnt have to wait long and Inna showed up! We walked around a bit drank some wine then found some home made wine and drank some more. It was a good night!

The next day we had a quick ride into Chiseneau. The road was brand new payed for my USA. There were signs everywhere saying thanks USA for the new road

We just made it to Chiseneau and Inna's temporary place of residence when it started to rain

We had lunch and met with our friend Milana. Together we all went and saw a movie, due to the horrible weather. We had dinner together and went our separate ways

I woke up the next day and had breakfast with Inna then had to head back to Kiev

I drove back to Soroca but decided to cross the border at a different point

The road to get there was interesting

I made it and it was simple it was a small ferry that everyone on board had to pull across the river

Luckily it wasnt far so it wasnt a big deal

The boarder guards were nice and it was simple

I kept going it was starting to get dark. so I needed a place to stay. 

The road kept getting worse

Finally it was dark but I found a hotel in a smaller town. It was about 9:00 in the evening and the restaurants were closed. The lady at the desk made some phone calls for me and in 30 minutes a nice girl showed up at my room with food! It was amazing

The next morning I had a few repairs to the bike before I headed down the road

I made it to Uman to get gas. While I was getting gas a guy pulled up to ask direction I told him i didnt know. when he left he dropped his wallet. I had heard of this trick before. I yelled but the guy didnt stop. A second guy came and picked up the wallet saying it was mine. I kept saying no go away but he persisted. I pushed my bike to the front of the gas station so I was in the open and people could see me. The guy was being persistent about trying to give me the wallet. I started swearing at him to go away and i didnt want it. Then the car came back and the driver started yelling I had his wallet and he would call the cops. Finally the gas station attendant came over. I sowed him my American passport and said ohh we have a problem please call the police I need help.

At this point the 2 guys trying to play the trick on me jumped in their car and drove away! I was so thankful

Chernigov, Ukraine

I had the weekend off with no responsibilities so I decided to get out of town. I was headed to a place called Chernigov
I of course decided to take some back roads.... They were horrible this prefabbed concrete blocks laid end to end

Then I came to a town called Desna. It is some kind of military training center. I couldnt go through the town so I had to go around it

Finally I made it to Chernigov. For some reason I didnt get many pictures though..... Well anyways here is the Train station

Pretty straight forward and boring really but it was nice to get out of Kiev for a couple days

Snow Mobile and Ice Fishing

The second day was reserved for Snow Mobiling!

We meet early with a small group so we could all get out helmets and go over the safety rules.

Then we were off! first we had to drive across the lake

Once to the other side we regrouped then headed through the forrest

At the mid point we stopped for a sack lunch

Ksusha was riding with the tour guide. on the way back he let her drive!!!

Okcana drove our snowmobile on the way back. When we got to the lake we stopped again to regroup before crossing. I had to have a rest

We made it back and the evening, of course, was filled with more sledding!!!

The third and final full day was for ice fishing!

We met our guide in the morning

We would be riding in the sled.

The ride there was crazy. it was just above freezing so alot of water on the the top of the snow. he gave us a bear skin to cover up with on the ride. When we got the the fishing spot the skin was completely covered with ice and water

We drilled our holes and started fishing

Ksusha was rather serious about it and even caught 2 fish!

Okcana got one

i got nothing.

It started to get cold on the ice so Okcana covered up with the bear skin

They went to explore a bit

Then we headed back to camp. Again the evening was filled with sledding. We went to bed early so we could wake up at 6:00 to get a ride back to the train station. The ride back to Tver was boring and dull. We all agreed though it was an amazing trip and a highlight of my time in Russia!

Dog Sledding!!!

Finally the day we had all been waiting for came! Dog Sledding!!! This was about 90% of the reason we wanted to come on the trip.

After a short drive to the kennels we were ready to go!

First we had to meet the dogs

This one was named Monty also

The poor dog

Next we had to get accustomed to the sleds and the rules of the game

You step on the mat on the back if the dogs are going to fast. when going up a big hill get off the sled and run beside it

it was pretty simple

My and Ksusha's team of dogs. the leader was called Welt

Once we got on the trail it was obvious that the team I had was full of energy. they kept wanting to over take everyone in front of us. It was just crazy!

We stopped for a break and again my team was so excited! They just wanted to run and run and run and run

We got to the end and I ended up crashing the sled. :) then we ate lunch in a little hut, it was bear stew.

Finally the main activity of the day was over.

Now time for more sledding and relaxing!

Kalevala and Sledding

The train ride back to Kem, Russia was 15 hours. It was rather uneventful. We had some serious strength competitions on the train!

After she beat me at arm wrestling I laid down to rest and cry a little

We arrived in Kem about 10:00 pm and there was a guy waiting for us in his car. he picked us up to drive us to the resort we were staying in. It was a 3 hour drive so we arrived about 1:00 in the morning. We just went straight to bed for the evening

The next morning we ate breakfast and had some time to explore before we were scheduled for a tour of the area

This area used to belong to Finland at one time. so alot of the names are Finnish

One of the oldest buildings int he area, 200 years old

Its now a small museum inside.

This is a stove. They would cook in it use it for warmth and at night sleep on top of it

A photo from a book they had there of logging. If you look closely you can see the trees are being used as rails to pull carts on

We wondered around a bit

A church

The tour was over and we went back to the resort. I had some unwanted visitors waiting to talk with me and offer me a job. After dealing with that we went sledding!

Finally it was time for dinner! The restaurant had a cool interior and great food!

After dinner it was bed time! we had a big day tomorrow!

Ksusha had the loft above everything. She kept look out and guard duty all night