Simply go...

... and start the trip if you want to get somewhere here. If you ask somewhere if it's theoretically possible to take a bike you will most likely hear a NJET as an answer. There is some consulate thing of Belarus in Nishny and the people were so friendly there, now i actually really want to go there. However, they couldn't get a visa for me, only in Moscow you can get one. So i finally have up the idea of a quick and direct journey home. Instead i am now sitting in a small avtobus heading for Moscow. I know there are buses to Kiev and the bus driver said they would actually leave from the same station where we arrive later today. One thing i really want to avoid is cycling through Moscow. Taking the bike on the Metro or bus is for sure a no go... So i really want this to be true :) anyway, i booked a bus ticket to from Kiev to Munich for the day after tomorrow and simply hope I'll make it in time. I wouldn't actually mind one night in Kiev. These are really long cramped bus rides. I think i have acquired a quite sturdy patience during the last two years. However a three to four day bus ride can be quite tiresome.

Can't wait to get home now. I experienced so many good things, it can't go on like this forever. I prefer to be home before the tide turns ;)

3000 and heading home

Finally there's time to put down some notes on what has happened to me in the last few days. I simply had a great time. And today is the first day with the temperature somewhere around 29'C, so my brain is back to work. I did the 3000km in time! After 20 days, 22 hours and 10 minutes I hit the imaginary finish line in the middle of nowhere. I won my bet :) and to tell the truth, it wasn't difficult at all. Days are so long in summer... There's plenty of time to cover the distance. So i always kept the speed pretty low and took the time for an endless number of coffee breaks, chats with locals and continuous calorie refill (i bet i have even put on weight due to my unhealthy snack diet). After covering another maybe 80km some driver signalled me clearly what he thought about me cycling on this rotten road with heavy traffic in this unnatural heat. And i had to admit to myself that he probably got it just right and that it was time to go home. since there is no bus on this route i cycled to the next cafe. I've been so bad with posting all along, but there are so many things to tell. When i get home I'll make some small web page and I'll upload some photos and write down some of the stories. Maybe it's not interesting for everyone, but maybe it'll inspire someone to start on a trip to these interesting, friendly and wonderfully different countries.

So for now just some basic info what happened next. Me and my bike got a ride on a truck with potatoes from Shatsk to Nishny Novgorod. They not only took me for free for a ride of about 450km, they also fed me with huge amounts of tasty food, laughed with me and found me a cheap centrally located hostel in Nishny. I was thinking about taking the train home from there, but with a bike it that does not fold this seems to be so complicated, after trying for a few hours to organize a ticket i gave up. One major problem apart from the bike is that i have no visa for Belarus, so i have to do a detour.