Russia……… a country that has always fascinated us, but that we could neither could nor wanted to visit on our own. This nation, unfortunately, is still not ready for "do-it-yourself" trips: there are no equipped rest areas for campers, let alone campsites, there's still too much bureaucracy at the borders, you lose hours and hours, the signs are in Cyrillic and only rarely did we see anything written in English, the police can stop you for nothing and if you don't pay the bribe – sometimes a bottle of wine is enough – they make things very difficult for you with considerable loss of time, very few people speak English, and for now they aren't interested in tourism.
For this trip we had already signed up four years earlier with CC La Granda, which was one of the first camper clubs to organise trips to this destination; unfortunately at the last moment I realised my passport was about to expire and I didn't have time to renew it. This year, after many postponements, we made up our minds: we turned to the agency we had been with in Libya, Girocamper; the cost was fairly high at € 3,460, departure and arrival Tarvisio, duration 30 days. After sending the deposit and then the balance in June, 15 days before departure the agency informed us that, having not reached the minimum number of participants, the tour would not take place, but redirected us to the Russian correspondent (sanpietroburgo.it) which, gathering all the various fragments from other clubs or agencies, managed to complete the necessary number to make the trip.
Instead of Tarvisio, the departure will be at Terespol on the Polish/Belarusian border and the end will be Narva on the Russian/Estonian border; only on this stretch will we be followed and assisted by guides: an Italian speaking Russian and a Belarusian speaking Italian and Russian, all at the price of € 1,750, practically half. We accepted immediately; the itinerary before and after Russia we'll do on our own, visiting anyway the places listed in the Girocamper programme.
I have divided this trip by countries, the Slovakia, with Poland partly on the way out and Częstochowa on the way back, Belarus, Russia divided into Moscow with the Golden Ring and St Petersburg with the Residences, and finally Estonia
Day 128 Jun 2006
0/539 - Vienna - Autogrill OMS towards Bratislava
Departure at 7.30 Onto the motorway at Osoppo and we still haven't come off it. Principessa, as usual, threw up at the start and Schizzo hid under Tina's front seat and came out after 100 km. Then they get used to it and calm down and have long sleeps. At the Austrian border I buy a 10-day vignette for € 7.60 Normal traffic with a detour before Graz onto a regular road for about 40 km on a mountain road, the scenery is beautiful but with curve after curve, muggy weather broken up by showers and storms. The Austrians are very diligent: when it rains they go at 80 km/h. Now we're stopped for the night at an OMS service area. After filling up with diesel and petrol (today the air conditioning ran non-stop), we settled into the spot reserved for caravans. Dinner with pesto pasta: before leaving I picked all the basil and, following a recipe, filled two jars with this wonderful condiment.
Rain-soaked street with umbrellas and historic buildings in Bratislava
Day 229 Jun 2006
329/868 - Dolny Kubin - Tatra Mountains - Parking in the square
Quiet but muggy night. We get back on the A4, busy at first then freer, exit no. 43 towards Bratislava, regular road, they're building the motorway alongside. At the border you pay the vignette (sk.150 = € 3.50), changed € 50.00. Once in Bratislava it's almost impossible to park in the centre; we found a car park under the castle, near the bus terminus, convenient both for the centre and for visiting the castle. In heavy, persistent rain we visit the beautiful old town, small but very interesting. We go back to the camper for lunch with the idea of visiting the castle in the afternoon. At 3, given the continuing bad weather and the impossibility of seeing those magnificent views from the top of the bastions, we give up and set off again; besides, my foot hurts and I don't feel up to walking, this morning's slog was enough for me.
We leave Bratislava, crossing back over the bridge and taking the E75 towards Nitra/Trencin/Zelina then the E70 towards Martin/Kralovani, on the motorway at first then on a regular two-lane road, impossible to overtake. An accident between three cars that rear-ended each other blocked traffic for quite a while. Despite the rain you can admire beautiful forests in a succession of mountains and hills. Now we're stopped in a little square in Dolny Kubin, a very quiet spot. We had dinner with spaghetti in fish sauce, prepared before leaving and put in sealed jars, cherry tomatoes in salad, fruit and some sweets to finish.
Arcaded courtyard of Bratislava Old Town Hall with clock tower above
Day 330 Jun 2006
176/1044 - Krakow - Parking
Last night we were very tired, by 10 pm we were already in the world of dreams. This morning departure at 6.30, mountain road through forests and small villages, crossed the border without problems, with Poland the scenery changes: fewer trees, more meadows, the road all patched, a continuous vibration….
The travel diary continues in "POLAND"
Bratislava main square in the rain, yellow old town hall with its clock tower
Day 427 Jul 2006
513 / 6298 – ITALY – Majano – HOME
After the first stretch still under construction in Vienna we take the motorway again that will take us home quickly, the interruption found on the way there was no longer there. The trip to and from Russia is over, it was a great experience, we visited interesting countries and places, of Russia, such a large and vast nation we have only seen a part, I hope that in the future it will be possible to visit it easily far and wide without so much bureaucracy and various constraints.
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