Day 44-47: Barnaul, Russia

August 25th, 2009: Day 1 in Barnaul

We arrived in Barnaul after a short 300km day. We started to notice as soon as we left the Chalet, that for the first time since we entered Russia, we were beginning to see signs of wealth. Some of the cars were much nicer, and we started to see Chalet's and Cabins that were brand new, and well constructed. We had become so used to coming upon a town, only to find that it looked like something you would see in an apocolyptic movie. Run down, falling apart, drab, dreary and poor.

Barnaul is a wonderful city, full of life, and has a real good feel to it. We had sent a package ahead from Khabarosk, and it was supposed to be in Barnaul, at the Post Office. Problem was, we had no idea where the Post Office was. So we asked the guy at the hotel. He laughed, and pointed across the street. Yes, there was the post office, 50 feet from our hotel. So we walked across the street and claimed our package. Easy. :)

August 26th, 2009: Day 2 in Barnaul

We spent the day working on the bikes, and awaiting parts (which didn't come). Cory and Petar changed tires on their bikes (my tires were still coming). When changing Petars tire, he noticed the the rear sprocket was wobbly, so he disassembled it, and found the bearing was gone, as well as the seal. In trying to removed the damaged bearing, they ended up cracking the housing on the rear tire, which is a major issue. So Cory and Petar sought out the local motorcycle dealer, who took a look at it, and agreed that with some welding and machining, they could get it back in shape enough to continue. It would be another day, and a bit of money (not that much, about $65.00. We found some internet (it's scarcer here than you would think), and were able to update the site a bit, and talk with some friends.
















August 27, 2009: Day 3 in Barnaul

Our third day in Barnaul, consisted of running around all day, waiting for Petar's hub to be finished. We also picked up enough oil to change all three bikes, but were still awaiting all our spare parts (including tires) and oil filters (which we needed, since we used up our spare changing oil in my bike from when I swamped the engine in Mongoila.

August 28, 2009: Day 4 in Barnaul

Last night was one of the most crazy so far on the trip. We had gone to an Electronics store to pick up a new Video Camera, as our last hand held one had finally died (the one I dropped from the Turtle rock in Mongolia). As we were leaving the parking lot, a guy stopped and invited us to the local "Biker Bar" and gave us an address. We realized it was only 4 blocks from the Hotel, so we walked over after supper.

It was a really cool Biker themed bar, but it was dead, with only a few people there. Tourism in this part of Russia is still quite rare, so when we speak english, people generally take notice, and tonight was no different. There was a table of two girls and a guy who overheard us, and they started asking questions, so we invited them over to the table. The guy and one of the girls were married, with two children, and the other girl was the guy sister. So we took great fun in teaching them English words, and they taught us a bit more Russian. We then had a couple games of pool. As we were playing I happened to notice that one of the pool cues had a crack in it. So I handed it to the bartender, thinking she would go find me another one. Instead, I got a bill. For 900 rubles (about $30). For the broken pool cue. That I didn't break. So ended our night of fun at the Biker bar, as we got up to leave, the owner asked us to sign something in the bar (they knew we were driving around the world on bikes). We politely declined. If you are going to stiff your customers for a pool cue we didn't break, then you don't get a favor. We also asked for and took the pool cue. (why not, we bought it)

After we left the bar, the nice couple and his sister we met, asked us if we wanted to go for a Russian Sauna. After our awesome chalet in the woods earlier, we thought it would be a great idea. So we piled into a Cab, and off we went, for about 45 minutes, somewhere, to a cabin (very small) in the woods outside of town, where we sat around the fire, and they got the Sauna (Banya in Russian) going. After a couple hours it was ready to go, so we all piled into this tiny cedar room, where the husband immediately took all his clothes off, and the wife and sister followed suit. Now you have to understand, you can't impart North American sensibilities when you are traveling, so with the thought of "when in Rome..." We all took off our clothes and piled into the Banya.

Now a Russian Banya requires a bit of explanation (you can go to the Wiki page here, but I will give a short lession) A Banya is generally three rooms, the steam room (this one was big enough for about 3, there were 7 of us). A Shower room, and the outer room. The fire and water tanks are in the steam room, which is the hottest. So when the room is steaming hot, you throw almost boiling water from the water tank on hot rocks built into the fire tank. This immediately cooks you. Literally. It feels like you are being cooked alive it is so hot. The three Russians were enjoying it greatly. We were trying not to pass out.

So after the throwing of the hot water, the making of the steam, and the boiling of skin, we were instructed to run outside (naked) where they poured freezing cold water on us. Then back into the Banya for more cremation. We had done this three times, when the sister brought out the branches of Oak or some kind of tree, covered with leaves, they instructed us to lay face down on the bench, so they could whip us with the branches and leaves (it's supposed to help with circulation)

When she left, there was just Cory and I in the Banya, and we turned to each other and said: "What series of decisions do you think led us to the point where we are sitting here together, naked, in Siberia, at 5:00 am, having just been whipped with tree branches, in a 150 degree room, by a half naked Russian women we met 4 hours ago". Neither one of us has the answer, but it an interesting experience, to say the least.

We're still trying to process that night. We got back to the hotel at about 7 am, after a morning Russian Bus ride from somewhere, to catch a couple hours of sleep before we had to leave for the Kazakhstan border. (oh, and we got Petar's bike back together, changed my tire, and changed oil, so the bikes were working well when we left)