TRAVEL AND SAFETY TIPS
FOR MOTORCYCLE TRAVELING IN RUSSIA
Gail and Eric Haws for International Motorcycle Adventurers
We recently completed two solo motorcycle trips of the Soviet Union. These trips proved to be so unique, we thought we would share our experiences.
Our first journey was a 15-day, 2000 mile tour in the western part of the Soviet Union on a l987 K75. We entered the country at Chap on the Hungarian border, drove north to Lvov, Lutz, Brest, then east to Minsk then northwest to Lithuiania Latvia, Estonia, and then east again to Leningrad and left the Soviet Union by way of Finland. This trip will be referred to as the Russian trip although it includes the three Baltic Republics and was in fact part of a 4000 mile giant tour starting in Munich and returning after traveling through Russia, then into Finland Sweden, Denmark and back into Germany, ending in Munich.
Our second trip was a 3000 mile trip on dirt roads in Siberia. This latter trip started in the town of Magadan, about 1000 miles north of Vladivostok. We followed the Trans-Siberian Truck route west to Yakutsks on the Lena River and turned south to reach Tynda, almost at the China border. Then we continued west along the BAM Railroad, (Baykal Amur Mainway) which parallels the Trans-Siberian Railroad, to the northern shore of Lake Baykal and farther west until just before Bratsk where the Russian motorcycles broke down ending our journey. We will refer to this travel as the Siberian journey.
Traveling in Russia is not so different from traveling in eastern Europe, whether or not by motorcycle. However, traveling in Siberia is very different and is similar to traveling in Alaska during the 1800's, except for the existence of electricity, communication devices, and vehicles. There are few paved roads, gas stations, or bridges and Siberia, in most respects, is about 50 years behind conditions of western Russia. In western Russia the major roads are paved, there are hotels, some restaurants, and gas is usually available. In Siberia, however, it is just the opposite.
When we travel we like to visit museums, art galleries, and the homes of authors and artists. One can usually read about these Places in the normal tour book so we wiLL not touch upon them here nor have we included what you can read in books such as Let's Go To Europe, Fodor's, Frommer's and many others. These books generally cover only Moscow, Leningrad and other large cities; the places we chose to avoid . In western Russia there are many places to visit, especially in the Baltics, but in more remote Siberia, such places are few (but this isn't to say there aren't interesting places or things to do and see).
INTOURIST:
Intourist is the official information agency of the USSR In the United States. They wiLL not make arrangements with you. They supply information, but the traveler must ask for special items if there is something he or she wishes to see which dIffers from the normal list of packaged touts.
To arrange entry into the USSR it is necessary to go through an approved travel agency. Save time by checking in the phone directory yellow pages of a large city. Find one that is Intourist approved. Intourist was the least helpful agency in the United States, but once in the USSR, they were quite dIfferent. There are Intourist offices at the border and in each Intourist hotel. The staff speak English and can help arrange special events such as guided tours . The tours can be with other people or private. The smaller the town and the smaller the hotel, the better the service.
In large towns where there are many visitors, the staff has become jaded and provides only a minimum of services. There are very few Intourist facilities in Siberia except in the larger cities such as Irkutsks in the extreme south.
There are now other organizations jumping on the tourist (read that "American can dollars ) bandwagon. Only one offered to help us get our motorcycle into the USSR . We understand that the last person to take them up on their offer paid S50,000 or more. They quoted us $30,000 . We declined their offer.
GETTING THERE.
In order to enter either Russia or Siberia, one must have a visa, be invited, and generally may not take in a motorcycle. Intourist will not assist in shipping, nor in obtaining approval for bringing one in unless with an organized tour and then only to Moscow.
It is possible, however, to make special arrangements.
If you do wish to take your own motorcycle into Russia, you are most likely to be successful at the border of Finland. Siberia may be entered near Vladivostok, at a few points along the China border, and also now at Magadan. Arrangements will be complex. Cargo flights from Alaska to Siberia are now available, and several freighters will ship motorcycles.
GAS. (Benzine)
When entering Russia, buy gas coupons. These are sold in denominations of 20 liters for 92 octane and are paid for in foreign currency. It is necessary to determine how many miles one expects to travel in order to know how many coupons to purchase. At the gas station the coupon is presented; they direct you to a special pump for tourists and other privileged persons. There also seem's to be special stations for business and government vehicles which also will accept tourist coupons.
The advantages of purchasing coupons are that you do not wait in a long, slow line, and that they simplify communications. We also learned that even if a filling station appears to be closed it may only be so to the general public. You can still get gas with coupons.
The problem is, unless you are completely out of gas you may not need all 20 liters. One pays before filling up and we could not determine that there was a method for obtaining any reimbursement for the unused portion of the coupon, so it is forfeited unless one carries a gas can. Once, and only once, the attendant at a station gave us a five-liter coupon as a refund when we only took 15 liters. Later, we did find that on rare occasions we could purchase smaller denomination coupons for five or ten liters. Ask for them; they do exist. Since we did not carry a gas can, we simply gave what we could not use to another driver. This not only surprised everyone but made friends for us.
At one station they wanted rubles, not the coupons, which made it cheaper. At another station they refused coupons and wanted American dollars. It was a Sunday morning and we were nearly out of gas. The station seemed to be closed, but an employee arrived, went in and woke them up. They had a chart, handwritten, showing how much they wanted for so many liters. We paid $14.00 for 16 liters. At times we could only get 73 octane. Getting gas was not a problem but stations are about 100 miles apart so one must be careful.
The one time we truly ran out of gas was in Lithuiania. It was late on another Sunday afternoon when there was no gas to buy because of the Russian blockade. We had to resort to other measures. In Siberia there may be no gas stations for hundreds of miles. One has to stop trucks to ask for gas. It is usual for Siberian truckers to carry siphon hoses, five gallon buckets and sometimes even a funnel. We were never refused gas when we told the truckers that we were Americans.
HOTELS.
In Russia, the hotels may not be first class by United States standards, but there is nothing wrong with them. Hotels average about $100.00 a day. We had hot water every night except once when the system was under repairs. Most hotels had heated towel racks and television, although only half of these worked. Intourist insists that reservations be made ahead of time which means you (and they) always know where you will be staying. There are advantages in sticking with the policy: You do not waste time in a strange city in the rain looking for the one place to stay, and you know a room is waiting. Camping is also available but sites also have to be booked ahead. It appears possible to camp out at the rest areas.
On two occasions we did deviate from the approved Intourist itinerary. Once we changed cities and we lost two nights reservations by doing so. At another town we extended our stay an extra night, and cutting short a day in another.
In Siberia there are very few hotels, and these only in large cities. Take your sleeping bags and tent. Since Siberia is very much like Alaska, there are many places to camp. We encountered many mosquitoes, so be prepared.
ROADS.
The roads in Russia are not as bad as we expected. They are as good as secondary rural roads in the United States. The major highways are paved as are many of the other roads, and, like many roads in the United States, the shoulder is often not paved or non existent. Highways are well signed with speed limits, pedestrian crossings, and even grade signs. There are also signs which alert drivers to such things as rest areas or filling stations.
Occasionally, there are informational signs listing distances to major towns. Sometimes there are even signs in English, as the Russians recognize it as the international language. There are rest stops, but they offer little other than an occasional unclean outhouse. On some of the very major routes, such as from Brest to Minsk, which is a part of the Warsaw to Moscow route, the road was often four divided lanes.
Major routes brought an increase in truck traffic but this was never a problem unless we were entering a city or had only a two lane highway. Passing was generally easy and quick as most of the major highways are on long, flat stretches of the Russian plain. The Russians drive like other Europeans. They stay in the right lane until they are ready to pass, signal, and return to the right immediately.
Getting lost is easy when entering and leaving a city because of the lack of maps and street signs. The street signs did us little good when they did exist because they were in Russian. The withdrawal of the republics from the Soviet Union meant many of the street names have been changed to reflect local names and local languages.
In Siberia almost no roads are paved except in the cities and about ten miles beyond. In many places there are no bridges over the rivers so one must be prepared to ford where the trucks cross. This far north there are no trains, but there are small airports in some regions.
We had no trouble with the traffic. However, a friend of ours has just taken an organized Goldwing tour from Warsaw to Moscow and back and wrote me the following:
"Tragedy struck on the first day just 30km north of Brest. On one of the few four-lane roads we were passing a truck on our right and its front left wheel fell off, which pulled the truck over into our column of some 20 motorcycles. As a result of the accident, a member suffered six broken ribs and a totaled Goldwing. His wife sustained only minor scratches.
Two other bikes went down but no major injuries were incurred...the tour ended up back in Brest where we were all shocked by the news that our recovering Goldwinger had died of heart attack."
It often rains in Russia and Siberia. This makes the roads slick but at least there seems to be less traffic when it rains. We were told that since there are no replacement windshield wipers, drivers simply do not drive in the rain. In Siberia, there is some maintenance of the roads, but we often found that the dirt had washed away from the bridges so that there were large gaps in the road way. Some of the bridges had not been maintained and could not be safely crossed.
GUIDES.
Guides are generally not needed except to tour the very few old cities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. A guide will cost $5.00 to $10.00 an hour. They are well worth the money since all speak English, know the history, and can offer insights that will not be in guide book. You can also hire them after the official tour is finished. They will take you to places not on the planned tour. They appreciate the extra money and speak candidly about their lives and what it is like to live there. In Siberia there are official guides only in the larger cities.
A guide for the Hermitage tour in Leningrad is an advantage due to its immense size. Also, one can gain access without standing in line for three hours.
Intourist will want to sell you a package tour once you are in a particular city, which includes a tour of the old town, factories and monuments and an automobile. Forget the auto since all one needs is a walking tour to see the scenic old walled cities.
RESTAURANTS. Intourist recommended restaurants will be located in the hotels. These cater to bus loads of tourists who will all receive the same meal. Even though you may not be in the group, the restaurant will recommend it to you as the "special" of the day. Expect nothing fancy, but the meal will be filling. Service will be much quicker than if you try to order some other dish from the menu, assuming that you can read the menu and that they have the dish.
In the non-Russian cities, for example; Riga and Latvia, out-of-the hotel restaurants do exist. One must go through Intourist for a reservation. They seem to not want to serve the person off the street because they are afraid that they will pay in rubles. Once you are in the restaurant, however, the service can be friendly and the meal good. If they ask how you want to pay, rubles or dollars, say rubles. A couple of times we were quoted the bill only in American dollars, but you can insist on paying in rubles as it is the national currency, even if it is worthless.
Don't expect your trip to be a culinary delight. The best meals we found were in the Baltic where they offer buffet style service. The food is especially good if you like smoked herring and cabbage for breakfast (and one of us does). Don't expect fried eggs, but they will have hot cereal. Boiled eggs, bread, cheese, and tea with jam were available too.
Besides the normal resturants, some hotels have what is called a buffet. These are like little coffee shops or a deli that sell sandwich items. They may be on the third or eighth floor of the hotel. Once you find them it can be a refreshing change of pace. Service is fast, you eat and move on.
Also, the larger hotels on the major tourist routes have special shops where you pay with American dollars for liquor, soft drinks, film, chocolate, candy and snack items.
There are also what are called "stolovias," the working man's cafeterias. These exist in small towns. Primarily the truck driver or single person eats there, but families sometimes eat there also. The food is bland, however, in the small towns and villages of Siberia, it is the only place one can find to eat. A word of warning--they are closed on Sundays, so eat a lot on Saturday.
LANGUAGE.
Our first trip took us through Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Lithuania, Lativa, Estonia, Russia, Finland and the Scandinavian countries. One language doesn't do much good. However, many Europeans speak more than one language; often English, or German, or both. If you wish to 1earn Russian, start early. If you wish to buy a language tape, several are available. The Berlitz system may not be our favorite, but their book is very small, fits into a jacket pocket, and contains several very useful phrases for the motorcyclist. In Siberia, most people speak Russian but some still speak only their own native language.
MAPS.
On the major roads you will not have trouble with the maps which can easily be found in the United States or Germany. However, off the major highway, these maps are not detailed enough. You cannot get maps in the USSR, except in the Baltics. Maps do exist - two motorcyclists we met gave us an atlas, dated 1980, of some 100 pages of detailed maps mostly of western Russia. In book form, these maps show locations of service stations, restaurants, campsites, and other tourist information.
During our recent Siberian trip a Russian gave us a more updated book, copyrighted in 1987 but not all changes had been made in the maps. In the Baltic one can buy city maps at local stores, yet we never saw a city map anyplace else. We saw national parks and game preserves along the way, but we never were able to locate these on a map and have never been able to get any government agency to tell us where they are. If you get lost, especially in a city, ask a local citizen. They are most happy to help. Since you might not be able to understand them, have paper and pen to make it easy for them to draw a map. Taxi drivers, where they exist, will at least be able to direct you to the local Intourist hotel.
Road maps of Siberia? You've got to be kidding! The general geographic maps we had showed roads that did not exist on any of our other maps. Take as many maps as you can find. One great problem is that the maps never distinguish between permanent and winter roads. The latter are those that flood in the summer and freeze in the winter, and only then can they be used. You have to guess and ask.
ROAD SAFETY.
Safety is always on the mind of the experienced traveler and motorcyclist. Traveling in the Soviet Union is not much different than traveling in northern Europe. Not much needs to be said except take a motorcycle safety course to refresh your memory, and try to eliminate those small, bad habits. Traveling in the Soviet Union is much safer than traveling in South America or even southern Europe.
If one has an accident do not expect an ambulance immediately, do not expect one to be close; and do not expect European standard hospitals nor medical care. As a foreigner it might be possible to arrange a helicopter flight -- if, you live long enough and are able to pay in advance.
In the old Russian cities some of the streets are cobblestone and often street car tracks or road construction pose safety hazards. The Russians often do not have wooden barricades and so just pile stones or tree branches in the road to warn of deep holes.
OFF-ROAD SAFETY.
We did not find Russia to be unsafe. Many people warned us to be careful, but we felt safer in Russia than in Italy or Spain.
As always, in large cities, be careful. If you have traveled in Mexico, or in Latin or South America, where your life is not worth a dime and the leader of the pickpockets in the local community is the brother of the chief of police, you will find Russia much more relaxing. In fact, the police themselves were always most helpful, friendly, and reliable (after they learn you are an American). We never saw any evidence of the KGB and never felt that we were being followed or spied upon.
GIFTS.
Russians usually like to give gifts, and a tourist could and perhaps should be prepared to show his appreciation for services, tips, and help. We were given a new intertube by the police in one city for which we were very thankful because that tire never had another flat, (On the other three tires we had about 15 flats). At a Stolavia, a hunter took off his hunting knife and gave it to us as a souvenir.
Unfortunately, one cannot carry much in the way of gifts on a motorcycle. So we suggest small vials of perfume for women, obtained free at perfume shops. Children like all kinds of items such as bubble gum and balloons. For men, non-refillable cigarette lighters are appreciated.
Other items might be scarves, makeup, bandanas (brightly colored), badges, and pins. One item that was helpful on many occasions in western Russia was the American one dollar bill. (In Siberia, there might not be anyway for a local person to convert the dollar into rubles.) Single dollar bills go a long way in the Soviet Union and are usually in the budget of the ordinary traveler. One Russian in Siberia told us that the tourist who brings cigarettes, lighters, and vodka (which is rationed) will own the country and can have anything he wants. Polaroid snapshots would also be an unusual gift.
MOTORCYCLES.
The Russians asked many questions about the technical aspects of our motorcycle and its cost. With our limited Russian, these were difficult to answer. Next time we will take photocopies of the technical page of the motorcycle manual.
It is doubtful that parts for a motorcycle could be found. Try to determine which five items are the most likely to break and take them in addition to the regular spares such as sparkplugs and innertubes . Oil can probably be found, if one is not too particular about the quality. If the motorcycle does break down and one cannot get it repaired, it will be several week before parts arrive. If you cannot fix the bike, it will have to be shipped out at your expense. There is no UPS in Russia. One item we found helpful on our first trip was a motorcycle cover. Whenever we stopped, Russians would gather around and admire the motor cycle, and we were reluctant to leave it unattended, but when we covered it, no one paid any attention to it. However, we always found secured parking for the night, and never left it unattended then. Some hotels in western Russia allowed us to park in their hallways or baggage rooms. In larger cities, there are guarded car parks where one can leave vehicles. We were told that while our motorcycle would never be stolen, parts might be taken. Souvenir hunters would certainly like to have our BMW emblem.
TRAVEL ITEMS.
Just remember the golden rule of traveling in Russia: If you do not take it you will not find it. Take everything you think that you will need. Take twice as much film as you anticipate needing. We did, and still ran out! There is electricity; you will need a converter with the European type plug. Take a first aid kit, pain killers, and mosquito repellent. It rains in Russia and Siberia, so take good rain - gear. As in Alaska, it can be very warm or quite cool, so layered clothing is best.
One will meet many people to whom you might want to write later on. We found it very helpful to take large mailing labels for them to write their own address on. Russian is very difficult to copy if you do not know the language, and one can not type Russian on an English typewriter. Taking mailing labels, or something similar, allows one simply to photocopy the original.
SOURCES.
There are now many guide book on the market, yet they are not anywhere complete. Things are changing so rapidly that they can only tell one where to go for common tourist sites such as art museums. Basic tourist information can be ordered from: Intourist, 630 Fifth Avenue #868 New York, NY 10111 USA.
There are a few organized motorcycle tours of western Russia which are advertised in several motorcycle magazines. There are no organized motorcycle tours of Siberia, If anyone is interested in a Siberian motorcycle adventure write to GoTo for advance information:
In summary, it is possible to travel by motorcycle in western Russia and the Baltics. All of eastern Europe is being opened for those who want either an organized tour or want to go on their own. Motorcycling in Siberia is much more of an adventure as the roads are dirt, supplies not easily available, and there are many rivers without bridges But if one wants to rough it and get off the beaten track there are a few safe places left in the world to travel and Siberia is one of them.
UPDATE: The information was based on our 1990 and 1991 trips. We made a third trip since then in 1992. Therefore much of the information contained herein is somewhat outdated. The person who is the expert is the last person there. Now there are many more hotels, gas stations, resturants (at least in Western Russia) and thieves. Be careful.