The Mongol Rally: The Long Drive Home Part 1 (Russia is massive)
Starting the drive home through Russia
We left the finish line almost as soon as we arrived, turned on our heels and set off east. East into the Siberian forest, a gigantic wilderness stretching ahead for thousands of miles. Forest and swamp. The odd half-abandoned wooden village squatted in its death throes, slowly being consumed by the forest, the swamp, or both.
A typical Siberian house on the Mongol Rally drive home through Russia
Russia is massive
Looking at a map, Russia seems big. But when you break it down, look at distances, a day’s drive, for example, then the true scale becomes apparent. This would take a while, and there wasn’t much to look at along the way.
What appeared to be some interesting sights just off our planned route, on closer inspection, turned out to be a whole day’s detour, and so not possible with our limited time frame. We had a wedding to attend in the UK, so it would be a race against time to get back.
Our first day started promisingly. The Autumn colours of the Siberian forest lifted our spirits above the hanging drizzle, and as we neared the shores of Lake Baikal, the sun even made a short appearance. Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest lake, the largest freshwater lake by volume, the world’s oldest lake, and is home to the planet’s only freshwater seals. We weren’t just going to drive past.
Russia’s autumn colours
If we were going to reach Irkutsk that night, though, we couldn’t exactly linger. Turning down a dirt track to a pebble beach, we managed an hour of paddling, swimming and topping up our water supplies (we had heard the water was pure enough to drink) before continuing the day’s drive.
Trying some Siberian specialities
Our night in Irkutsk was to be the best of the six-day journey to Western Russia, as accommodation options quickly deteriorated from there onwards. The food helped, too: a very Siberian meal of Omul fish from Lake Baikal, venison with lingonberry sauce, Buryat dumplings, and pancakes with condensed milk and lingonberries. All washed down with a glass of lingonberry juice. Lingonberries are popular in Siberia.
Enjoying an hour at the beach on Russia’s Lake Baikal
Lingonberries are popular in Irkutsk
Driving through Russia is an endurance challenge
The following day set the tone for the rest of our time in Siberia. Long drives and the almost daily time zone changes gave us even more daylight for driving. Unending forest and swamp. A constant procession of trucks to pass. And rain, lots of it. Every day and almost all day. Followed by far-from-ideal sleeping arrangements.
The first night: a field down a dirt track in the forest. Home to Russia’s largest swarm of mosquitos. Which duly started to eat us alive as we pitched the tent, changed tyres and cooked tea. Our only respite came with a torrential downpour that lasted well into the night, soaking us through before a soggy night’s sleep. We both agreed it was better than the mosquitos.
Russian rain can be relentless, but at least it’s not as bad as the mosquitos
Dealing with Russian bureaucracy
The second night: a modern hostel in Kemerovo. Or that was the plan. After buying supplies for a cooked meal, we rocked up to the top-reviewed hostel in this most un-touristed town.
You must register your location in Russia within seven working days of arrival. We hadn’t been there for seven days, so we hadn’t registered. It’s the responsibility of your accommodation to do this, which the hostel promptly refused to do.
No accommodation without registration. No registration without accommodation. A major hiccup in our plan for a comfy night.
We gave up after trying a few places on our map, which we failed to find. Too late to cook, we ate cereal for dinner in a dark car park before driving out of the city and back into the forest. At least fewer mosquitos are around when pitching a tent in the dark.
Watch out for the Russian mud
The third night: the worst of the lot. Finding a camping spot is easier if you do it in the daylight. So, as the sun was setting, we pulled off the main road and down a solid-looking dirt side road.
We were already regretting our decision as soon as we hit the dirt. Surrounded by swamp, the near-constant rain had turned the earth into a thick clay-like mud. Sliding left and right, we turned the car and got back to the road, but the damage was done.
The car was low on power, and it was shaking. We stopped on the roadside (trying to keep out of the mud but away from the oncoming trucks) and found the wheel space totally choked with the thick clay. We could dislodge some of the dirt with sticks we found on the roadside. But not enough to stop a burnt rubber smell from permeating the car as we drove: the scent of the mud and stones starting to wear down our tyres.
Luckily, we soon came across a picnic area. Pulling off, now in near total darkness, we realised our only option would be to remove each wheel and dislodge the mud by hand, completely surrounding each tyre as it was.
So that’s what we did. While Rico cooked in the rain, I removed each tyre and scraped away the sticky mud. Eventually, tired and grumpy, we settled down for a night in the car. The rubbish-strewn verge didn’t provide a particularly appealing campsite.
Dislodging the Russian mud: We tried with sticks
Then we got the spade out
But in the end, removing the wheels was the only solution
The long drive through Russia left us ready for a rest
Just as our accommodation options worsened as we went, so too did our driving time increase. We began pushing ourselves to the limit to reach Western Russia in time to see a bit of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Our first day: six and a half hours of driving. Then nine, 12.5, 11.5, 14.5, and on our final day, 16 hours of driving.
We did manage a few stops along the way. An hour for pizza (not seen for weeks) from a small-town takeaway, a brief stop in the Ural Mountains at the border between Europe and Asia, and a short exploration of an abandoned church. Destroyed during Soviet rule? We will never know because we had no idea where we were.
A quick stop at a village water pump on our way home through Russia
One foot in Europe and one in Asia, in Russia’s Ural Mountains
A once-grand church in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Russia
When we finally trundled into Kostroma, a few hours north of Moscow, we were looking forward to a restful couple of days exploring this rural backwater, with its onion-domed churches and historic walled towns by the Volga, the birthplace of the Russia we know today.
This Leg
Days: 6
Countries: 1
Distance: 3,420 miles
Time in car: 3 days 13 hours 30 minutes
Total
Days: 56
Countries: 25
Distance: 14,189 miles
Time in car: 16 days 22 hours