Well we have made it to Ulan-Ude, Russia.  This is a big city that used to be Mongolian.  There is a huge head of Lenin in the town square-but none of the Russians seem to like him…  Well here is a quick recap of what has happened since we have last updated…  We were able to get our car out of holding on Thursday-which was very lucky!  Then we headed for Khabarovsk and stayed the night in a very nice and expensive hotel.  This would be our last hotel with a nice bed and a real bathroom for a while.  The next day we began our second and hardest leg of our trip: Chita.  Chita is some 2100 km from Khabarovsk.  Yeah, I know that doesn’t seem so far.  Ha!  I laugh at you!  You are right, it is not that far, but on crap dirt roads it is a very very long drive.  When we came close to Bhirobijan we saw a BEAUTIFUL paved road with absolutely no cracks and just perfect in every way.  My dad and I had heard that the Russians had planned to pave the road from Khabarovsk to Chita by 2008.  So when we saw this road my dad and I thought this was going to be great!  NOPE!  Then not even 15 miles into our journey was our happiness and hopes crushed to smithereens.  The battle between us and the dirt road began!  My dad and I went at a snail’s pace on the dirt roads to ensure that Suzi would stay in good condition.  So that is where our time went.  We spent 4 days driving to Chita.  We camped the first night.  We were almost eaten alive by savage mosquitoes so we hid away inside our small tent.  Because Russia is so far north, the sun does not set until 10 pm and rises at 5 am-so the days are crazy long!  So my dad and I didn’t start to doze off until 11 pm, then at 2 am it began to rain…  When we set up the tent there were clouds in the sky-but not enough to make it rain.  Then a couple of minutes later lightning and thunder began to boom across the sky.  I don’t know if I have ever experienced such a scary storm before in my life.  The lightning came so often and bright we could see everything inside the tent.  To make matters worse it was freaking cold-around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Then our tent began to leak so we quickly moved into the car with our sleeping bags and left everything else in the tent-that could get wet.  My dad slept ok enough, I did not.  I was freezing and couldn’t go to sleep.  I was also not feeling too well.  After that night my dad and I decided that we are not campers and we would sleep in the car from now on. 

Russian drivers are fearless.  This is fact.  They drive like no other no matter the road conditions.  The road to Chita is filled with a lot of drivers.  The fleets are drivers who drive cars from Japan across Russia to various Russian cities to sell.  They are the most common drivers we see on the road.  You can tell them apart because they tape up their cars –to protect them from rock damage- and they drive in a line.  There are always a small group of them.  You can see them weaving in and out of other traffic on the road and of the potholes and ditches.  Well we finally reached Chita with the help of the fleet driver, Andrei, who let us follow him-he was a very careful and much slower driver compared to the other fleet drivers.  He helped us find our hotel as well then he continued his journey to Ulan-Ude at 11 pm.  Brave man.  We stayed in the Panama City hotel, which was overpriced-but it had beds and a real bathroom so we didn’t complain.  I took my long awaited shower and we went to eat a real dinner.  My cold had gotten somewhat better and all I have left is a very sore throat.  It only hurts when I swallow-so eating is very painful.  So the next day we woke up at 9, instead of the crack of dawn, and headed to Ulan-Ude.  It began to snow and was getting colder as we went further west.  We got about a fourth of the way there when we hit traffic.  A truck had fallen over and was blocking the two lane road to Ulan-Ude.  We sat there for about 2 and a half hours before the police showed up and then 30 minutes later they told everyone to leave and head back.  So there was no going to Ulan-Ude.  We headed back to Chita as I was not feeling well enough to have another night in the car.  So the following day we tried again for Ulan-Ude and we were successful.  But as soon as we turned on the car, the “check engine light” came on.  The reason was because on the road to Chita, we filled up Suzi with octane 80 gas-because they were out of octane 92 and 95.  So we called mom, who called Phil, from the Suzuki dealership, and he told us to put octane booster into the tank next time we filled up.  SO we did but the light was still on, however Suzi was driving well.  So we didn’t worry too much.  We made it to Ulan-Ude at 7 or 8 pm.  We stayed in a dirt cheap hotel, but we soon found the reason why it was so cheap-no hot water or internet.  Also the elevator was ancient beyond belief.  It sounded like it was going to break down any moment.  While finding parking for Suzi she began to creak.  My dad and I began to worry more.  We went to eat at a fast food place and while there we began to wonder about what we were going to do about Suzi.  We decided that we needed to go to a mechanic to make sure Suzi is alright, because if anything happens to her our trip is over.  A group of young Russian girls sat behind us at the fast food joint and my dad made me ask them if they spoke English and could help us.  Apparently I am unintimidating and nice looking-so I am the one who has the job of asking people for help.  Yay me!  Well there was one girl at the table who could help us, Irina.  She spoke a little English and began to tell us where to go to find a mechanic but decided it was too hard and decided to take us there herself.  My dad followed in Suzi while I went with Irina.  As it was 10 pm the mechanic was closed, but Irina said she would take us to a better mechanic tomorrow.  She dropped us off at the hotel and promised to meet us tomorrow. 

At 10 this morning we met Irina in front of the hotel my dad followed Irina and I in her car to her brother’s house where we picked up her brother, Stish-who knows more about cars.  We then headed to the mechanic and after about 2 hours Suzi was all fixed-even her check engine light was gone.  We thanked Irina and Stish over and over again.  But they wouldn’t have it.  Irina dropped us back at the hotel and we said goodbye.  My dad and I decided to check into a better hotel with internet and spent the day in the room.  I took a nap, since I am still not feeling well.  We called Irina and Stish to invite them to dinner as a thank you and met them at a Mongolian pub and restaurant called the Modern Nomad.  This has got to be one of the coolest places Russia has.  It was very cool, but I still can’t eat much so I ate only a little of my Queen’s Chicken-which made me sad as it was really good.  We then said goodbye to Irina and Stish and headed to the hotel to use the internet.

After all this, I have learned the main reason people do these kinds of trips around the world.  It is to meet people.  We have met so many nice people in our journey so far.  There have been so many people who come up to us and wish us luck in our journey.  A Russian lady even gave me a hug when I told her about the trip.  The people have got to be one of the best parts of this trip.  And I am glad I have met everyone of them!