Day 202- Perm to Nizhnekamsk - Fri 13th Sept
We went to bed exhausted last night and didn't set an alarm, so woke mid morning, to fog and cold. The Webasto heater had made a popping noise when we turned it on last night so went to bed without hot water - not a good omen for the next four weeks of colder days. Waved goodbye to our friendly police station. Filled up with freezing yellow well water (subterranean minerals we hope), bought groceries and finally got back on road for the last leg of GlobalTrek 2013. We have a month to cross rest of Russia, through Ukraine and down to Istanbul, winterise the vehicle and fly home.
We went to bed exhausted last night and didn't set an alarm, so woke mid morning, to fog and cold. The Webasto heater had made a popping noise when we turned it on last night so went to bed without hot water - not a good omen for the next four weeks of colder days. Waved goodbye to our friendly police station. Filled up with freezing yellow well water (subterranean minerals we hope), bought groceries and finally got back on road for the last leg of GlobalTrek 2013. We have a month to cross rest of Russia, through Ukraine and down to Istanbul, winterise the vehicle and fly home.
Drove west out of Perm in fog towards Izhevsk in Udmurtia Republic - good road until roadworks. Met highway full of trucks, few gaps in traffic to overtake. BoyRob readjusted once again to driving on right hand side of road. Autumn now in full swing, beautiful reds appearing among yellows, some birch trees already bare. Logs on trucks, fresh firewood piling up in front of houses, old couple beside forest collecting wood, man struggling under weight of full sack with old lady following holding it in place. Roadside sellers with bright dusters, mats, doilies and leafy brooms or bouquets. Several lots of small "donkey" oil wells in fields.
Covered 445kms good start to catch up to the troops. Still don't have a detailed map of south western Russia, going to have to use iPad/ Pocket Earth sparingly because using GPS all day drains battery quicker than the inverter can recharge, and it recovers less than 50% overnight. Missed sister Kathy's birthday so sent messages. Received email that BoyRob’s sister is in intensive care following operation to remove appendix; phoned hospital in Melbourne to find although she is on ventilator with pneumonia in one lung, she is stable, so will call tomorrow. Camped near town of Nizhnekamsk not long after turning west onto the M7, not far off road beside weedy field with stray sunflowers. Dark earlier than we remembered (even accounting for fact we'd crossed timeline and gained two hours). Chicken and coleslaw dinner. Wonder of wonders the hot water had resurrected itself through day, so had hot shower after all. Clean and tired, went to bed for quick read with some new English novels from home.
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