Day 2 - 30/6 Bus to Rostov - then 20 km ride to hotel

Go forward - to Rostov

Boarded the comfy bus – a double seat for each – and away we went (not south as my radar told me) but North East to Rostov.  3-lane motorway for about 10km totally jammed with traffic going into Moscow, but we flew along an almost empty road.

10km long traffic jam into Moscow

Forests of pine, birch and others, probably oak and elm.  Small villages with tradition wooden houses, the decorative window frames  quite beautiful, but not much large open farming apparent.  Felt like Estonia is so many ways, tho we hadn't seen any traditional houses there. (At this time, I didn't realise that we would be seeing these beautiful old houses everywhere!)

These traditional wooden homes are everywhere!  

Arrived in Rostov at lunchtime.  Unloaded bus and carried bikes and baggage down to carpark.  Here we met Andriev and Svetlana – bus driver and cook.  The bikes were unloaded from the truck and shared around while Caroline, John and I busily unpacked and reconstructed our bikes.  Looks like Aussies travel with bikes.  No real dramas with Maggie, tho the rear brake cable had to be readjusted for some reason.  Didn't have bike computer available and couldn’t set up gopro, but all good otherwise. 

reconstructed Maggie

 Quick lunch of bread, cheese, tomatoes with fruit and water or coffee and off to the Rostov kremlin.  Our tour guide was a strong woman, wonderful sense of humor, which was evident with her excellent command of English.  The cathedral was heavily fresco painted, but years of neglect and closure after the Revolution has meant that the paintings are black and grimy with the plaster falling away.  It’s a swampy area and the once very efficient drainage system has been lost and now the humidity is really high and so mould is winning.  But the whole Kremlin here is a museum and is government funded to be restored – very slowly, but some of the panels are so beautiful and bright that there’s a glimpse on how it might have once looked.  The floor had been heated by furnaces in the basement, but the cathedral was only ever used in the summertime.  There were other buildings, but I didn’t take notes – I am sure Mr Google will fill in the gaps.

 So (after a quick dash into a market square where I bought some light linen socks, 3pr for $3 or 100 roubles – its much warmer than I packed for, of course!!)  We were out onto the road!  We had a quick stop in an enamel factory showroom – really beautiful things there, some modern brightly coloured pieces and others totally traditional with roses and other flowers.  So tempted to buy MM a bracelet but maybe $270 was a bit too much, but worth every penny.

We were warned this would be the worst stretch traffic wise and rightly so.  I was so happy with my mirror as the shoulder was the place to be when cars and trucks flashed by.  Road surface really crappy,  potholes and rough mends – but it’s not unexpected. 

It was so good to be on a bike again!  Slightly windy from forward side, but not head wind and occasionally it was behind us.  Flat as – Sweet!  But no photos taken during this 20km doddle.  I was quite surprised how quickly the 20km went.  I thought we might have done 10, when everyone stopped, so no idea without a computer.  Will get that set up tomoz.  80km ride ahead.

Dimitriov's pannier set up - green with envy!!

Our hotel for the night, just out of Rostov

goats resting after a hard's day chopping wood

typical local bus - dangerous as all bus drivers are!!