Tuk-Tuk to the Road. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent

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СКАЧАТЬ posse will be crossing the border and heading for Almaty. Our biker contacts in Almaty assure us that the roads in this area are good, so the 200 miles from here to the old capital should be easy-going. The Singing Dunes and Charyn Canyon are apparently not to be missed, so we’ll be stopping for a cold beer or maybe a refreshing bowl of kumys (fermented mare’s milk, a Kazakh speciality) before hitting the cosmopolitan hub Almaty.

      Almaty is the commercial heart of Central Asia’s richest country and will be a welcome respite after several weeks in China’s western wilderness. While TT has a service, we’ll get some R&R and perhaps even don our glad rags and sample the local nightlife: The Long Way Round team have told us that the Lord Nelson club is not to be missed.

      From Almaty we’ll head north up the M36 to the capital, Astana (meaning ‘capital’ in Kazakh). Our original plan was to travel through western Kazakhstan via the Aral Sea, but sadly the roads (if you can call them that) are too bad and we would probably have had to resort to hitching a lift on a camel or a Kamaz truck. This route via Astana shouldn’t disappoint though.

      A few hundred miles north west of Almaty we’ll come to the southern end of Lake Balkash, Central Asia’s fourth largest lake, which, according to a recent United Nations report, is sadly echoing the demise of the Aral Sea. Next it’s Karaghanda, famous for coal and gulags, and then Astana, its glass skyscrapers rising incongruously out of the treeless steppes.

      In Astana we will have to make a decision: either go due north to Russia via Petropavlosk, or tuk north west via Kostanai. Apparently the roads aren’t great on either route so we’re hoping some good local knowledge will be able to point us in the right direction. Then it’s goodbye Kazakhstan and zdrastvuyte Russia.

      

5 Russia

      Random country facts: around six billion bottles of vodka are drunk in Russia annually, at a rate of 40 per person. Russia spans 11 time zones. According to the CIA World Fact Book, the population of Russia is 143 420 309.

      At the border we’ll turn west, open the throttle and head for Europe across the West Siberian Plain, one of the world’s largest regions of continuous flatland, bounded by the Urals in the west and the Yenisey River in the east. Although we’ll be a mere 1000 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the summer temperature here should be a balmy 20 °C.

      First on our Russian agenda will be the city of Chelyabinsk, a key centre of military production during the Soviet era and scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident before Chernobyl. The city is also the last metropolis on the eastern side of the fabled Urals, the geographical divide between Europe and Asia. As far as mountains go, however, they are little more than a wrinkle on the earth’s surface, and our three-wheeled friend should tuk over them without any problems.

      On our western descent of the Urals we’ll go through Ufa, birthplace of Rudolf Nureyev and capital of the self-consciously autonomous Bashkortostan Republic, before tukking through the southern tip of Tatarstan and into the Volga region. This is the heartland of Russia. ‘Mother Volga’ is one of the nation’s most enduring symbols as well as Europe’s longest river, at 2303 miles. We’ll be travelling through the area at the best time of year, when the river’s banks become a haven for swimmers, sun worshippers and sybarites. As we tuk down the Volga we’ll take in the cities of Samara and Saratov. The latter was home to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.

      Next stop is Volgograd, a day’s tukking down the Volga from Saratov. Better known by its former name, Stalingrad, the city was the scene of the Second World War’s bloodiest battle. At least 600 000 German troops died here, and a further 180 000 were captured by the Soviets. The total number of Russian dead is unknown, but again the figure is probably around 600 000.

      This will be an opportune spot for Team Ting Tong to relax, refuel and prepare for the final leg of the odyssey. We might even indulge in the odd vodka, knowing the legendary Russian propensity for the drink.

      From Volgograd it’s almost a straight line due west to England, via Lviv, Krakow, Prague, Cologne, Brussels and the Channel Tunnel.

      

6 Ukraine

      Random country facts: the name ‘Ukraine’ translates as ‘borderland’ or ‘on the edge’. Ukraine is one of the world’s main centres of sugar production.

      Ukraine gained its independence from Russia in August 1991 and is so far unblighted by mass tourism. Oxen still plough the fields in many parts and rural areas are yet to be tainted by the encroaches of the modern world.

      Our first major pit-stop will be Kharkiv, 250 miles north west of the Russian border on the M03 via the towns of Krasny Luch and Slovyansk. Eastern Ukraine is an area little visited by tourists. During the Soviet era this was a military industrial centre; today it is the business (and mafia) end of the country.

      At Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, we’ll take the M03 west for a further two days to the capital Kiev, the apotheosis of the nation’s new-found wealth. Here, old women selling corncobs rub shoulders with Prada-clad urbanites, and blacked out SUVs and Mercedes are the norm. If time allows, we’ll park up, kick back and check out some of the sights—mummified monks at the Caves Monastery, Independence Square and the Chernobyl Museum (the destroyed reactor is a mere 60 miles north of the capital), to name a few. But we’ll have little time to loiter. Next stop is Lviv, 400 miles west on the M06.

      Commonly billed as ‘the Florence of the East’ and ‘the new Prague’, Lviv is a city full of beauty and historical interest—and the obligatory Soviet-era tower blocks. Lonely Planet describes it as ‘a true gem that is only now starting to get the attention it deserves’. We’ll stop here for a night before the final lap of our Ukrainian tukathon. From here it’s less than 50 miles west to the Polish border at Shehyni.

      

7 Poland

      Random country facts: Poland shares its borders with seven countries. Chopin and Copernicus both hailed from Poland.

      By the time we reach Poland, the trickiest parts of the trip should be behind us. We’ll have put over 2000 miles between us and the Central Asian steppes, and Brighton will be well within our reach. We hope!

      We’ll spend less than a week skirting across the southern underbelly of Poland, going via Rzeszow, Krakow and Opole before entering the Czech Republic 60 miles east of Prague.

      Krakow is Poland’s most historic city and was the royal capital for more than 500 years. Amazingly it was almost unscathed by the Second World War, which ravaged Wroclaw and Warsaw. Today it is a World Heritage Site. No other city in Poland has so many historic buildings and monuments, and nowhere else will you encounter such vast collections of art. This is a city not to be missed and we’ll take a day out of our home run to explore its treasures.

      Krakow is also famous for its close proximity to Auschwitz, a name synonymous with Nazi brutality and the horrors of the Holocaust. The camp is just south of our route and will certainly be on our itinerary if time allows.

      This area of Poland,Upper Silesia,is heavily developed and industrialised and home to ten per cent of the population. It doesn’t promise to be the most scenic part of our adventure so we’ll open up the throttle and push on to the Czech Republic via Opole in Lower Silesia.

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