Petropavl (Kazakhstan) to Kurgan (Russia), July 2016

Dag 59. Petropavl (Kasakhstan) til Kurgan (Rusland), 265 km

I dag skulle vi så køre over grænsen til Rusland, så vi kørte fra vores hyggelige hotel kl 8. Vi havde ca 65 km til grænsen. Turen til grænsen var de sidste 15 km ret øde, så vi var lige ved at tro at vi var på den forkerte vej. Nå, det var vi heldigvis ikke, vi nåede grænsen og på den Kasakhstanske side, købte vi grænse forsikring til Rusland, 400 kr for 20 dage. Derefter var vi igennem pas tjek og bil tjek, på den Kasakhstanske side af grænsen, det gik ret hurtigt – Så kørte vi ca 1 km til den Russiske grænse, vi ventede lidt, inden vi fik lov at køre ind, så frem til grænsen, hvor vi skulle igennem pas tjek og bil tjek, alt i alt vel 45 min og så var vi klar til at køre ind i Rusland.

Birch trees and fields - Birketræer og marker

Russia - Rusland

Vi fortsatte til Kurgan, hvor vi havde booket hotel. En lille by ca 210 km fra grænsen, hvor vi havde booket os ind på noget som hedder ”Family hotel” – hyggeligt, sjovt lille sted, ingen engelsk talende receptionist (godt vi har Google translate på telefonen). Vi gik i banken og vekslede penge og fandt et sted hvor vi kunne købe sim kort, så er vi klar til den videre tur.

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13th July. Petropavl to Kurgan ( Russia), distance 265 km.

Left our hotel, at 8 am for the border.

The border, to Russia, was just about 65 km from out hotel.

The last 15 km, was according to me, in no-man-land. We saw no one, neither man nor beast, and we thought we had driven the wrong way.

 We carried on this deserted road, and soon reached the border of Kazakhstan. Here we stopped, before the border, and bought Russian 3^rd party insurance, from a guy sitting in a caravan. He charged us a fortune, for a 20 day insurance for Russia. I paid up, with a smile. Susanne chatted up some Russian babes on the other side of the road. We were now ready to cross over.

On the Kazakhstan side, things were pretty easy. Passports and car checked, and we were waived through.

We soon reached the Russian side, and here a monstrous looking security guard ( lady) stopped us, and asked us to back up our cars. She then got us to wait for about 45 min, until she finally let us through. We were directed, to park by the customs, and walk through immigration.

This process through the immigration, took at least an hour and a half. We had to fill up some immigration entry form, which we have to keep with us, until we leave the country.

Customs inspection was a breeze. I opened up all the doors and the booth. He just glanced at my smiling face, and waved me of.

I was handed, a small piece of paper, which I had to hand over, at the final exit gate.  A sweet looking, but big,  security officer, (lady) waved us through, and we were in ‘Russia’.

Phew.

We are in Russia.

We drove to the town Kurgan, which was about 200 km away. We had booked rooms at a Family hotel. We soon found out, that there was not much family, or hotel about this place.

Reaching Kurgan - Fremme i Kurgan

Cheers we are in Russia - Skål vi er i Rusland

Caught a cab, in the evening, and had dinner, at a beautiful Russian Restaurant.