We awoke at 6am. We had a good breakfast at the hotels restaurant and then checked-out and returned to the garage. By the way Xavier took photos of trucks parked in a space near this hotel.
At the garage Andrew and Professor are waiting for us. They worked all night but had few customers and made no money. Professor mentioned he was planning to attend his aunts birthday party and wanted to buy her a present (as I understand he tried to show that he needs some money. But may be I was wrong. In any case we planed to pay them some money for help and assistance). We waited for Andrew to return from the bath, to say good-by, and gave them money for their help. We asked for their mailing address so that we could send them photos that we took of them.
The motorcycle started and we drove toward the border. We passed the
village of Red Hill and just passed it we came to a control post of Russian
frontier guards. Keeping our speed to a minimum nobody stopped us or asked
for our papers. Now we are in neutral territory. After 30 meters we stopped,
prepared ourselves for meeting the Byelorussian guards, and took some photos.
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Arriving at the Byelorussian border we were met by guards who were smiling
and laughing. They waved us through without any problem. Stopping on Byelorussian
soil I searched my pack for insurance information. Returning to the control
point I asked about the tax. The guards did confirm we needed to buy the
insurance due to the place we intended to visit. In a small wooden house
three people were there selling insurance. It was time for a change of
shift so I waited about 40 minutes before I received service! I did ask
a truck driver if I needed to change dollars or German marks to Byelorussian
rubles, and he said that this was not necessary. I bought the insurance,
returned to Xavier when a guard from control point motions to me that he
wanted to speak with me. This made me anxious for I thought he wanted to
check our papers or demand money. He asked me if I wanted to buy his motorcycle!
I told him at the moment we did not need another cycle.
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After we passed the frontier point we felt relief and happily continued
our trip. Driving for some time we were stopped by the police because we
exceeded the speed limit. The limit was 50km/hr. and we were driving 80
km/hr. (Can you imagine this on E30!)? We were on the top of a hill, which
was under construction and at the base of the hill was the police car with
radar. We did not use the brakes as we descended the road. I paid some
money, which technically is illegal, to the two policemen. This is commonly
done in Russia. We even took a photo of one policeman, the other one refused!
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We continued the trip and stopped at a café for dinner. Just some photos from the road.
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Seeing two boys riding mopeds (motor bikes) we asked them where we could
find a shop that sells spare parts for our Ural. I was thinking it might
be a good idea to purchase some special cycle parts to have in reserve
(now I dont remember why we want to visit that place, because we have
a lot of spares with us). The boys suggested we visit the market in the
old town of Borisov city. Also, we asked another man the direction to
Poland. Was it better to go E30 via Brest city or on M6 via Grodno? He
suggested Grodno. Photos from the road.
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After dinner sometime around 1pm or 3pm we continue the trip and again
agreed to take M6 via Grodno. Soon we arrived at a crossroads. In order
to go to Grodno we had to head toward Minsk city. We planned to take a
route, which circled around Minsk thus avoiding the inner city. Approaching
Minsk I wanted to stop a driver and ask for detailed directions since my
map was not of larger scale. Xavier stopped the Ural and while he took
some photos, I finally was able to stop a driver to confirm directions.
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I learned some very important information. The circle route around Minsk city is only on a map! In reality this circle route is not complete and one part of it is still under construction and will not be finished until 2001. This was useful information because the road we wanted could only be reached by traveling in a clock-wise direction on the circle route and not counter-clockwise as originally I had planned to do.
Continuing on toward Minsk I stopped several times because I did not want to miss the circle route entrance. Finally we saw it. We spent a long time on this circle and finally we found the turnoff to M6. After this turn-off we drove about 300 meters and arrived at a police station. (Usually there are police stations on each road that goes into a city.) We asked the policeman where to find the nearest hotel. This policeman spooked me since he regarded me with suspicion. He asked for my documents and where I applied for the forms. (I was wearing khaki colored jeans and a light-reflecting waistcoat.) After talking with him briefly I learned that a solder escaped from a battalion near Minsk. He also wanted to check Xaviers drivers license and see our motorcycle.
Unfortunately Xavier was on his cellular phone talking with his uncle at this time. I became nervous because I did not want to keep the policeman waiting since Russian policeman do not like to wait, and Xavier did not want to stop talking in order to show all his papers. I begged Xavier to stop talking and he resisted. Finally Xavier stopped, showed his papers, and all was okay.
Later Xavier and I discussed the incident and we felt better with one another and forgot about it. The policeman never did inform us about any hotel. We drove about 56km before finding a hotel. I almost considered stopping at a private house to sleep since it was dark and we used high beam to see the road (next days I found that the low beam was out of order). A restaurant and bar were beside the hotel. I asked how we could book a room in the hotel and was told to go to the hotel and ring the doorbell.
There were several doors and it was difficult locating the right one. Finally I found the door with a doorbell and I rang. No reply. So I returned to the bar and was told to ring it several times. Returning, I did, and finally a nice girl opens the door. I asked her about single rooms. She asked me for my passport. After I completed some forms she said that she want to keep my passport at reception. I did not want to leave there my passport. She told me not to worry and that she would not stamp it about weeding! Nevertheless I picked up my passport. Who knows this girls! I returned to get Xavier. When we entered the room I saw that we had only one bed! Xavier decided to sleep on the floor. Placing our things in the room we returned to the bar for supper. I parked the Ural in the garage. This evening was fine and Xavier was very happy! Unfortunately, the cell phones did not work in this place so we bought telephone cards to phone Moscow and Paris. After supper we returned to the room. The bathroom was one of several rooms but everything was clean and neat. It was the first time since our trip when we had hot water in the bathroom. Rearranging my pack, writing in my diary, I fell asleep. We also discovered that we had changed time zones!
