Day 17

After a brief breakfast of bread with sliced meats and tomato, we set off having said goodbye to our hosts. They also gave us an escort out of town back onto the M5. Within minutes we get stopped by the Police at a checkpoint. Joe and Ben were negotiating for about 40 minutes with an armed border guard, they wanted $50 per person but we got away with just a few small gifts from our kitty! The guard had been indicating for the first vehicle to pull over for a document check but we had misinterpreted the signal and had to be pulled back in by police car with a siren. It was useful to know what the siren sounded like as it was very different from those in the UK.

Not long after a 15 min fuel break we were pulled over again by Police. We had been overtaking in the wrong place. It only took 10 minutes to resolve but we were all tense.

Ian was the next to have to do some smooth talking after an incident involving a radar gun. His scouse charm got us away with just a warning Then Elanor & Andy had to smile innocently and look harmless as we were waved in for the fourth time ... we seemed to be seasoned pro's as we were out of the vehicles for a mere 30 seconds before the guard waved us on. The language barrier is such that it is as difficult for them as it is for us.

From that point on the team took note of every sign we passed and made sure we understood every traffic rule, particularly the speed limits which weren't usually marked at the end, only at the beginning. To spot the end you look for the sign marking the start in the opposite direction. Despite going past many more checkpoints we weren't stopped again.

The roads got quite bad. Cracked tarmac, poorly repaired potholes, deep grooves in the road worn in by heavy trucks. We saw a large number of car transporters, loaded with brand new vehicles, in contrast to the ancient Lada's and military style trucks that shared the same roads. A an abortive mission to grab a lunch snack (no suitable food), gave Bear a chance to play with the sculptures of 3 other bears. A few hundred meters down the road yielded a place that sold kebab and goulash. We partook with gusto having had a stressful morning. The toilet facilities had definitely diminished in standards as the miles passed. All to be expected.

Samara was showing clearly on the Garmin Sat Nav. We had proactively written down what the name of the town looked like in Cyrillic script to help us read the road signs. We had also done this for common words like Diesel and checkpoint to make sure we didn't make any mistakes. Petrol in a diesel engine so far from home would be traumatic.

Oddly we could see what I think was Samara when the Garmin units were still reading 70 kilometres to go. Due to a kink in the massive river Volga and the bridge across a huge dam that took you away from the town and then looped back in. Crossing the dam was memorable, it was a feat of engineering and gave you spectacular views up & down the river over churning white water. Elanor navigated into town, team work and communication had us at the hotel relatively easily. We had driven under many Jaguar & Land Rover adverts on banners. We parked in view of a golden domed church, bathed in the late afternoon sun. Less romantically, we were spotted by a Brit over here from Kirkby Lonsdale who came over for a chat and to share stories of the LR3 he owns.

We used a cashpoint to get the kitty up and Joe & Ian took a hand held radio to the hotel reception to suss out the lie of the land and guide us in. A car park attendant sorted us into the secure parking area, initially a little officious he warmed up when Joe showed him pictures of the twins. We checked in and quickly shot upstairs to drop our bags and get out again & eat.

The river Volga looked spectacular from our hotel balcony (yes you read right, a balcony!) we had a separate dining area with a dining table & chairs. I think the best description is "faded grandeur". The hotel had not been refurbished in some time, which is why it was in the budget section of our guide book, however the location was superb. We walked out and down to the Volga where we took some pictures of the sunset (perfect timing) and the male members of the team enjoyed what seemed to be a constant parade of Russian lovelies. Forget Milan and New York, someone was heard to say, the talent spotters should come to Samara! The team were in excellent spirits again.

We found somewhere to eat and ordered delicious kebabs. Dave's language cards came in handy (differentiating lamb from beef) however Ben reverted to the old fashioned elbow waggle to signify chicken. We'd had a cold beverage by this point and the team erupted with laughter at Ben's departure from his usual sophisticated style!

More laughter ensued with the memory of Andy's radio message from the morning "Oncoming traffic .... from behind!" Music and enjoyment was all around us and the team took the opportunity to enjoy urban life while we could.