Day 26: Ulan Ude to Listvyanka

We left Ulan Ude about 8 a.m., right in the middle of rush hour traffic. Today’s trip was mostly through forested areas as we followed the Selenga River (which appropriately translates to Beautiful River) and wound our way through mountainous terrain.

Typical scenery during the drive to Listvyanka

Typical scenery during the drive to Listvyanka (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

At 10:20 some snow-capped peaks came into view and about five minutes later, we caught our first glimpse of Lake Baikal. The photo shown below is taken from the southern tip of the lake, where we arrived at around 3 p.m. Even with a bit of haze in the air, the beauty of the area stands out.

View of Lake Baikal from the southern tip

View of Lake Baikal from the southern tip (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We arrived at our hotel in Listvyanka at 6:45, after another long day of driving over bumpy roads and through construction sites; however, the roads continue to improve as we travel west!

The 1908 racers didn’t drive around Lake Baikal because they couldn’t — the terrain was too treacherous at the time — so they instead took a ferry across the lake, which ceased operations many years ago, necessitating our drive around the southern tip of the lake.

However, the original racers didn’t just drive up to the ferry and motor across the lake. According to Julie Fenster’s book, Race of the Century, when the Protos arrived in the town of Missawoia on the eastern lake shore to take the ferry to the town of Baikal on the western lake shore, Hans Koeppen and the Protos team discovered that in 1903 ferry had moved 20 miles south of Missawoia to the town of Tanchoi.

The German Protos team attempted to drive to Tanchoi, but crossing the numerous rivers flowing into Lake Baikal proved too much of a challenge, and they were soon stuck in the town of Michiha, where they tried to load the Protos onto a train for the rest of the trip to Tanchoi. But the 1908 racers ran into the same kind of problem we did trying to cross the border into China — they couldn’t find a way at the Michiha train facility to load the Protos onto the train! So they wound up driving back to Missawoia, which had the ability to put the Protos on the train for the trip to Tanchoi.

As a result of the delays to the Protos from running around the shores of Lake Baikal, the Thomas Flyer and the U.S. managed to briefly catch the German team in the railroad yard in Missawoia. However, the Protos arrived in Irkutsk on June 20 ahead of the Thomas Flyer. For more information on this part of the race, click here for the original New York Times article.

Today, the Roadster still had problems with the brake lights and the struts. The man in the photo below helping to pump up the struts is a Russian truck driver who was on his way to Moscow when he spotted us during a stop for lunch. Luke is planning to stay up late tonight to order some parts for shipment from California to Russia that we hope will fix the problems that continue to plague the Roadster!

Help from a Russian truck driver

Help from a Russian truck driver (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Tomorrow we have a relaxing day for a boat ride on Lake Baikal and the day after a short 75 km drive on a good road to Irkutsk.

Day 23: Zabaikalsk to Chita

Today we really followed in the footsteps of George Schuster!

We arrived in Chita this evening, although we didn’t get to claim a $1,000 prize as the German Protos did for being the first 1908 racer to reach Chita from Vladivostok on June 16. The prize was awarded by the Trans-Siberian Railway — click here for the full New York Times article.

We left Zabaikalsk about 9 a.m., anticipating a 3 p.m. arrival in Chita, but everything from construction to a flat tire to low fuel got in our way. I think our new guide, Ksenia (I spelled her name wrong yesterday) is probably already wondering what she has gotten into.

After about 45 minutes of driving this morning, we encountered construction and bumpy gravel and dirt roads that made for wild rides and slow progress. At one point, John said he saw the back tires of the Envoy fly several inches off the ground as we bounced across a pothole.

On the other hand, the leisurely pace gave us time to enjoy views of the Trans-Siberian Railway and traditional houses in this region — unfinished except for blue, white, or green trim — that are similar to what the original racers would have seen.

 

Trans-Siberian Railway on the drive to Chita

Trans-Siberian Railway on the drive to Chita (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

Typical house in the Biryat region, similar to what the original racers may have seen

Typical house in the Biryat region, similar to what the original racers may have seen (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We stopped for gas at a station with old time pumps, which fit right in with John’s vintage Plymouth Roadster. Note that the pump is in liters, not gallons.

 

Old time gas pump meets old time car

Old time gas pump meets old time car (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

About 1:30, Luke called on the walkie-talkie and said the Roadster had a flat tire, so Leo turned the Envoy around and we headed back to watch the tire-changing show and provide unhelpful advice.

 

The flat tire -- first one of the trip!

The flat tire — first one of the trip! (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

John and Luke change the tire

John and Luke change the tire (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

While John and Luke changed the tire, the rest of us took in the scenery and basked in the 85 degree heat.

 

Roadside scenery -- if you have to break down, might as well do it here!

Roadside scenery — if you have to break down, might as well do it here! (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

The Roadster now had no spare tire, so Luke pointed out we would need to fix it. John said, “We’ll take it somewhere to have that done,” and Luke replied, “You wimp, Schuster wouldn’t have done that!” Actually, he used a different word than wimp, but I’ll leave that to your imagination.

After a traditional Russian lunch at 2 p.m. from a roadside cafe,

Lunch!

Lunch! (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

and petting a local dog,

 

Cute Russian dog

Cute Russian dog (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

the road conditions improved and we picked up the pace, except for a brief roadside refueling for the Roadster — the gas stations in Siberia are few and far between.

Just before arriving in Chita, we stopped in the small town of Alamanovka to see if we could get the tire fixed. Ksenia found a shop on her second try, and four of us crowded inside the tiny building below to watch the repair.

 

Tire repair shop in Alamanovka

Tire repair shop in Alamanovka (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

If tire repair ever becomes an Olympic sport, the mechanic below is a sure bet to wing the gold medal! From tire into the shop to tire back out of the shop took about seven minutes, and he only charged 100 rubles, about $3. If you’re ever in Aamanovka, be sure to stop by and give these guys some business!

 

Olympic gold medalist in tire repair

Olympic gold medalist in tire repair (Eileen Bjorkman photo)

We arrived at our hotel about 6 p.m., not bad, all things considered. Tomorrow morning, we leave Chita about 8 a.m. to drive 590 km to Ulan Ude, where we’ll have a day of rest (and I hope laundry) on Monday.