[Russia] Day 128–130 of London to India motorcycle trip: Kazan — Ufa — Chelaybinsk ride[Aug 12–15…

[Russia] Day 128–130 of London to India motorcycle trip: Kazan — Ufa — Chelaybinsk ride[Aug 12–15, 2023]

Exploring beautiful Kazan city, getting overwhelmed with hospitality of unknown folks in Ufa & getting hosted by motorbikers in Kazan & Chelyabinsk were the major highlights

This is part of my Europe India solo motorbike trip travelogue . Read here for details. My blog posts are delayed & I post more recent/regular updates on my Trip Facebook Page / Instagram . Also, I add all my stay places in this public google map list . Created the list to help budget motorbike travellers like me :).

Total Distance — 15,880 kms . Entire map link

I mentioned in my previous post that I had checked into a pretty shitty hostel in Kazan & was already regretting it. The night was pretty horrible with no ventilation & it was so hot at 4 in the morning, that I decided to go down to one of the empty room & sleep there on the floor, as it was cooler there.

The day did not start well with the hostel refusing me to cook (apparently either the washing machine or the gas stove worked in the kitchen & it was the washing machine day). It did not end there & later when I wanted to take bath, I was told there is no water in toilet & bathrooms.

I just decided to pack my stuff, load them on the motorbike & leave. I did load all my stuff but then, I thought, maybe I can see Kazan. I had earlier thought of riding to the Kazan Bike Post (I was in touch with the owner Boris) but then, it was on the west side & I had to travel east from Kazan.

I decided to take a walk on Bauman Street & eat something. I asked the person at reception for a cheap restaurant & she gave me the address which was walkable. The place was pretty crowded as it was frequented by locals & tourists both. Also, it was weekend.

Manequins outside Beerhouse, next to my hostel. The food I ordered (it was like multiple items put on display with price for each, I used the Google Translate camera to figure out items that are chicken & then asked for those). I think the total bill was close to 400 Rubles.

I then decided to walk on the Bauman Street. I also looked on map to figure out the Kazan Kremlin is just walking distance at the end of the street. So I headed to the place.

Bauman Street view & the Kremlin a distance (2nd picture)

View of Kremlin (castle in Russian) & the mosque inside it.

The Kremlin & the mosque was definitely impressive. There was a museum inside the Kremlin as well but most museum in Russia have text written only in Cyliric. So I decided to skip.

The Volgograd Kremlin had a church at the center. But Kazan being a Muslim majority city (capital of Republic of Tatarstan), had a mosque. Apparently, a lot of these Republics with Khanats that were created during Mongolian occupation of these regions, before the powerful Russian Tsar — Ivan The Terrible (actually Russian has same word for terryfing & terrible :-D) annexed these Khanats into Russian empire. Interestingly, Russian empire is the 3rd biggest empire in entire human race. The first two were Mongolian & British empire (Mongolian is first). Mongols came all the way till Poland in Europe.

Some more picture of Bauman street on the way back

In my previous post, I had mentioned that I had posted about some bike related help in a motorbiking related page on vk.com (most popular social network in Russia). Artem from Kazan took note of my post & whatsapped me to ask what I am upto. I told him that I am looking for a place for the night & then Artem offered that I should stay at his place, to which I agreed. Artem came over in the evening to escort me to his place. He also, very nicely, offered me beer & food (I had mentioned that I would pay for the food but when he went to fetch beer, he got nice pizza as well). We had some good conversation & Artem showed me pictures from his time in Goa where he was stuck for 6 months during covid time. But had a pretty good time :).

Thats Artem & I getting ready to leave the next day. My bike parked in Artem’s apartment parking.

I left the next day to Ufa. It was a 500 km ride & I left at around 11 AM. I remember, that on the way, one of my jerry can came lose & I had to stop to refasten it.

My lose Jerry can. I also took a pitstop at a cafe & got chicken noodle soup. It was ok but in its defence, fairly cheap :).

I reached Ufa by like 8 PM. I had looked for hostels in Ufa & had found Eurasia Hostel, which is on the west, slightly outside the city & closer for me to reach from the west. It was right next to the large road & in a big building which housed a super market with a big parking. I could locate the hostel sign fairly easily though.

Notice that X in Cyliric is H, C is S & the pi sign is L.

I parked my bike & went in (the gate to the hostel is on the side not visible in the picture). I met Tonya who spoke Russian as if I understand. But then, I quickly pulled out my translator & she very enthusiastically repeated what she said, without any sign of frustration. She mentioned the price is 500 Rubles for a bed (I knew it as it was mentioned in the Yandex map). On asking for discount, she explained how the directors have set the price. She then showed me the room & mentioned, there is a good chance I will be alone in the room in the night.

The corridor & room of the hostel. It actually felt reasonably posh.

I then asked her where can I eat & she mentioned, there is a Istanbul cafe next door & I should hurry as it will close at 9 PM. So I put my stuff in the room & dashed out. I went downstairs & was checking my phone for the cafe. I noticed Tonya came behind me to ensure I find the place. She is an elderly lady but I was really impressed with her enthusiasm & dedication to help. She took me to the cafe, told the cafe folks to serve me & I got myself some kebab parcelled for 300 Rubles. I then quickly dashed to a beer shop on my bike as it a bit of a ride (I am in city outskirts).

The beer shop. Did not want to break my legacy of ending a long riding day with a beer :).

When I came back to the hostel, the guy from the next door parking called me. He mentioned that Tonya spoke to him & I can park my motorbike in his parking for free overnight. The guy was Bekjot from Uzbekistan & I took a picture with him next day morning.

I was already pretty impressed with effort Tonya has made to ensure I had a good time. She even came in the night with additional sheet just in case it gets cold in the night. Next day while leaving, I tried to offer her some money (I spoke about her to my wife & my wife said I should offer), Tonya refused saying I would need the money more than she did. I was out of words at that moment.

That is Tonya (first pic) & Bekzot (2nd pic).

What I also found funny was, Tonya actually gave me a receipt of payment. It has been ages I received a handwritten receipt for a payment I have done :). I took a picture of it. But that also reflected how dedicated & upright Tonya was to make sure she follow all the rules.

The receipt Tonya gave me. She had hard time writing my name in Cyliric. So she asked me, if it is ok to shorten my surname & just write ‘S’ (notice S is C in Cyliric) :-D .

While I was leaving, curious guys around me asked about my trip. I met Haider who supplies vegetables to shops around the hostel. Haidar insisted I should not start my trip empty stomach & forced me to have a coffee which he paid himself :). Haider is from Tajikistan

I wanted to see something in Ufa (being impressed with the inhabitants). I looked up Google & it showed monument of Salavat Yulaev being famous. I looked up about Salavat & it seems during Russian invasion of Bashkortostan (Ufa is capital of Republic, like how Kazan was capital of Tatarstan), Salavat & his father championed & fought for the people.

Salavat statue. The parking outside with typical Soviet apartments visible. Apartments are a commonplace thing now but they were considered fairly ‘ugly’ during 19th century. They were only built in communistic areas like Soviet before the population in big cities became so large that they got adopted as a norm in capitalistic world too

I was hungry & looked for a place to eat. I remember Subway & was pleasantly surprised to see one nearby, so I walked there. I was surprised again to see an Indian student Het manning the counter. We talked for some time in English. Het mentioned that there was some large event during which Indian Prime Minister Modi came to the Hilton hotel near the Subway :-).

Thats Het from Surat, Gujrat. Het is a medical student in Ufa. Apparently, a lot of students from India come to Soviet countries to study medicine as it is relatively cheap to do so & medical seats in India are very limited.

I then started my ride towards Chelyabinsk. I was being warned beforehand that the path to Chelyainsk goes through Ural mountains & the traffic is filled with trucks & lorries. It turned out to be the case with slow moving traffic as the roads were narrow & at places, under construction.

Tired of the traffic, I took a detour into a village & started to like the traffic free ride. I was then passing by a cafe & decided to stop there to eat something as it was 5 PM in the evening.

Russian countryside houses have very bright colors — yellow, green, red, blue.

I asked the lady in the cafe if they have something in chicken & she pointed me to something which translated to ‘Julien Chicken’. I said ok & it was reasonably tasty. The dish costed like 160 Rubles which was pretty cheap.

I noticed a hotel/bed sign in the cafe & then using google translate asked if they have a bed. The lady nodded & quoted 700. I said it is expensive & the price was reduced to 500. I asked them to show the room & it was pretty decent for the price. It had 3 beds & I thought that probably they may give other beds to different folks but it did not happen & I had the room for myself. I remember buying a 2 Liter beer bottle & having some beer in the evening. My plan was to write my blog but I think I liked the place & just kept passing time & drinking beer.

I was asked to park my bike in the backyard. The village is visible in the picture. There was a dog in the backyard & it barked. While taking my bike out next day, the dog actually was able to pull the leash out & I was shit scared. But apparently, when dog discovered that he isnt leashed anymore, he suddenly became mellow. I got amused & started to ride & he again started to barked. I just decided to silent take my bike out with mixed feelings of fear & amusement :-D .

I ended the day & decided to leave early next day to Chelyabinsk. On my vk.com post, another person named Mikhail had commented & invited me over to stay at his place in Chelyabinsk. When I could not make it to Chelyabinsk, I had whatsapped Mikhail that I would only make it next day. Mikhail responded that it is still a 270 km ride. Little did I knew that I will end up having a great party time with bikers in Chelyabinsk. More about it in the next post.