Paris-Pekin 28 April-5 May

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Monday 28 April - Taganrog to Rostov on the Don, 96 km

Excellent breakfast. Late start - 12 noon. Got a bus into town with Alfred Muller, who had a map, and walked round. Nothing much to see. A port, rather tatty park, long treelined streets like all the towns we see here. Found a big supermarket and got some goodies. Changed some dollars at a bank. There were a lot of shops selling quite smart imported clothes etc, but there were no proper shop windows, the shops looked like houses with just one or two things in ordinary-size windows. Presumably they didn’t use to have smart shops.
When we finally set off the police kept stopping us and it took an hour and a half to cover 15 km. We had lunch sitting on the roadside. Once again the police took us on a roundabout route round the town, and we ended up separated into two groups, in a holiday area near a lake.
The accommodation is very poor, a holiday establishment out of season, little rooms with double beds: I had to share a bed with Lilian, which neither of us was happy about. I did some washing but was too tired to hang it out. Everyone is annoyed about this place - it is miles from the town, surrounded by woods, and we have a day off tomorrow.

Tuesday 29 April - Rostov

Hung the washing out before breakfast - lots of lines and pegs here. Caught a bus at 10.30 with a group of other people into the town (cost 7 roubles - some people got taxis in which cost around 7 euros each). Walked round town with Paul and Alfred and we had a good day. Lunch in a restaurant where the menu was all Russian, but I managed to get salad and cheese and they had salad and trout, which they said was excellent. Found a sport shop and I bought some cycling gloves with Pooh Bear on - unfortunately the Disney version - and a new front lamp.
Found a huge market and I bought a new bumbag (my old one was almost in bits) and a sports bag to keep things for overnight stays in - it’s too much trouble to get the big bags out of the van every night. We caught the last bus back at 5.40 pm with a lot of other people.

Wednesday 30 April - Rostov to Chakhty, 82 km

Excllent breakfast, including rice pudding. The Russian cyclists who are accompanying us said we would get Kasha in most places in Russia. Police escort all day as usual. Lovely day, sunny and not much wind. Stopped for lunch at the Cathedral at Novocherkassk and I bought some postcards. In the afternoon the police stopped us for a long wait by the roadside, which was a bit boring.
At the outskirts of Chakhty we were met by a group of schoolchildren on bikes who rode with us into town for a very jolly reception at the town hall, where we were addressed in sonorous Russian by the local sports minister and had crowds of children to greet us. After a couple of songs we moved to the hotel next door (some groups were in another hotel, somewhat better).
We have a shabby room on the third floor with no lift, I am glad I bought my new small bag. Very good shower, though. Wrote my postcards, need stamps. Awful bed, like a hammock.

Thursday 1 May - Chakhty to Belaia Kalitva, 118 km.

Picnic lunch provided by the hotel waws very good. Police escort all day, most of the time on a motorway which was pretty boring. The countryside is flat to rolling, huge fields, quite a lot of trees, very few villages. We had a little ceremony at a Cossack memorial in the afternoon - apparently this is all Cossack country round here, though we have seen no horses - and soon after arrived at the town and passed it on the way to our accommodation.
We stayed at a Youth Camp by the river, a nice spot but of course no facilities like shops or post offices. Tatty huts with 10 people each. Another bed like a hammock - I had to sleep the wrong end, but that worked all right. Showers primitive, but hot water so who’s worried.
Went into the town by coach for a Cossack 1st May ceremony - lots of guys in uniform and medals and more impassioned Russian speeches. Got a photo with Russian polieman.

Friday 2 May - Belaia Kalitva to Morozovsk, 96 km.

Very good breakfast at the camp - kasha cooked with butter and sugar (a bit like porridge, but wheat grains) and eggs and bread and cheese and yoghurt and rice and sausages (which I gave away). Cycling the same - flat to rolling country, police escort who stopped us from time to time to let the traffic pass. I was at the front a lot of the time and waved to everyone waiting in vehicles the police had stopped, and most people waved back - it was fun. It was a sunny day, little wind, and quite hot in the afternoon. A nice day’s cycling.
On arrival at the entry to Morozovsk we were met by a delegation with the traditional bread and salt to welcome us. The loaf was very elaborate and beautiful, with a hole in the top for the salt. We are accommodated in a “motel” - a collection of run-down chalets with three-bedded rooms with a bathroom and WC for each pair of rooms. There is no water supply in the showers - there is a shower block which is a bit more modern and there is hot water, so things could be worse. I am sharing with a couple, Michel and Odile. Michel rides the tandem with Gerard, our blind participant.
I cycled into “town” and there wasn’t much to see. Everything is closed for a three-day holiday. Quite nice dinner at the motel, early to bed.

Saturday 3 May - Morozovsk to Surovikino, 98 km

A dull cloudy start, wind and rain most of the day. Countryside flat to rolling, roads straight, police escort. After lunch at a big restaurant where I had a cup of tea to go with my picnic, I had my first puncture of the trip - we passed 5000 km today.
Just outside Surovikino we were met for a bread and salt welcome ceremony by a group of Cossacks dressed in traditional clothes - they sang for us and there was vodka too, we had a great time. The same group performed traditional songs and dances for us in the evening at the camp, with great enthusiasm.
We left our bikes at a gym and walked to the camp which was reached over a rather rickety suspension bridge over a river. This was the nicest camp we have stayed at, nice huts and hot showers. There was a very good dinner with beer, wine and vodka supplied.

Sunday 4 May - Sourovikino to Volgograd, 149 km

Not a very good breakfast at the camp. Walked back with our sleeping bags and luggage to the gym, loaded the trucks and collected our bikes. It was sunny but quite windy and was a very hard day’s cycling with a head wind most of the time. Stopped for lunch at Kala on the Don - same river as Rostov.
Arrived at Volgograd around 7 pm, it is VE day and an international group of us - Paul (USA), Michel (Canada), me (England), a Swiss and a French guy did the bread and salt ceremony and then laid flowers at the war memorial. It was very hard to break the crust of the big round loaf!
Then off to the hotel, which is not too bad but the rooms are tiny. Day off tomorrow. Gave my washing to the concierge - cost 790 roubles.

Monday 5 May - Volgograd

Breakfast at the hotel minimal. Noticed they had put a banner up for us - Paris - Volgograd - Pekin. Rather flattering. Walked up to the Victory Monument, very impressive. The whole hill is devoted to the monument, a walkway with statues, a lake with statues of wounded soldiers, steps with bas-reliefs of war scenes and sound effects - music and sounds of guns firing - a big memorial hall with a flame, and at the top of the hill the statue. I was told it was the biggest in the world - 38 metres high. We saw the honour guard solemnly goose-stepping roundthe memorial hall, in absolutely perfect step, and so serious.
Got a bus into town, went to the post office, had lunch at a bistro. Apparently the word means quick in Russian, and comes from Russian troops calling for quick service in French cafes. It was self-service and it was nice to be able to choose what to eat. Ihad potatoes cooked with broccoli, cabbage with carrots, and a big slice of sort of cheese pie. Back by trolley-bus, got some bits at a supermarket, back at the hotel collected my clean washing.
Went out for a drink on the riverbank with some of our Russian hosts. The Volga river is huge and there is a very big hydro-electric dam a few km away which is apparently the biggest in Europe.

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