Dumball day 8 - St.Petersburgh

We made it! 6am, 10 hours behind schedule. Bar was opened for us and we stayed there until everyone else had arrived at about 8.30am, applauding them as they came in. This hotel is huge. Everyone looks and feels a bit jaded, except Darren who was doing his best impression of the duracell bunny on speed having decided not to sleep. He headed out to explore when everyone had gone to bed and ended up falling asleep in a park under a tree.
Managed breakfast at 9 and had 4 hours sleep when we all met up again to go out and see some of St.Petersburgh.
We had 3 hours to see what we could so took the metro to somewhere... Nothing is signed in english. Found Darren on the way. Impressive, immense, colourful city. Just not enough time to give it justice. Found a market for some souvenirs and grabbed some lunch before having to get back to the hotel and re-grouping for the trip to Helsinki!
Now back on the road. Its nearly 9pm. Most are convinced that we won't have as many problems getting back across the border tonight but who knows what's in store! Petrol just 35p a litre!
Expect to get to Helsinki around midnight depending on what we get at the border.
I just need to add that Russian drivers are psycho... Until just now i'd never seen someone overtake someone who was overtaking someone else at 90mph on a single carriageway!

Across the border

Who said this was going to be easy?! Having spent the daylight hours in the holding park cars were allowed out at intervals to go to the border. If we thought we were there we were wrong! We were in another queue. First we had to produce passports and vehicle documents at the checkpoint to exit Estonia. Then we were in no-mans-land, a bridge crossing and another queue. Then on to passport control and customs. The guards here go at their own pace. Many, many forms needed filling in, and this is where car insurance is bought for Russia. Any mistakes and forms have to be re-written.
So we made it out and into Russia at about 3am. 10 hours later than we'd bargained for!
But we lost the Rogue Traders. They didn't have a V5, and no matter how many receipts they wrote themselves, they couldn't convince the guards that it was their car! They were ready to dump the car and jump in with others but eventually they decided to give up and turn around, back to Tallin to take the ferry over to Helsinki! But the Estonians didn't want them back either so they had to negotiate their return and do some more waiting...
One thing's for sure - we would never have made it had we not happened to have a fluent Russian speaker with us. A guy called Rob did all the listening, talking, negotiating and understood how the forms needed to be filled...otherwise we'd have been stranded! So we did eventually make it across.

Another 2 hour drive remained and the Russian roads were as inviting as their border! Pot-holes everywhere making it very difficult to drive. Poor drivers! I wasn't driving, so drank vodka instead! The sun was coming up and it went quiet as most started sleeping till we got to St.Petersburgh.

Queue, queue, queue!

After 7 hours in a car park we've been allowed to go and queue at the border. Sitting there now. Despite the long waits there's been great spirit and some sing-songs!
No idea what to expect as we head for customs. Lots of locals amazed at the cars! Almost in there and another hour ahead (+3) when we get in. Vodka is ready!

Queue for Russia

All our earlier enthusiasm has been dampened somewhat. . . We are queued in a holding park a few miles from the border. Been here 6 hours now. All cars have a number and wait for their turn to be allowed to in to the border...and queue there again! So we don't think we'll get to St.Petersburgh till very late.
But we do know we can get 24 people in a Townace! And we found white dog poo.

Dumball day 7 The Road to Russia

Everyone was awake bright and breezy this morning. Seems we're all keen to crack on into Russia and deal with the unknowns at the border. Those who arrived late yesterday set off very early today and have radioed back that there are a lot of police checks ahead... And thats still in Estonia!

Now on the road heading east with 2 hours to the border. 234 miles in total today.

Tallin

Easily the finest city we have visited. Pretty architecture with a vibrant centre. Clearly used to accommodating Dumballers and the like.
Us and a couple of squads made it here nice and early, about 4pm so headed for the town square and sat down for caviar and steak in the afternoon sun. Others were not so lucky, however... Our leaders in Dumball One were turned away at the border for having no V5 document, as did the Irish Rovers. They turned down the offer of paying £200 to get through by the border guards and instead set off with a convoy of 12 to find an alternative border crossing, which they did, but meant they did not arrive until midnight! This does not bode well for making it across the Russian border, so Dumball One and the Irish will be designating drivers to miss out on Russia and take the cars from Tallin to Helsinki today on the ferry.
We like Tallin. Would come here again.

Estonia

We've been pulled over for police checks four times so far on route from Latvia to Estonia but suprisingly all cars have been allowed to carry on despite being torn to pieces.
DG

Dumball day 6

Out of the hotel by 11am, greeted by many many Dumballers nursing hangovers and looking weary!
A 197 mile journey to Tallin in Estonia to look forward to today.
Set off and stopped early to stock up on essentials. Darren bought a space-hopper.
Just crossed the border and our squad has been pulled over three times by the police for document checks and breath tests! Everything fine except most of the cars are not the colours they have stated on the log books! Seems they're very strict here so sensible driving by all. Even the Rogue Traders! But police being very friendly.

One night in Riga

Seems like it would be a lovely place to spend a weekend, but like all our stopovers we have limited time to get to know it better. So most of us headed for a big square close to the hotel for meals and drinky's. All very friendly these days. Oli gave good loving to a grapefruit. Apparently its an Aussie tradition. Harry bagged a job as a waiter but was eventually paid to leave.
Ended up in a decent nightclub for some late night fun and dancin'!

Rogue Trading and roller-blading

The journey from Kanaus to Riga was very comfortable... a very long straight smooth road and the shortest at 160 miles. This gave us the chance to take things easy. Forgot to mention the short-wave radios we have in each car means there's a lot of mad banter, jokes, games and abuse as we go along.
Stopped off just before the Lith/Lat border for kebabs. The poor guy running his caf wasn't prepared for 50 dumballers descending on him!
Rogue Traders used the opportunity to go off-roading and hide in a rape-seed field. Dom, the Aussie, used the opportunity to take his clothes off again. Me and Daz jumped in with the Rogues for the rest of the trip to Riga. If you ignore the fact that all the interior trim is gone, the roof is caved in, there are no instruments and its very damp and smelly, its a beast of a car and still a miracle how its still going!
We carried on over the border, bouncing around to a mix of trance and ska music. Managed to off-load a wing-mirror and crack the windscreen. Had beers under an umbrella in the back.

Arriving in Riga, a lovely looking city, Darren donned sheep outfit and roller-blades so that we can say team Ewe-turn arrived on our own wheels! Hotel was very big and pre-war.
Put bags in the room and i headed to reception to get the address of the nearest hospital to get my hand checked out. A short taxi ride and i arrived in a very old, very smelly, very ugly, third world hospital. No-one spoke english apart from one junior doctor with some limited ability! Managed to explain the damage and get seen to relatively quickly - 2 x-rays later i had a cast on and confirmation of 3 broken bones in my hand! Got out of there quick after paying the £40 fee. Soon had the cast graffitied when i got back. Thanks chaps!