Bike arrives Magadan Russia

Well I didn't sign up for a holiday when I started this trip...

I am worn out, and been pushed so far BEYOND my limits..  Very sore, battered and bruised, but I'm here!!

And we finally have made it to a town, Yakustk where I can update my blog!  Many stories and photos to come..

For now though I need to go right back to Magadan... wow, it was only a week ago, but its seems like a month!  So much has happened since!

Walter made a deal with the shipping guy in Vladivostok to get the bikes to Magadan.. which allowed us to ship the bikes a little bit earlier than anticipated, and only a matter of paying off the Captain for a bit of space on his boat.

We couldn't be there to load the bikes, so it was a surprise to see how they traveled!

Of coarse, getting to this point was not without a serious amount of hassels, paperwork and approvals..

We arrived Magadan on Tuesday, July 27, and the boat was due to arrive that same afternoon..

Once we were there, Walter started making his calls.. So much goes on in Russian, and I am most often in the dark..

So I ask what's happening, and Walter says, "Well, the boat must be here because the Captains' mobile rings, but he doesn't answer.."  Hmm, okey dokey! It was a bit of shonky deal from the start, but I go with the flow... I'm not one to panic until I know I have a reason to panic.

About 5:30 that afternoon, we find there was a mis-communication in regards to our customs documents, and we couldn't get the bikes until that was sorted.  

Mr. Sibirsky Extreme has been around and he has many connections.. So his friend Ilya came to the rescue..  he picked us up from the hotel the next morning, took us from office to office with our documents and around Noon they said we could have our bikes.

Yay!!!  Lets' Go!!  

Hold on... it's lunch time.. we can't go anywhere until the entire shipping yard has had an hour break..  

We are stuck inside the yard at this point.. I was so excited they let us through in the first place, I jumped out of the car without my camera.. I was all armed and ready to go, I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on!  Thank goodness Walter has his camera.. thanks to him for all the photos.. ;-)

Here is Ilya... he deserves a medal for all he did for us in Magadan.

Sorry for the scrunchy look on my face, I am having a bit of a wonder as to how they get my bike off the boat without ripping pieces and parts off!

Maybe I'm better off if I just don't look at it..

It actually looked kind of sad... I thought it looked a bit like a dead horse being unloaded!  Truly, that bike is my friend.. we have done so much together already and many many many more miles to go, so I worry too much and want him to be safe...  Yes, I'm a sook.. ;-)

They did it, no worries!  Pretty cool actually!  That bike has been across the Nullabor, on an airplane, across Japan, onto a ferry, across Korea, onto another ferry, and now a ship..  I think he's getting more action than I am!  Well, we'll see..  

Up to the starting gate in Magadan.. it is time to begin the big Siberian Adventure!