Boiling in Belarus

An early start this morning got me to the Latvia/Belarus border at 7.28am. It was nearly all going well as only one vehicle ahead of me in the queue and then when they checked my paperwork, they noticed I did not have an MOT certificate (I a impressed they even knew what one was as they said they had about 1 or 2 British people through a month) Anyway, I don't have a certificate because the bike is not old enough. The supervisor came over and disappeard with my documents. At 8.19am I was let out of Latvia. The MOT certificate issue seemed to have gone away.

Then is was the Belarussian border. I had to temporarily import my bike (lots of paperwork), have it searched by 2 people, get my visa all stamped up and buy some insurance. Now, it was from a genuine lady, in a booth with the words "Insurance" in many languages above it. But at only 2 euro for 15 days cover I left wondering of what value it really was.

At 9.23 I left the border and headed into Belarus. There was a forecast of thunderstorms north of Minsk so it was off south as quick as I could down what was all the P3 and then M3 (M does not mean motorway just a toll road - free for bikes). Interesting road configuration as was single carriageway one minute and then 2 or even 3 lanes the next. A speed limit of 120kph and still zebra crossings and traffic could turn left across the carriageway. I can't say that I relaxed much.

Anyway the rain and thunder never came (or not near me) and it just got very warm very quickly. The signs said 30 degree air and for some reason they gave the temperature of the tarmac at 41 degrees.

There were far fewer soviet vehicles than I was expecting and it is mainly all German or French cars but I did see a few of the classic Lada 4x4 but none that I could get a photo of with my bike

Normally I explore a country by turning of the trunk roads but none of the road signs make any sense. The words don't match my GPS but somehow after over 600km I made it here to my hotel which is just outside the no go zone from Chernobyl. Most people think of The Ukraine as the worst hit but the wind took most of it into Belarus.

To make up for not really exploring on route, I picked a cafe 3km away from where I am staying and walked through the town exploring on my way. On arrival of course the menu was in Russian (not Belarussian as I found out). The letter are all upside down and back to front and random numbers everywhere.

For example I am in Mazyr or Мазы́р

However, using Google Translate I worked out what Burger and Fries was and then matched the random shapes to the menu Бургер и картофель фри

I did chicken out of saying it though and went for the tried and tested method of point and smile.

Nice and relaxed now in the hotel preparing for probably the trickiest border of Belarus into the Ukraine. This is crucial as I only have a single entry visa to Belarus so if I can't get into The Ukraine, I can not return and will be stuck in 400m of no mans land for the rest of my life!