Saturday, 25 August 2012 Skovorodino, Russia to Chita, Russia (744 miles) Total Trip Miles – 6624. 13 hours riding

Weather Temperature in the first half of day in the mid 50’s with rain, clouds & fog. Mostly sunny skies in the afternoon with temps in the upper 60’s

Started stirring about 4:30 am and decided to rest a bit longer since it was raining…wanted to get back on the road at sunrise, which I did. The first half of the day was tough given cool temps, rain & fog, but the weather did break to make a great riding day.

Dealt with quite a few bumps in the road and areas under repair…I just wanted to make Chita before nightfall. Mistakenly, tried to pass a 1000 won Korean bill for 1000 rubles to pay for gas…needless to say the attendant just wasn’t very happy with me.

Take a look at the road signs in Russian…they show both Chita & Skovorodino – kind of cool.

Today marked my longest distance in one day for this trip and it allowed me to squeeze another day out of the schedule.

Terrain went from mountainous to huge open plains with cattle and farms….many small towns could be seen in the distance with most very simple of wood and metal roofs. It is obvious they were poor; however they were some of the nicest folks – I felt very comfortable in this rural region which seemed much like mid – America.

Rolled into Chita at 7 pm looking for the hotel booked with everyone I talked with sending me in a different direction. Finally talked with a man who spoke good English and he recommended a different spot and said the hotel I had planned to stay in was a bit rough. You can’t make this one up…It’s called the Panama City Hotel and at least it’s gated offering more security for the bike.

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