Plans and imminent departure
Although the time in Germany flew by again at lightning speed, we were able to realize our plans: We created a new, wonderful multivision show about stage 2 of our cycle tour. The book “Trans-Ost-Expedition-Etappe-2” will be on the market in May 2008. The TRAVEL SHOP has now gone online on our website at
www.denis-katzer-shop.de
where we offer most of our travel and expedition equipment, books and other items. By the way, the website has been updated and there will be a great new feature in the diary on stage 3: If the technology doesn’t let us down, you, “dear readers”, will be able to follow us closely via a map. I’ve seen the pre-release version from our technician – it’s a real hit! The coordinates show whether we have set up camp in a forest, a house or a meadow. I am already looking forward to the realization.
Otherwise, there are some challenges with the Russian visa at the moment. For a few weeks now, you have only been allowed to stay in Russia for 90 days at a time. After that we have to leave the country and are not allowed to enter for three months. An idiosyncratic provision, but unfortunately this is not uncommon in immigration matters. We are currently examining an alternative route from Samara via the Urals to Kazakhstan. The Republic of Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and over seven times the size of Germany. The country is bordered to the east by China, to the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and to the west by the Caspian Sea and Russia. On the northern border of this vast country, we can cover a large part of the route to the east before entering Russia again. It remains to be seen whether we will reach our destination, Lake Baikal, before the Siberian winter.
We are definitely looking forward to seeing Mother Russia again and then exploring the vast expanse of the Kazakh steppes on our riese und müller bikes, all the way to the deepest lake and largest freshwater reservoir on earth, Baikal.
Denis Katzer
Mother Earth is alive!
