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A split pin !

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Khabarovsk is one very nice city. Modern buildings, lovely gardens, flowers everywhere and happy families enjoying the summer sun. You could also be anywhere in America or New Zealand!   Being a Saturday the  families are out being - well just families -



And a stunning cathedral 







There is a lovely waterfront promenade 



L
And a beach - 




Here is where the term “White Russian “ comes from





And all this helped by the fact we are staying in very nice 5 star hotel with shades of yesteryear in the nicest possible way. All for the same price per night as a very average and ordinary motel room in New Zealand 

But the rest day has to come to an end. Sunday dawns  and we are on the road early.  Sunday morning is always a good time to clear a city - hardly any traffic at all. In front of us in the long 2200 km haul up the Amur Highway to Chita with. not much in between. We stay at truck stops on the roadside They are basic but cheap at about NZ$40 per room  - supply your own sheets in some instances. Fortunatly we have silk sleeping bag liners ( and sleeping bags if necessary ) Here is our room at one of the places. it comes with its own en suite ! 




 Just joking - our accomodation  is a lot better than that. This is just one of the  pit stop toilets and on that note we will say no more.  ! 

As we ride along singing along I stop at a pestrian crossing to let the  pedestrians cross.  Holy cow! This is what I see in front of me. No bull !  This was very funny 




And I think I will stick with the BMW. More room for Diana in this tho - 




Then as we ride along minding our own business the yellow warning  light comes up on the dashboard of the bike. Followed quickly by the red warning light. Puncture !  And happening fast. Fortunately we are just outside a roadside cafe - the first one for 100km 

I find the culprit - 




Fortunatly I had brought along some long nosed pliers in case Diana needed any urgent dental work done on our trip. I put my best dentistry knowledge to test and out it comes. A very big split pin !





We drill and  plug the tyre , let the glue set, pump it up again and hey - just like a new one. No sign of any loss of pressure at all 
Just as I finish Lenus ( our South Africa fellow rider ) arrives - we haven’t seen him on the road for three days 



I hav no doubt the “ brotherhood of the road” would have him riding to Moscow and back to get a new tyre for me if necessary ! 

So in  two days we get to Chita - 5 days on the 2200km Amur Highway. It is relatively hard going as the permafrost and winter freeze causes the road to heave and dip and break up with big man eating potholes forming. As a result Diana sometimes momentarily and involuntary bounces into the air from time to time. Fortunatly so far she has always landed back on the seat again ! Still it was exactly the same issue on the Alcan Highway in Alaska. Come to think of it the landscape is the same also !   
































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