We Made it to Russia!

33 miles into our ride today, we crossed the border from Estonia into Russia, and then rode 18 miles into Russia. It was the first border crossing of our cross-Europe bike trip that involved stopping at border control, since the prior nine countries we've been in were all European Union members. Fortunately, the bureaucracy was not too inefficient, so the crossing took us less than an hour. Trucks crossing in the opposite direction, however, have no such luck, and instead must sit along the side of the road in a several mile lineup to cross the border, probably involving a wait of well over a day.

The change from Estonia to Russia was dramatic. One online tourist guidebook that we read a few days ago described Estonia (especially Tallin) as "Scandinavian sleek mixed with Soviet concrete", the latter from the period of 1944 to 1991 during which Estonia was part of the Soviet Union. As soon as we crossed the border into Russia, the sleek disappeared and ugly, dilapidated concrete abounded. The apartments are not only drab and formless, as well as in large conglomerations with no landscaping around them, but they are also built very shoddily. In the parts built with bricks, the bricks are unevenly placed, not sitting properly one on top of the other. In the parts built with concrete, the concrete is cracked and falling apart, likely due to use of poor quality material.

The cars and buses are also a major step down from what we've encountered in the previous parts of our trip, even in Poland. Many of the cars are ancient, heavily rusted, Soviet-era Ladas.

None of that, however, prepared us for what our hotel would look like. The outside and the staircase are a decrepit mess, though they do appear to be in the process of being repaired. Fortunately, once we climbed up to the third floor, where our room is located, the corridor and room were decent (except for the massively leaking shower that left puddles in and adjacent to the bathroom after we showered).

We did have a delicious dinner – a Caucasian barbeque consisting of various meats. In this part of the world, "Caucasian" refers to peoples of the Caucasus region, a cluster of Russian republics at the border of Europe and Asia that includes Chechnya, Dagestan, and several others.

Our guide Toomas leading the way, in Estonia about 1 mile from the Russian border

The bridge we crossed to get from Estonia into Russia (viewed from the Estonian side)

Carol & Toomas in "no man's land" between Estonia and Russia

Entering Russia (pictures were prohibited, but we couldn't resist)

A typical Soviet-era apartment building, with cracked concrete and disheveled bricks (easily seen at a closer distance than from where this picture was taken)

Our first hotel in Russia

Staircase from the lobby to our third floor hotel room 

Site of our Caucasian barbeque