Before we left our host family in the morning we went to buy a Russian simcard. The weather was looking great today. So it seemed. We had to cover about 400km. The roads were better than the ones I had seen in Ukraine, so we could ride pretty fast here. When riding through Russia you immediately notice the vastness of the country. Horizons are unlimited here…

The ride went very well until we felt a very strong wind coming up, and the clouds becoming very black next to us. We were passing a severe storm. Thunder and lightning, we were just a little wet and lucky not to get caught in the middle of it.

When reaching Volgograd there were some railroads to pass. Most of the wagons had gascontainers on them.

The first thing we did at Volgograd was make a stop at Roma in Bikecity34. I wanted to check if the Heidenau K60 tyres I had ordered with Denis had arrived. They had arrived, good news! I have asked Roma to send the TKC to Barnaul. Maybe I will use them, maybe I will sell them. Let’s see how the Heidenau’s respond first.

After visiting Roma, we checked in at the localhostel and started a walk down the Volga river. The river is quite wide and it was a very nice boulevard. Almost like you are at the beach.

We arrived at the Stalingrad museum around 6pm, luckily today it was open until 9pm so we visited it. At this point we have reached the summum of our second World War quest… The museum was impressive, but almost all is in Russian. The fights and losses in this city have been enormous. In the museum there is also a tribute to the great sniper Vasili Zaitsev. Behind the museum you can see the remainder of the old flour mill building. The city was almost completely destroyed and rebuild.

We continued the walk now back to the hostel and passed along the planetarium and ever burning flame.

Time for a last beer and hit the sheets… Tomorrow morning we will see the Mamayev Hill Monument.