The Mamayev Kurgan is a hill in Volgograd on which there is a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). It is simply impressive but also hitting you in the face with the impact of one of the bloodiest battles in history.

Before getting to the top you must walk 200 steps. The battle of Stalingrad lasted 200 days, so there is a step to remember each day. On the top there is the Rodina Mat, as we saw in Ukraine in Kiev. On the foot of the monument there is among many the grave of Vasili Zaitsev.

On top of the hill the views over the city are great. You also note how big this city is. We spoke to a man who lives in the city and he claims it is 100km long along the river. I think this can be true as when we road out of the city later, we needed an hour to get out of it.

In the afternoon we did a little shopping and went to pick up the bike at Roma’s garage. All was done. The new rubber was installed, the TKC’s were underway to Barnaul. I have also asked to clean the wet airfilter and prefilter.

The bike is now ready for Central Asia. There is only a small ride of about 410km to do to Astrakhan. Easy right? It was already getting a bit later, but the afternoon was so hot, I decided to ride to ride in the evening.

This ride appeared to be a horror movie scenario…