A leap across a continent on foot, the desperate search for my sweets and hosepipe water courtesy of some charming plumbers. We left the oil capital behind to venture into a steppe so infinite that even Google Maps doesn't quite know where the road is.
camper
An infinite steppe, camels greeting us from the roadside and cemeteries that look like miniature villages. We took to the roads of Kazakhstan with lightning-fast internet, only to end up driving the camper into a mud labyrinth right before camping among strangers.
A Kremlin, a most lively border with a soldier who has the soul of a psychologist, and two brave souls on motorbikes bound for New Zealand. We leave Russia behind to set foot in the seventh country of the expedition and the 40th in my canine count.
A rowdy pub brawl on all fours, the River Volga overflowing, and a GPS that decided to take a holiday. The trip through Russia turned into a digital obstacle course where communicating with the outside world required spy techniques from the last century.
Waking up with the Chechen police, skyscrapers that rose from the ashes of war, and a triumphal procession where I was the undisputed star. Grozny opened its doors to us on a day of brutal contrasts and chasing a signal.
A GPS that went completely mad, a wad of hard-to-come-by roubles and a most comical police checkpoint. The trip through Russia kicked off amidst colossal monuments, heavy traffic and a mysterious labyrinth without satellites.
A spontaneous camp a metre from my pillow, the dreaded X-ray scanner and a form that looked like a hieroglyphic. Crossing the Russian border turned into a game of infinite patience where the soldiers turned out to be as nice as ninepence.
A mass of stone fit for giants, a road that makes you dizzy just looking at it on the map, and snow in the middle of May. The journey north continued among slow lorries and tunnels that look like they’ve been pulled straight out of a horror film.
A thermometer in forbidden zones, a month of dirty laundry going round and round, and a wad of roubles obtained in a dark alley. Crossing into Russia requires overcoming an obstacle course of people that nearly leaves us breathless.
A staircase hanging from a cliff face that induced vertigo just by looking at it, and a city wedged into a valley full of floating cabins and rusty cables. The journey through Georgia continued amidst Soviet heritage and a wind-swept secret hideaway.
Today the camper feels a little bigger and quieter because Uncle Joan has headed for home, but Daddy Edu and I have drowned our sorrows among Soviet concrete and a high-altitude hideaway.
Has it ever happened to you that you arrive somewhere and feel like you've smelled that tree before? Well, today we’ve had a déjà vu that smelled of rotten eggs, police officers in a rush, and a meadow that was absolutely breathtaking.