From Norway to Kola Peninsula, Russia

[Berglid]

I made some nice tracks for Jon to follow.


Martin was no ********** and wanted to take his own track. We ended up winching him up the hill.


Well now the fun part started. Muddy roads, logs and a lot of fun.


Well the Land Rover got stuck first. It was so stuck Jon could not pull it backwards. So it ended up I drove around in the mud and winched him forward. Then Frank decided I was going to drive first in these though parts.


These roads were a lot of fun. Slow technical driving on slippery logs and old military tires in the sinkholes.


These old fellas have traveled for years together. Good field mechanic's and experienced drivers.






Well after the muddy part it was time for lunch. We found a great place. The fishing were supposed to be good, but no one got any fish.


After the lunch the roads got better. More sand, wider roads and we could drive faster. Suddenly it all opened up.

 

[Wiberg]

It's like I'm there again Robin . You're doing a great job!

 

[Berglid]

Thx, just waiting for you to publish second part of the movie!

 

[Timod110]

This looks like a fantastic trip in a part of the world I didn't even know existed (excuse my ignorance on Russian geography!). Thanks for the great posts and photos.

Cheers

T_

 

[Berglid]

The road went from a wide road into a gigantic asphalt road. WTH, Frank then told us over the radio that we were now driving over an old abandoned military airfield.


But it didn’t take long before we were back into the small roads in the forest. Here we actually found a grave from an unknown driver..


Further down the road we met this car. Were the hell are we going?


We came to a Russian city called Kirovsk. City driving in Russia is a little bit scary I must admit. But stays focused and drive a little bit aggressive and it was no problem this time.


Could this be some kind of local bus to the small villages??


It was hard to keep everyone together in the traffic, even in a small place like this. So we found a supermarket and parked our cars. Frank told us it was no problem to leave the car. The Russians are not as dangerous and criminal as people think. But we still had an extra eye to the cars. We did some food shopping for the last days and wandered around.

 

[Berglid]

We also had a coffee and something small to eat. This was inside the mall. They were playing heavy rock music on the speakers. Kind of funny.


The stores were loaded of old fashion clothes. Would you like a new wardrobe?




Now we are going up into the mountains you see!

 

[Berglid]

We found the road that leads up into the mountain. It was big in the beginning because it was going to a big mine. A lot of big trucks drove in high speeds on this road. It got worse when we passed the mine.


Lada VS Cruiser


We stopped by a nice well to fill some water. I think Kjell misunderstood and was sure it was vodka!


Can you find your way home?




Asbjørn on the way up the mountain


Short stop, not long until we started on the long river/ lake crossings!!

 

[Berglid]

Finally the big lake crossings we had heard so much about. The plan was to drive in-between small islands were between the lakes. And then get to the second lake were we would have our campsite. Frank went first, he knows the way and were to drive in the water.


Asbjørn washing his car




It was a long crossing, and a lot of fun. Sometimes we got onto land.

 

[Berglid]

Jon has no idea how lucky he was, next time turn your snorkel Jon.


Carl






When everyone was over, we played around with the water crossings. It was safe and a fun place to practice river crossing. But when we finished, we discovered that Kjell had lost his number plates. We laughed a bit, and then checked my car. Mine was also gone. Frank then told us that we needed them to exit Russia. Damn!

 

[G_E_K_O Expedition]

Luckily, Jon and Carl have Safari heads, not TJM Airtec ones... With an Airtec, They would certainly had problems... How the choice of a snorkel brand can save your trip !!!
Excellent report so fare ! Thanks a lot for sharing
All the best
Nico

 

[richmeyer]

More!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

:clapsmile

:lurk:

 

[fisher205]

This has been one of the most interesting of trips. Totally a new local for a change. A fun look into Russia and different from the usual one we get to see.

Thanks,
-Brad

 

[Berglid]

Thanks. I will write moore soon. I have just been on Iceland to buy another car. LC80 on 46" tires. Here I have made a small report from that trip. I will finish this report during the week. Enjoy http://nlck.no/forum/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=21214&start=0

 

[Berglid]

Well, it took only 10 seconds and Kjell was already in his underpants. Come on guys, you all know how a license plate feels like under water when you hit it with a stick? Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from the search and rescue for our license plates. We ended up starting in the beginning and walked all the way back in the freezing water. I found one license plate in the last pound, and suddenly Thomas found the other one. We were freezing. So we drove back to camp. When we parked we were thinking, what the hell. Let’s take a swim!


Time to put up our cozy camp, dry some clothes and make dinner!




I found out I had to dig down my underpants. It was not worth the risk smuggling it back into Norway.


It was a really nice sundown this evening.