Nordcode Blog - Sym Siberia

SYM SIBERIA

August 11, 2023News

Only three countries would open their borders to welcome Konstantinos Mitsakis (Turkey, Georgia, and Russia/Siberia), and the estimated duration of the journey was 35 days without unforeseen circumstances. From Eastern Siberia, the white motorcycle would return via train to Moscow and then he would ride it back to Greece.
Ferry route Piraeus–Chios–Cesme for his entry into Turkey. The Turkish part of the journey was 1,600 km, passing through the cities of Cesme–Afyon–Ankara–Samsun–Giresun–Trabzon–Hop and concluding at the Georgian border. Konstantinos Mitsakis traveled through Turkey in just two and a half days, from border to border!

Georgia

Next stop was Georgia, which hosted the SYM NH-T 300 for 580 km. The beautiful country of the Caucasus introduced the coastal town of Batumi (the ancient Colchis of Medea and the Argonauts) and Mtskheta, one of Georgia's oldest cities (considered the most important religious center in the country). However, the highlight was the magnificent route of the "Military Road," ascending the mountainous spine of the Caucasus. It was a revelatory journey, culminating at the Kazbegi Pass (2,395 m) and leading to the Russian border.
It took about 4 hours to navigate through border procedures and enter Russia! The route of the first 1400 Russian kilometers was connecting the cities of Grozny–Astrakhan–Volgograd–Saratov.

The Ural Mountains and the Gateway to Siberia

The cities of Saratov, Syzran, Samara, and Ufa lay ahead after Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), with its one million fallen defenders, on the eastern course towards Siberia.
Regarding traveler services on the road (sleep, food, fuel), the situation on Russia's national routes was fairly organized, and Konstantinos didn't encounter any problems. Specifically, all fuel stations offered 95-octane gasoline, while motel prices started from 10 Euros per room (for rooms with shared toilets). The only issue that fatigued him during the journey was the dense traffic of vehicles, especially trucks.

Trans-Siberian

The tireless SYM NH-T 300 had covered 4,000 km from the start of the journey when it encountered the Trans-Siberian Road (Moscow–Vladivostok).
As is known, the mountainous world of the Urals (the Hyperborean Mountains of ancient Greeks) serves as the geographical boundary between Russia and Siberia, Europe and Asia. After the city of Ufa, travelers can escape the monotony of Russian plains and, for 150 km, found themselves driving through the lush landscapes of the Urals. A beautiful mountainous route that compels to make many stops to capture it with countless photographic clicks.

"Paris of Siberia"

After Omsk, the cities of Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Krasnoyarsk, Kansk, and Irkutsk were marked with a red dot on the map of Central Siberia, representing the next urban destinations for SYM SIBERIA.
The journey to Irkutsk was a dive into a sea of impenetrable forests, while the arrival in the so-called "Paris of Siberia" was celebrated with countless cold beers that same evening. Irkutsk is a city full of beautiful spots and historic buildings on the banks of the Angara River. After all, it's no coincidence that Irkutsk was characterized (in the late 19th century) as the "Paris of Siberia."
Irkutsk was essentially founded in 1651 by Cossack hunters who established a small settlement on the banks of the Angara River for their wintering. The settlement gradually grew and in the late 19th century, it welcomed the Trans-Siberian Railway. In 1825, it was chosen as a place of exile for the military conspirators who participated in the failed Decembrist uprising against Tsar Nicholas I.

Lake Baikal

Just 60 km southeast of Irkutsk lies Lake Baikal, the liquid diamond of Siberia.
The deepest (1,642 meters) and oldest lake in the world (dated at 25,000,000 years), which has been included in UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1996. An ecological "poem"! About 336 rivers flow into the 31,500 sq km of Baikal, where the nerpa, a type of Arctic seal, swims. It's a mystery to scientists how Arctic seals, which only inhabit saltwater, are found in the azure waters of Baikal, 4,000 km south of the Arctic Ocean.

Ulan Ude

In the city of Ulan Ude, the white motorcycle and its rider posed proudly in front of the largest Lenin monument worldwide! The massive grayish Lenin monument is the highlight of Ulan Ude, a city that housed around 405,000 inhabitants (the majority belonging to the Buryat Mongol ethnic group) and was merely 200 km away from the borders of Mongolia. The route Ulan Ude–Chita–Mogocha–Khabarovsk (2,720 km) was the road plan for the next 4 days of the SYM SIBERIA journey. The main features of this route, which traversed the most sparsely populated areas of the Trans-Siberian Highway, were the torrential rains, the solitude of the helmet, and the indescribable silence of the landscape.

Vladivostok

Just 776 km south of Khabarovsk, the city and port of Vladivostok awaited our rider, marking the ultimate destination of SYM SIBERIA.
Late that same afternoon, after 32 days on the road and a recorded 14,100 km on the odometer of the trouble-free SYM NH-T 300, Konstantinos Mitsakis "conquered" the legendary Vladivostok and exuberantly celebrated the completion of the travel feat, SYM SIBERIA. The "Lord of the East," as Vladivostok is etymologically interpreted, appeared on the map of the Far East region only in 1860. Governor of East Siberia Nikolay Muravyov–Amursky established a military base on the southern tip of the eponymous peninsula, fulfilling Russia's desire for access to the Pacific Ocean - just as the foundation stone of Vladivostok was laid!
Living in its own dimension of time, Vladivostok is unlike any other city in Russia - Cosmopolitan, modern, and dynamic. The vast geographical distance from the metropolitan Moscow, the proximity to China and Japan, and the open horizon of the ocean favored the creation of a more relaxed urban mentality, distinct from the rest of Russia's inland cities.