Dealing with Authorities

Dealing with Authority…28th June 2008 Celabinsk

Finally we are in Russia, and with such little resistence getting in I’m left a little surprised, albeit happily, at the very different image I get from the grey and dreary ones painted by my predecessors.I had heard from countless sources of the stubborn iron fisted nature of Russian officials, be it Police or border gaurds or customs officers, they were all tarred with the same oppressive brush.So far compared to the police in India who are just simply not of this planet or quite possibly even the same solar system, the uniformed Rosski was quite reachable when approached in a positive and open way.Maybe our combined easy going attitudes occupied a space within them that after so many years of uncompromising adherence to a fixed purpose, gave them an avenue of release by just being able to let some things go.Probably though it was just that we were too weird to fit into any known channels of response and it was just easier to not have to deal with us at all…Either way, or maybe another, we made it 3000 km into Russia, got stopped only 5 times by the police who were on the most part full of smiles and curiosity, and only once got hassled for backsheesh.Just before we reached a place called Ufa on the Siberian border we were pulled over by a police officer wearing his illuminous yellow jacket and waving his striped truncheon.Marc was driving and we managed to quickly swap positions in the driving seat before he really got a chance to notice who was behind the wheel.All the papers for the truck and insurance were in my name and it would only lead to more confusion and quite possibily corruption if Marc had to fit into the picture with his own paperwork.I grabbed my folder with all the relevant stuff, jumped out the truck in my socks and was instantly shown a speeding gun with the figures 75kmh written on it.Apparently the limit here was 50 and now it was time for me to pay for my speeding offence.I was escorted into the passenger seat of the new ford police car and handed over my documents to mr police dude who was wearing his best poker face.We quickly recognized eachothers disability in speaking one anothers language and got straight to work with sign language, gestures , rapid eye brow movements and long face pulling.He took my drivers license and motioned with it as if it was flying away in the direction from which we had come.’’Tweet tweet,’’ I said,,, “nyet, money money”” he replied…He wrote down 150 and a euro sign on some paper and then motioned with my license flying back towards me.Well, I did’nt at all feel like giving this police man or any other 150 euro and my unconscious body language was obviously giving this away as my license was now flying again in the direction of Amsterdam.I quickly collected myself and stepped out the car, walked back towards the truck for a breather, and think what was the best thing to do.When I walked back I was sent to another car to speak with another police man who was obviously prompted by his companion to be a bit more persuasive.
“Jengi Nyet “
I told him straight away, which meant ‘no money’,,,
“Nyet ???”
came his astonished reply…
”Present’
I told him…
“aaah, pryeyzent !!!”
his eyes widened in exclaimation…
I marched back to the truck with him hot on my heels and invited him inside.Everyone else was sitting around and I quickly introduced him to our little family.He asked me if all the girls were mine and was very happy when I told him yes ofcourse.I cringed a little at this crude humour but it seemed to work in relaxing him to a jovial state.I pulled out a few broken electrical things that I brought along for occasions like this and presented him with a 12v car dvd player that my mum had bought for me a couple of years ago and which now only played one in every 10 discs that was put into it. I neatly and slowly placed it into its carrying case and put in the wires and adapters to connect it to a main line electric.He looked at me quizickly and asked
“Rabotaet” (it works) ???
“Da, da,,”
I answered in Russian and then in English
“It used to, very well”…
He had a good scan around the rest of the truck and poked at a few things such as necklaces and jewelry trying his best to see what else he might pilfer, but now it was my turn to shoe him away which was’nt too difficult as he was obviously super excited to go and show his fellow officers the spoils of this encounter.Soon as he left there were a few naughty giggles from the front of the truck,,, Marc and Ana had managed to capture the whole happening on film,,,a priceless bit of on the road documentary…
The last two days have been devoid of any authorities, we had a stop over in Kazan where we visited another banya…I will write more later about this great Russian tradition of getting naked, beating eachother with a cluster of leaves in an incredibly hot steamy room, jumping in a nigh freezing bath of water and scrubbing oneself and another until only clean almost raw skin remains...
Today has been a non stop pouring of Siberian rain so our solar panels are taking a days leave of rest.Our generator is buzzing away to provide all our electricity for charging batteries and running computers.Everyone sits around now catching up on personal diaries and taking the opportunity of a still truck to finnish bloggs and touch up films and photos and other things for the website.There is just as much of an inner journey going on for everyone right now as the epic land crossing that we all make together.Being in such close company with the same people for such lengths of time is both challenging and revealing and lends one to all kinds of self introspection.Group dynamics and self dynamics are intertwinable always, yet a harmony is only struck when we can yield with some things and remain strong in others.Finding that delicate balance is nothing less than a learning and a growing experience, once certain things have been recognized about oneself then action is keen to follow up on any and each new discovery.We have been becoming our own small tribe since we set off together from Amsterdam nearly 2 weeks ago now and already we are finding out much about what it really means to live together.
When I’m feeling a little braver I might share some experiences that can show these insights in a clearer fashion.For now I’m more inclined to observe as a fly on the wall and ponder over my own new reflections.There is a strong chord of harmony and friendship between everyone here,,, this is the foundation that is being worked upon…

On The Road

On the road…the tarmac stretches out infront of us, plodding along at about 80kmh it promises to lead us to all the places we have been dreaming about…The big fast Autobahns of Germany give way to the slimmer single lane roads of Poland, wide sloping embankments are exchanged for lines of trees and hedgroes with the occasional village and garage that we pass by, and the daily cues of traffic and accepted congestion of cars and lorries is done away with,,,jams becoming just sweet things from pots to put on your toast…The first days drive takes us to a big motorway service station somewhere before Berlin,where we only wanted to stop for a break.We found out that the trucks main batteries were not charging, infact they were flat, and we are left with our first real challenge.A few hypothesis were thrown around about one battery being weaker than the other and then both going flat when the diesel pump was turned on to fill our main tank from one of the storage tanks.We played around with the electrics and got lost in a spaghetti of wires in the dark.We decdided to re-charge the batteries with our generator and look further into the problem when we were in Poland and when it was also light.That tact turned out to be impossible as on first try of the generator we found out that it was not creating any charge at all.Further investigation revealed that the dynamo was broken in two which rendered our back up electric source totally useless.Because the solar panel battery was also connected to the main batteries, it had also gone flat…Electric mahem…After some general flapping about we sent Ana to try and charm the local German staff into letting us borrow a power point and charge our batteries this way.Luckily she found a guy in the service station office who was sympathetic and he let us charge them both… They were ready by 5am in the morning.1st night, about 600km driven, 2 hrs sleep, one broken generator, two dodgy batteries, a pile of wires in a big spaghetti mess…We drove into Poland with the red battery light glowing on the dashboard and found a mechanic to look at our electric madness.I had anticipated that we might have a problem with the alternator and after a quick look at it with its cover removed, the mechanics international look of devistation followed by some tire kicking, no-one needed to speak any Polish to understand that this was where our problem lay.It was going to take at least 24hrs to fix so we were resigned to stay there for the night.We all quickly made friends with the mechanics and also the compound security guard called Jon.Our story was related and also our tight budget,,,we got let off with a tax free bill, a new alternator and all the work for less than 200 euros.5km down the road the red light came on again and our triumphant smiles were instantly turned upsidedown.Another 10km and the red light went off again, and then about 10 more and it came back on.Our own travelling party light, how lovely…It turned out that the new batteries we had just bought needed some time to get a full charge and within an hour the light went out not to be seen again.One more purchase was made in Poland and that was for a new generator.The one we had been given by a friend on the day before our depature was now going to be used as bargaining collateral for any sticky situations we might get into further down the road in Russia.The engine on it still ran so we could easily make some corrupt official or road pirate believe that they had proffited if we had to pay something in backsheesh along the highway, then scupper off hopefully before they tried to plug anything in…These small delays now gave us a tight schedule for getting to Russia in time.We had to cross the border on the 20th June and we had only 2 days in BelaRus to get there.Crossing from Poland into Bela Rus turned out to be a much longer ordeal than I had expected.We spent almost the whole day running from office to office trying to get the relevant stamps we needed to get the truck through the customs demands.I must have related our story over a hundred times that day to various officials, each one in broken English and the tiny vocabulary of Russian that I had learnt.Every other truck at the border was a commercial vehicle and had a whole folder of paperwork to give and be filed and registered at each counter.When I approached the first counter with my passport and the truck ownership papers I was met with an astonished and indignant look and shoed away very unpolitely being told to come back with a big pile of frightening paperwork just like everyone else.The other drivers were holding Carnets and goods declarations and all sorts of relevant permissions and insurances.I was only a camper truck and did’nt need all this commercial beuracracy. Luckily for me I met a couple of truck drivers who spoke sufficient enough English to help me out, and a very helpful translator called Ira .Our truck and mission became infamous at the border crossing that day and within a couple of hours everyone there knew us and our case.Whilst I was being calojed from office to office the girls were wondering around outside with their accordion playing songs and entertaining the other waiting truckers.It was like the circus had arrived in town. I heard one opinion after the next from each interested party and they ranged from the impossible to get through, to its gonna cost you 20,000 euro, to go back home now, you’ll never make it even if they let you in,,,I was the only one who seemed amused by the whole happening…Eventually after hours of cues, being shifted from one official to the next, getting a thousand different stamps, I was finally lead to an office where I had to pay…It was’nt until the girl wrote on a piece of paper the number 2 and then pointed at the word ‘EURO’ printed on some document that I knew I could buy our freedom into BelaRus.At first I cringed thinking that it was 2000, and then imagined with a purposefull optimism that it was only 200, but upon pulling out a 2 euro coin from my pocket I was met with a satisfied smile and a receipt…All these hours and endless explanations for the princely sum of 2 euro,,,how wonderfully cheap and satisfying…The next and last office I was marched into printed us a document stating our out of the ordinariness and proclaiming us Not Real Truckers, and we got our get into Bela Rus cards stamped with a long awaited for and well earnt hearty smile…The most priceless moment of the whole ordeal was when I was waiting for my name to come up on a digital screen telling me which was the next office I had to go to.There was a coffee machine in the centre of the hall which had cerillic letters printed all over it and it sporadically made those gurgling noises that only coffee machines know how to make.I watched a few guys go to get a cup of coffee, dropping their coins into the slot and then pressing their selected choice.Each time the coffee would come out first and then when it stopped a cup would drop onto the hot wet steamy brown puddle…Most of the guys there waiting knew the indolent behaviour of this machine but were very content to keep its secret hidden so as to triumphantly share in every new discovery of its tachiturn nature.The small ways of bringing humour into such a solemn serious place was uplifting and I could’nt help but feeling this silent joke was made about the whole system being somehow ludicrous with its strict unforgiving systematic nature…One more border into Russia, and after our recent Bela Rus experience I was prepared for the worse and was picturing day long waits in grey formidable buildings.Actually we were met with a cluster of run down shabby shacks, maybe 3 hours of quizzical faces, and then allowed gratefully to be on our way.I even turned back after 10km because I could’nt believ it could be that easy, but was again shoed away in the direction of Moscow when I voiced my concerns…We were in,,, the border from East to West crossed and the whole journey across Russia and the Siberian plains over the Altai Mountains and into Mongolia lay ahead…

Getting ready

Getting ready to go…The last couple of weeks before leaving and there is a huge list of things to do, every day things get ticked off and each time I do so 5 more things get added...There are so many people to see and speak to for organizing essential factors, Visa Agency, Sponsors, Guides and Interpreters, Stickers shop for advertising, and all the various bits of equipment that still needs buying or borrowing.Thomas Mauritz and Andre offered to make some of the modifications on the truck; somehow time had to be made to have this work done inbetween all the other busy things going on.It feels like we will never be ready on time, yet there is a momentum of movement and energy now that feels unstoppable, somehow I know we will be leaving and even if everything is’nt done as planned, we will still leave Holland on our given date.For the past two years ideas for Nomadslife have been circulating around and trying to make their way into the real world.The idea has always been a great one, and together with the old website and trailer films from Skip at Liquid Film a network has been established that has grown steadily to a point where enough people now know and believe in the project for it to actually happen.Now, just days away from leaving as I look at all the components there are in place, I find it amazing that what tools and factors involved in the actual process of moving have almost all been supplied within the last few weeks. Since Marc arrived a month ago and Ana a week later, then Jose Joining the team as our invaluable marketing manager (and much much more) an explosion of creative energy has brought all the components together for our wheels to start turning and head off in the direction of the Nomads. 7000 Euro in Sponsor money was raised and paid into the foundation bank account in the last week before departure.My old bus finally went to a couple in Breda after they made a large donation to the project just 10 days before leaving; this enabled me to make the final payment for our Truck which incredibly the previous owner Philip had let me take into my possession and start re-building it since January, having full trust that the rest of his money would come at the right time.I was completely humbled by Philips gesture of trust because he was also leaving Holland in July to move out to India with his family and start a new life there.His belief in the Nomadslife project was another big inspiration for me. All the help we received from friends and businesses that warmed to our project was incredible,,,I can only refer to all these syncronised events like the fixing of our exhaust system, the making of our back terrace and water supply holder, the donation of a film camera by Oliver, Michal gave us bags of horse riding equipment and even a saddle to inturn give as presents to the Nomads, and so many more of these happenings as ‘small miracles’ because for them all to happen within the same 2 weeks, our last time before having to leave, and for them all to be essential factors in being able to leave is truly astonishing.I caught a look at myself in a mirror one morning a couple of days before going and wondered for a moment who was the person I was looking at.Grease and oil marks on my cheek, silicon and glue on my arms and hands, paint on my clothes, black bags under my wide busy eyes and a face full of hair that was starting to sport a few white friends on either cheek…One deep breath and a self made promise to adhere to a morning meditation everyday after departure and it was back to ticking things off the list again…We found out that all our visas would be stamped and our passports returned to us on Friday the 13th June…Auspicious or not, we then played with the idea of jumping straight in the truck and driving off there and then.Because of a few (million) other things that needed to be arranged we finally agreed on a Saturday morning departure from the Nomadome in West Amsterdam where the truck had been standing for the past few months.We had been so busy with everything that any idea of a send off party had dissolved into the running around of each day. On Friday night just as I was filling the jerry cans with water some friends started to trickle in by surprise to say goodbye.I was overwhelmed, over 30 people came to wish us luck, give their love and say farewell…I never expected such a send off and was touched to my heart,,, I still don’t think anyone really believed that this mad hairbrained scheme was ever going to happen,,,I had been planning and conniving for two years and my imaginary trip had now become very real indeed,,, this final gesture of support was beautifull and I shall never forget it…With all this encouragment I was feeling swept along with the current.Only one thing was eating away at me that I had no real answer as to how to resolve its nagging presence.Thursday was going to be the last time I saw Skye my daughter for at least 4 months.The previous weekend which was our last weekend together had been tough for both me and Skye.I had been telling her that I was going on a long trip, but the understanding of perception for a 5 year old child is not encompassing a time frame of months.She knew that I was going to be away for some time and it was obviously upsetting her at a certain level.The whole weekend she was very difficult to connect with, and when we did connect with eachother she was quick to get frustrated and angry with me, even biting and hitting me for small incidents like not liking her sandwich or not wanting to come inside.She was making me pay already for leaving her and this was the only way she knew how to communicate her feelings to me.The Thursday before departure I went to pick her up from school and say goodbye properly.She kept asking how long I would be gone for and repeated over ‘a hundred hundred days ??? so many ???’ “No, only a hundred and twenty” I told her…This time she was stuck to me like a piece of chewing gum, and after a thousand kisses and hugs she ran after me in the car all the way to the bottom of the road before I dissapeared out of sight for a hundred twenty days…This whole life in Amsterdam, one seemingly long chapter was coming to a close and my present reality bubble about to burst…Amongst all the feelings, emotions and thoughts that were flying around I knew that it was also time to get focused on our goal.It was time to set off and go to find the Nomads.The reason for this whole happening was still very much apparent, we are going to visit the Nomads and share for a while in their way of life.Making our own Nomadic journey across the Steppes to witness an ancient way of living and share our findings with those from the very different world that we had set off from…I was searching for a way to emphasise the connection that everyone has with their environment, looking for a way to show the importance of everyones awareness of their relationship they have with Nature.These people are still living a simple self sustained lifestyle,,,maybe there is something in the spiritual connection they still have with the Earth and their animals that will inspire others to find their way back to our most basic living fact.‘Our Earth, the Nature, our Environment, is the giver of all, the source of all sustenance, the reason we have this blessing of life in our bodies”…Is it so difficult to remember this and then act respectfully in accordance with such understanding ??? I’m sure many more questions will be asked en-route,,, right now the excitement of going is consuming everything…There is a superb high that comes from getting up against the flow to follow your dreams.This is the light and airy state I now find myself in, brought down to Earth by the oil stains on my hands and list of things still yet to be achieved…Our journey is just beginning…