Once
bitten, twice shy, is a saying one remembers when confronted with a mishap. So
it was me this morning. I was apprehensive about the car battery as it had
drained once. I had been extra careful last evening while parking the car to
ensure that all the lights are turned off and the doors closed properly. When
the Ford Endeavour had been shipped from London to Cochin after the London
expedition the car battery had drained because one of the doors of the car was
improperly closed. It had taken a long while to kick the battery to life with
cables. However, this morning I had no such problem. The engine kicked to life
with a gentle turn of the ignition. Before leaving the hotel I collected the
receipt and a very large breakfast pack.
With
the last minute change in the program for the day I had a few more hours on the
road. The M5 is called the federal highway. In all fairness, I expected the
highway to be better than what I had experienced so far. And the first 80 kms
was glorious – dual carriageway with six lanes and a large median, fresh road
markings and excellent surfacing. If this road condition would last till Moscow
I even pondered the possibility of hitting Moscow this day. After all it was
just under 1500 km from Ufa to Moscow. Remember I had done 1470 km on the Amur
highway in about 15 hours. So if the road conditions held I could change my
pans en route. These remained just pipe dreams after the initial show piece. In
some place the conditions were fiendish and the many stretches that road works
were on slowed down the drive considerably. It looked as if the entire stretch
of M5 will ultimately become a 6 lane dual carriageway. But when? Added to that
was the many police squads that seemed to be doing overtime. I was stopped four
times for checking of documents. The tightest security seemed to be at a dam
over the Volga after Samara. Even freight trucks were being checked there with
many squads working in tandem. I didn’t have any problem, except that I had to
produce the car documents again and again and explain the reason for my drive.
When I mentioned tourism, a couple of them even remarked, “ Good luck”! 
Kuznetsk
is almost halfway through to Moscow from Ufa. Booking.com turned up with a
hotel reservation in one of its suburbs called Yasnaya Polyana. I am okay with
small hotels. All that I want is a clean room and secure parking for the car. The
hotel, by the same name as the town, promised both. And I found it so. Most
importantly it was just 6 km from the highway. At the reception of the hotel
the lady could speak just Russian and more Russian. Initially I thought she was
refusing me accommodation because I didn’t have a reservation. Mogocha being
replayed, I thought. Finally she showed me to a room and asked if I was
comfortable. When I looked at the confirmation from the booking site I was
aghast to find that my reservation was for the day before! All is well that
ends well, I suppose.
At the
check in desk I found that the town was in the +3 GMT time zone. I had gained
two hours in the passage from Ufa to Kuznetsk, which follows the Moscow/St
Petersburg time. Travelling from Vladivostok to Kuznetsk I had gained seven
hours! Vladivostok is at +10 GMT. That was brought home rather very well by
Andrey when I asked him for a favour with the mobile service provider at about
4 pm. He said, “But, its night time here”! 
The
hotel has a very large dining hall. From the way it’s decorated I felt that
they do parties and theme meets. The receptionist doubled up as the waitress
for lunch. The menu was completely in Russian. After many minutes of staring at
the menu and then for some time at the lady I asked if I could have a cutlet. I
shook my head to whatever she asked after confirming I could, because I thought
that must be the add on. They were. There was mashed potato, lots of greens,
bread and a thick grilled meat cutlet. It was tasty and filling. I took refuge
in the room after the meal as it started raining. Anyway, there was no place to
walk to. I wanted to walk around and appreciate a bit of the village life. But
that was not to be. When I went over to the restaurant for dinner the story was
the same. The only difference was that there was a young girl helping out for
dinner. She only smiled when I asked if she could give me a chicken dish.
Later, after ordering a beer successfully, I out my finger on an item beneath
which was written, “New”. I raised a thumb asking the young lass if that was
good. She shook her head and I confirmed the order. The presentation of the
order was excellent. A flame danced in a small metal container with plenty of
greens and a chicken fillet with stuffing and a few pieces of bread. It was
surprisingly very good.
The
premises has WiFi. But the connection is so bad that I was unable to get most
of my work done. Nevertheless, I have kept everything ready for uploading in
Moscow, as soon as I reach the hotel there. The last bit of the Ural Highway
will be done tomorrow, hopefully and then the final stretch from Moscow to St
Petersburg the following day. I have done over 8500 km on the Trans-Siberian
Highway thus far averaging over 650 km per day. 
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