Today they rode the final 450km to Vladivostok in a rather cool and windy weather. It's a strange feeling not being able to get any further on the bikes, looking out on the ocean and Japan being 2 days of sailing away.

They found Hotel Vladivostok which they'd seen on a DVD about bikers who rode approximately the same route and stayed there. Einar had promised before he left that he'd spend the night there if they'd make it to Vladivostok and that's where they are now.

Tomorrow they've finished half of the days set aside for the journey and the kilometers they've traveled have reached 17'000 with 30-32'000km being their estimation for the trip. When they fly to Alaska they'll finish the 23° needed to have crossed half the world. Right now their timezone is GMT+11

For dinner they had steak at a restaurant which was heaven after all the pasta they've been eating while on the road.

Next on the agenda is cleaning the bikes and getting in touch with the shipping company that runs the ferry going between Vladivostok and Japan.

Most of all they're very happy to have made it all the way across Russia and being as good as on the way to Japan already. It'll be interesting to ride in Japan as they drive on the left side of the road. 

Khabarovsk woke them up with sunshine and 23°C (73°F). The city is beautiful.

They took off around noon and rode on good roads through beautiful countryside in gorgeous weather.

Now they've camped for the night and there's just a days journey left until they'll be in Vladivostok.

Remember to look at Sverrir's blog and all the pictures, including some of Einar playing in the mud. 

Today they rode a little more than 300km in 23°C (73°F). When they entered the city Khabarovsk they took a side road and after a little while they met the police and decided to ask for directions. Of course they didn't understand a word but soon a couple with a small child in their car arrived and the husband, Alexai, knew about 3 words of English. They managed to make him understand that they were looking for a hotel by calling Alexei's friend (who spoke English) and Einar explaining their dilemma to him and then him translating to Alexei, problem solved. They followed Alexei to the main tourist hotel of the town. It's been wonderful to experience how helpful the people are and it's much appreciated.

At the hotel they booked a room and took a hot and long awaited shower which was needed after riding in the heat and dust. They soaked the riding gear and left it in the bathtub for a while.

There's a beauty salon at the hotel and Sverrir took a seat and asked to get a buzz cut. The poor girl hesitantly asked if he was sure that's what he wanted, and yes he was. Satisfied that the customer is always right she cut his hair. Next Einar got in the chair and asked for the same. This is probably the first and only time she's had two customers asking for this the same day as she looked very confused during all of this. But they got their buzz cuts in the end. However the beards were left alone.

Today is their mother's birthday and she's celebrating with her husband in Paris. They called to wish her a happy birthday as do all of us here.

There are good pictures on Google Earth from Khabarovs, amongst them some from a beach that's close to their hotel and the plan is to go there and take a look for themselves.

Happy June 17th from Russia 

After waking up in a cloudy weather they decided to wear their rain clothes during the ride today. They found the asphalt again which was a relief and rode some 500km today.

The total after having been 40 days on the road is 16'000km.

Tonight they camped next to some train tracks and it'll be interesting to see how well they'll sleep to night, choo choo... 

When they gave the report the 'chef' was preparing the noodles, offering a bit of meat and cheese for flavoring and olives as an appetizer.

Don't forget to take a look at Sverrir's blog.