right, as many know i spend most of my time in europe, and quite often we venture a bit further afield. over the last 2 months, i have been to most of the countries in europe (if you would like the list, here it is: france belguim germany czech republic austria hungary romania bulgaria turkey greece switzerland spain luxembourg denmark norway sweden finland russia latvia netherlands, phew!!) what i love most about my job is the challenge presented by eastern europe, and more so russia. its a pain in the arse clearing customs in, the roads are terrible, the driving standard is worse, and i love every minute of it!! this time, we entered from finland, we were at the border for around 7 hours in total, destination moscow. off to moscow, then we went to st petersberg, and from there down to the border with latvia. i was especially looking forward to it as i have never been to st petersberg, its an amazing city, and the underground (as in moscow) is easy to follow, even if there is no english translations! anyway i digress, i thought i would put some pictures up of some of the roads and sights i have seen.
now then, if you didnt know, russia buys a lot of its equipment second hand, its sourced from not only europe, but also america (which i found quite amazing considering their somewhat hostile past), and most stuff doesnt get repainted (you will see why…) so its quite an eye opener to see british liveried trucks passing you on russian plates!! anyway (if your sad like me!) it becomes spot the british livery, and these are what i found…
duncan adams…
steady eddie! (will be the only time i take a pic of one of their trucks!) also note the trailer, city group!
i would like to add, the trucks get converted to left hand drive too!
phillips of seahouses…
right, enough of that (unless you want more?)
welcome to russia: entrance to the customs compound with obligitory pothole!
although its not this bad all the way (and it does get much worse!) this is part of the motorway!
if there is a fatal accident, often, as a memorial, part of the car that was involved is left as a memorial, eg a mangled bonnet, door etc.
accidents are common sights sadly, due to the terrible driving:
this one i dont think he meant to park like this…
to be honest ill be amazed if he walked from this one, and its already being scavenged for bits, no idea how they did it
and finally for now, this ex dhl was at the border with an old castle cement blower, can anyone spot the difference with it?
i have loads more pictures if your interested i can put some more up…
