I have arrived in Russia! No dramas through customs/immigration and with much difficuilty found a hotel on my first night. Very different here compared to other parts of the world that are set up for backpackers. This place is DEFINANTLY NOT setup for this! Quite an expensive place to be, nearly as much as oz, first world, and kinda strange seeing European looking people speaking a completely foreign language again! The people look very different to the chinese, the border of which is very close. The ship with my bike has been delayed so i will be here in Vlad till at least monday/tuesday. So far it has been a place of highs and lows, the simplest of things once accomplished provide great satisfaction. Staying with a very friendly guy, Alexey, and his wife. Hopefully the bike will not be delayed further. I should have studied more Russian :)