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As soon as we crossed the Ukrainian-Russian border at Nekhoteyevka, we were confused by misleading signs, thinking that we had to inquire about vignettes at a gas station. Later we learned that unlike Czech Republic and Slovakia, we didn't need a vignette here, only trucks need one... After a longer conversation at this gas station, we also realized that the Green Card, which has been on board since the beginning of our trip, is sufficient as car insurance in Russia. So we continued our journey happily towards Belgorod, the first major city near the border. It is surrounded by beautiful limestone and chalk cliffs, but the city center is not architecturally noteworthy compared to other Ukrainian and Russian cities (plate to plate...). Apart from the ATM (our first rubles!), the city was quite uninteresting for us, which is why we followed our instinct to follow the blue areas on the map and found a beautiful lake landscape about 20 km from the city. The area didn't provide optimal access for our car and the lake was surrounded on one side by grassy slopes dominated by strawberry plants. The whole surrounding offered us a perfect place to relax for the day. It's simply indescribably beautiful to feel the contrast between bustling city life and sleeping in a tent & hammock away from nature - especially in places where the vegetation is a kind of new territory for us. We haven't had any problems or even encounters with wildlife that we could have encountered on our way, such as wolves, bears or wild boars. Maybe it's due to our strict separation between eating and sleeping areas or the rest areas we usually chose close to the route - who knows. We also chose the next sleeping place, following the habit, by a lake, but its surroundings had a steppe character. The road to the next destination, Rostov Na Donu, went straight through high plateaus, fields and small villages, with country roads and highways running through them. As in Ukraine, homemade or self-grown products were often offered for sale on the highway, right on the shoulder.

Finally arrived in Rostov, our first mission once again was to organize a place to sleep for the night. Because the city is one of the venues for the World Cup and therefore full of tourists at this time, the search was a bit more difficult... For this, we primarily used couch-sharing platforms, contacts made on site, or other social networks. For this, we usually look for any cafe with wifi. On the last way, we found our couch for the first night in Rostov with a young DJ and designer, whose apartment was only 3 minutes walk from our cafe. A super nice person, with whom we had a funny evening despite language problems and a cat hair allergy. The next two days should also prove to be super pleasant, as we ended up with a young lady who showered us with hospitality and could show us different perspectives on the city. There was a lot of good food and a lot to talk about. It was easy to see that the city had been specially cleaned and even partially rebuilt for the World Cup. This was most evident on the Don River, where an extensive sports and gaming venue, a stadium and a beach promenade had been created - everything chic & beautiful. No one wants to miss out here...