64. Stage 'Kizlyar, Dagestan, Russia'

It was already 10:00 AM when I finally set off from Astrakhan. The weather and roads were good. Everything somehow reminded me of Kazakhstan. The landscape, the people, and the villages. After about two hours of driving, it was time for a fuel stop. The price of a liter of gasoline was just under €0.60. When I wanted to set off again, the motorcycle stalled and didn’t want to start again. As I began to look for the possible cause, more and more people gathered around. Three truck drivers were particularly helpful, providing me with power and a jumper cable later on. At first, a plug seemed to be the cause, and for a moment the motorcycle started up again. However, after we assembled everything back together, the machine wouldn’t start again. In the end, it seemed to be the fuel pump that had given up. Thankfully, I had brought a spare part with me. In the meantime, Jonas had arrived and also offered his help. He had picked up the motorcycle from a friend in Kyrgyzstan and was also on his way back to Germany. Together with him, I then replaced the fuel pump. However, during the repair work, I was bitten by countless mosquitoes all over my body and now I look accordingly. At least for the remaining 150 km to the hotel, the machine ran smoothly. Unfortunately, we were stopped by a police patrol just before our destination. Jonas had been filmed overtaking in a no-overtaking zone. I got lucky. After some back and forth, the fine was €50 with a ticket or €20 without, and we could continue on. We reached the hotel around 7 PM. It is very pleasant, and we could still eat.