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I melted today on the dead straight road into Калининград. The border crossing was easy. Finding the hotel was not. Hotel Internet and money was also challenging. не работает.

Day 13. 72km. Frombork – Калининград. Map and gpx

I spent about 15 minutes at the border. The visa had to be examined very carefully but it all went smoothly. The road doesn’t pass directly through the centre of the little villages and so I didn’t see any ATMs to get some roubles. That will be easily fixed in Калининград. Other than wiping the sweat out of my eyes, I occupied myself on the dead straight road trying to read the Cyrillic script. The signposts were cool. I really felt like I was in Russia. (Well – I am in Russia).

I don’t have many photos of nice buildings or pretty landscapes. The road was straight, hot and busy through some undulating fields. There was little shade and stopping for photos in the sun would just stimulate more sweat. I was only forced off the road once to avoid a car on my side of the road in a dangerous overtaking maneuver. It all went pretty well, really.

My hotel (which I had booked on booking.com) was in the University area and not at all obvious. Asking people didn’t help initially. Also, my poor Russian language skills meant that phoning the hotel was also little help. Finally I found it. My apartment is massive.

The lady at the reception was lovely. Our communications are via drawings and my bad Russian. 🙂 Internet wasn’t working there. Nor was their ATM. My first 10 minutes in the street was ATM free. I started to think that I might stay in Калининград without money. Then I found one. But. не работает.

Then all fell into place. I found money. I found the tourist information. I got organized. I wandered around a bit and have just finished dinner.

I plan to leave very early tomorrow to get out of Калининград before the traffic. I hope to make it to Lithuania tomorrow. We’ll see.