September 30

We woke up still feeling completely knackered and decided our best option would be to try to get a ride to Biysk.  Our first job was to get our visas registered, the hotel were reluctant to help so we tried the post office.  No luck there, but you could satisfy your postal needs as well as your appetite for hard liquor with a range of beer and spirits conveniently on display behind the counter.  The police were the other visa option but we gave that one a miss and tried again to convince the old chook at hotel to do it.  After numerous phone calls she gave in and pulled out the visitor register and completed the formalities, the bureaucracy in this country is ridiculous.  We packed and made our way to the freeway to play some frisbee while waiting for a lift.  No trucks were willing or had room, but after a while a local chap lined up a ride in his station wagon, but it meant completely disassembling and packing our bikes and equipment which was no easy feat in our state.  The trip was through some more impressive scenery, but we were convinced we had the best of it in the past couple of days on the bikes.  With some helpful tips from home we found a good hotel with the typical shit service we were becoming used to; they still have one girl whose specific job is to hand out room keys (and nothing else).  A good dinner washed down with a few vodkas helped and we were ready for a rest and a day of exploring Novosibirsk tomorrow.

Even the Post Office has a wider beverage selection

Our hotel, stuck in the Soviet era?

Hanging at the cafe