The roads in North Bihar bordering Nepal along Kosi River in India was the worst I had seen till I saw Tulun highway in Siberia from Kansk. We almost drove more than 12 hours yesterday to reach Tulun. It almost felt like the road was in the potholes. We could see the zigzag movement of vehicles in front and behind us at 10 miles per hour trying to avoid drenches. We passed small villages with broken huts and tiny wooden houses along the road. Seasonal farming and dairy seemed the only livelihood in this part of Siberia.
We met Ray Thomson from Colorado. It was very nice to hear American English in this small town of Siberia. Ray and his friend are biking around the world. It was amazing to meet him exactly around mid point of our trip. They are circum navigating northern hemisphere westwards and started in the first week of June in Colorado. He warned us about Mongolia. He said that is the most unsecured country he has passed thru and asked us to be careful.
Tulun, was one of the many small towns we have passed thru in Russia. Here we got chance to go around the town and understand people more closely. It was saddening to see women sitting on the streets all day trying to sell 3-4 bottles of milk. Some of the children were trying to sell some eggs in the hot sun. From our local interpreters we learned that, men here make very little money by selling fire woods, charcoal, vegetables and milk. But, most of them consume alcohol heavily and save very less for the family. It reminded me of slum life in big Indian cities.
We went to bed talking about the poverty, alcoholism in this part of the world to get ready for our 3:00am shift.