{"id":7142,"date":"2011-01-10T08:30:22","date_gmt":"2011-01-10T13:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=7142"},"modified":"2010-10-17T13:55:55","modified_gmt":"2010-10-17T18:55:55","slug":"buryat-wheeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiawheeling.com\/?p=7142","title":{"rendered":"Buryat Wheeling"},"content":{"rendered":"

That morning I woke up somewhat groggily and late at the Hotel Buryatya, feeling disoriented and wondering for a moment where I was. I had been dreaming about Indonesia and black magic, and was very perplexed initially to find myself staring up at this soviet light fixture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It all came back to me then\u2026 Buryatiya<\/a>, Siberia, Beeline, Megafon, Plov, the Ladies of Shymkent, Turklaunch, Samer in Latakia, Hosam in Damascus, Sid in Dubai, Jackson Fu, Haba Xue Shan, Sri Lankan Koththu, Bangkok\u2026 AsiaWheeling was immense and it all flooded over me as though it were pouring out of that light fixture in a deluge of memory.<\/p>\n

The crisp morning air and the bright sun of Buryatya brought me back into the present, as we climbed on the bikes and wheeled downhill in search of breakfast. We found it not far into the wheel, at this little people\u2019s cafeteria, located conveniently in between a Russian orthodox church and a giant pile of dirt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The piles of dirt had something to do with some really aggressive construction which was going on in downtown Ulan Ude. They seemed to be putting in a giant new promenade, terminating at a certain giant sickle and hammer topped obelisk in the city\u2019s central round about.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The restaurant was filled with plenty of Russian people eating and drinking, and we scrutinized the menu, quite thrilled to find a few of our favorite Central Asian dishes available.<\/p>\n

We ordered some Lakman and some Manty, but ended up getting a small plastic Tupperware container filled with instant chicken noodle soup mix, combined in equal parts with corn oil and some old leathery Pelmini. Things were very cheap, though, so I guess in Buryatiya you get what you pay for.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We continued from there, wheeling up and out of the city past the Hotel Cagaan Morin. We called a waypoint only an hour later, however, feeling that before we execute a savage Buryat wheel, we needed to eat something real.<\/p>\n

So we stopped into a pizza place which was themed after old Soviet architecture magazines and home goods (remember, concept first!).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The pizzas took forever to arrive, which gave us plenty of time to look through ancient soviet magazines (which were quite honestly riveting).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When the pizzas finally did arrive, though, they were absolutely scrumptious, laden heavily with meat and cheese, and very light on the sauce.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, having actually eaten, we headed out for some more serious wheeling, pedaling towards the outskirts of town, and soon finding ourselves in the midst of a giant grassy freight yard.<\/p>\n