Before we left on our journey the local TV and print news wanted to interview us about our
What do you picture when someone mentions Russia? Snow-covered countryside inhabited by stern men in furry hats swilling vodka while their beautiful blonde daughters long for an American husband to take them away and buy them high-heels? While we're sure that is true somewhere in Russia, it's not the Russia we experienced on a recent two-week road trip through the far east of the country.
First, the groundwork. Suzuki has a new car, the all-wheel-drive Kizashi. Though we don't often concern ourselves with AWD autos, our sister publication Motor Trend does. In fact, MT devised a road trip of sorts across Japan, up through Russia, and then down from Alaska in a trip they called Tokyo to L.A. the Hard Way. They planned to do this trip in a pair of Kizashis. Sending two sedans across the uncharted territory of Siberia could be risking disaster, so Suzuki added two of its Equator 4x4 pickup trucks to the mix, and that's where we came in. Who better to follow some car guys across the Russian wilderness than a couple of truck guys? Add to that a swarthy Motorcyclist journo on a Suzuki V-Strom 650 and you have the makings of an awesome adventure that showcases the full spectrum of Suzuki producst. (OK, we didn't have any Suzuki quads or outboard boat motors, and we could have found some places to test them in the Russian mountains and rivers, but you get the idea.)
Our Trip began in Vladivostok, Russia, after a long flight by way of Beijing. We met up wi
Our trip across eastern Russia was a true adventure, covering over 3,000 miles, mostly on slightly maintained gravel roads versus the dismally maintained asphalt. We saw amazing countryside, majestic mountains, and cities that covered the spectrum from amazing to eerie. The Suzuki did great passing over rough pot-holed tracks with only the occasional flat tire.
If ever there was a destination ripe for the outdoor enthusiast, it is eastern Russia. The mountainous area is perfect for campers, hunters, and off-roaders alike.
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We hit the road, but quickly stopped to shoot photographs and video next to an idyllic pon
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Our Equators were equipped with Old Man Emu suspension, BFGoodrich KM2 mud-terrain tires,
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Our Suzuki entourage would blend in here, but in eastern Russia we might as well have had
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The cities of eastern Russia range from amazing to amazingly dilapidated. Many of the smal
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The larger cosmopolitan areas are wonderful tourist destinations, with nightlife, historic
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Our Suzuki vehicles were not alone in Russia. We came across a fair number of the small, n
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This older-model Suzuki was found by a schoolyard in the town of Belogorsk. Every town big
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If you think there's a plethora of beautiful Russian women waiting for American husbands t
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Our convoy had to be ferried across some major rivers. One such crossing was a lesson in R
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As we wound our way through the countryside and up into the mountains, the trip felt more
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The Russian Kamaz truck is a cab-over-diesel 6x6 that shares chassis designs with our mili
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Remember how we mentioned no guardrails? This poor truck driver tipped his mobile crane of
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The smaller towns had many large wooden buildings serving as homes and apartments. These o
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The Russian wilderness is beautiful, and our Suzuki Equator kept trucking along. We did ha
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Our adventure trailer was a different story. The rack that held the rooftop tent to the de
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Then the suspension fell apart until it failed completely. We dragged it the whole length
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At some high-water crossings the Equators did more than haul our stuff. On several occasio
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Our biggest obstacle required a little more might than all our Suzukis combined. We came t
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After passing the washed-out road we continued to our final destination, Magadan, arriving
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The historical significance of our trip became clearer as we viewed the Mask of Sorrow, a
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The trip was an amazing adventure that culminated in a flight to Moscow for the Moscow aut