Chita–The unexpected gem

Not in a bad way, we just didn’t want to get our hopes up. I’d put it on par with Vladivostok for sophistication and ready access to everything!

We visited a mechanic around 1400 on Saturday afternoon, not expecting them to be open, or able to help us today. They instantly rolled out a car they had in the garage and did the following:

-Identified worn sway bar bushes (Not a show stopper, just something to renew when I get home)
-Checked wheel bearings and tie-rod ends for play (None found, hooray!)
-Greased ball joints and universal joints
-Checked transfer and gearbox oil
I don’t think they checked diff oils, but that’s easy done roadside

They used a cool straight-line grease gun as opposed to the pistol grip ones I’ve used. I’d never seen one before, but it worked wonders as it meant the force applied to drive the grease held it on the grease nipple.

Not only did they help us straight away, they wouldn’t let us pay them! We insisted on numerous occasions, but they declined. They did accept our huge open, but uneaten packet of some seafood chips (which were inedible!) which made us feel a tiny bit better. They were one block down the street from our hotel and is clearly marked Mobil all over with a big enclosed courtyard out the front.

The owner had a SWB 70 series with a reverse winch and tractor tyres – nice!

Cassie noticed that the roof boxes scraped on the way in, so to get back out required both the guys on the back step to squeeze back out.

Morning tea was at the flashiest of Russian coffee houses where we had raspberry crepes and some kind of banana crumble pie – yum! both are pictured in the photo album at the bottom of this post.

We’ve done a heap of grocery shopping so we’re pretty much right to leave tomorrow morning for Ulan-Ude.

Today I tried to capture everyday people, but the call of the 'odd-ball’ tended to get the shot.
https://picasaweb.google.com/twomagadan/AroundChita?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTale3QvIyYggE