Today we escaped from the pot holes of the M56 and to our relief the first few hundred kilometers of the M58 west towards Chita were paved and smooth. The last 45km of the M56 took us about 1.5 hours (which was consistent with our average speed over the previous 3 days) and then with relief we arrived at the large and elaborate intersection between the M56 and the M58, turned right (west) and commenced to eat away at the 990 km between us and Chita.

Not far down the road we found a paved parking/picnic area. Here we spent a pleasant hour or so repacking the trucks storage areas. In the chaos of the last couple of weeks and the hast to pack up after completing the repairs things were simply put away wherever they would fit. So a re-organization was called for. It was actually pleasant to have a nice dry area and warm sunshine in which to work.

For a few hours we simply enjoyed the experience of traveling comfortably on smooth road, chatted, and admired the forest, and the rolling hills before pulling into another parking/picnic area that would be our nights stopping spot. This one was unusual, it was very large maybe 300 meters square, and on a rise behind the lot was a religious shrine in the form of a small chapel and also a large radio tower.

Water system fix

The main chore for the afternoon was repairing the camper water system. This issue goes back as far as April 12th when we discovered a water leak. As described in the entry for April 13th we found a temporary work around that left the system only partially functional and hoped that new parts from the US would meet us in Irkutsk (at the time we thought about 3 weeks away) and would allow us to completely fix the problem.

As it turned out the replacement parts never made it to Irkutsk. GXV send them as agreed but when they arrived in England FEDEX decided that the package was not deliverable. It seems that one cannot FEDEX a package with a value of more than $250 to Russia and GXV had (not being told this) put a value of $300 on the package of parts.

As luck would have it (is that really the right sentiment?) the failure of the camper mount and my trip to Berlin gave us the opportunity to include the items needed to repair the water system in that package. So the luggage I brought back from Berlin included a new water pump, new pressure relief valve and a collection of associated plumbing bits.

Installation of the new pump was pretty straight forward with the only complexity being the need to cut and re-solder the power supply to the pump. The new pump (unlike the one being replaced) correctly sensed the pressure in the water pipes and stopped pumping when all faucets were closed. We are not completely done on this repair because as at the time of writing I have not replaced the pressure relief valve nor removed the temporary plug I put in the pressure relief valve; I will do that over the next couple of days and that will restore full function to the water system

However there is still an outstanding issue with the sensor that indicates how much water is in the water tank; the sensor shows 38% full regardless of how much water is in the tank. This problem first appeared at the same time as the other water system issue; but frankly was overshadowed by the other problem. Now with the pump and pressure valve fixed it is time to think about this one. GXV suggested that I replace a sensor module attached to the tank and a replacement for this sensor was supposed to be included in the package for Berlin but one did not arrive. This is probably not a big deal as after some research I am pretty sure that getting access to the water tank and sensor is not something I can achieve without an unacceptable level of demolition. My alternative plan is to try and expose one side of the tank so that I can visually assess how much water is in the tank.

Around 9:00pm the cleanup crew came around to clean the parking lot; and to our way of thinking demonstrated a rather bizarre strategy for disposing of rubbish left on the areas paved surface. Two techniques were exhibited. The first simply involved picking up any rubbish on the paved surface and throwing it onto the surrounding non-paved area; as you might imagine the surrounding non paved area looked rather like a refuse pit. The second technique was applied to any piece of trash found within a short distance on one of the areas garden beds; the offending piece of trash was simply buried (individually) in that nearby garden bed. Mind you this will not seriously harm the garden beds as there are no plants in them.