One Steppe Beyond: Across Russia in a VW Camper

Thom Wheeler

Language: English

Publisher: Summersdale

Published: Aug 1, 2011

Pages: 229
ABC: 1

Description:

Travelling across the former Soviet Union is a challenge at the best of times – but in a dilapidated VDub… that’s got to be plain daft... hasn’t it? A chance job offer at a timber yard in Estonia gives Thom and his old pal Jo a taste for the unknown. So when Uncle Tony asks them to drive to Vladivostok for another job, they can’t think of a good reason why not. The result is a classic caper across the former Soviet Union in Max, a rusty old VW camper. Knowing little of the language or the geography ahead, they embark on probably the longest commute ever, encountering corrupt officials, film star mechanics and over-friendly gangsters. Far off the tourist trail, they bear witness to the collapse of one nation and the birth of a new one during the free-for-all that was Russia in the nineties.