Two Blondes & Two Brits Walk Into A Baatar: WWSD

We left Lviv and drove throughout the night in a massive storm and on shitty roads (don't worry parents - it was safe) to Kiev. Prior to leaving Lviv I wrote our hostel to say we would be arriving late just in case they gave our room away. We didn't get into Kiev until after 2am. As soon as we pulled up to our hostel we got a text from the hostel people saying they were worried about us and said to call if we need anything. Amazing. Three seconds later we jump out of the car to be greeted by a German bearded man named Steve. He was attracted to the snorkel on our car and the scent of nasty road trip folk. Matt started talking to him and he told us he had just pulled in from his road trip through Kazakhstan and Russia. Steve is a bit more hardcore than us, in that he was doing the whole thing on a motorcycle. Legend. Steve was stoked that he found like minded people in Kiev and immediately started giving us advice about the looming cloud that is Russia and Kazakhstan. Kiev is looking good.

After a five hour power nap in one of the best hostels so far we wake up to Steve wanting to give us as many tips as possible on what to do and where to go once we are outside Europe. Steve, Simon and Matt got out the Kazakhstan map and Steve started planning our route for us. We had heard from many past Mongol Rally teams that the roads in Kazakhstan are, at worst, not existent and at best, covered with car size pot holes. However, our road veteran Steve put those worries to rest and said that there are bits of horrible roads, but there are also huge distances of pristine highways. He also said that Kazakhstan is rad and that we are going to have the most amazing time. We had also heard that you can't really get through Russia without bribing half a dozen cops, but our main man Steve put that worry to rest as well. Steve got pulled over in Russia quite a few times, but he said as long as you stay patient and act stupid they'll eventually let you off. On a few occasions when he got pulled over he unpacked his camping supplies, started a fire and made a few cups of tea. Eventually the cops lost their patience and let him go. As you can probably decipher, we all took to Steve who is full of optimism, excitement and constant smiles.

After we soaked up some much needed road tips the five us ventured out and explored the city. Kiev is a weird, but pretty place. As with many of the other cities we have been to you can very much see the evidence and lasting impression of the iron curtain. We played around in the city center where a water way trickles down the steps, we ate some chicken Kiev and just enjoyed seeing new things (and being outside of the car).

At about 2pm we packed up the car and once again pointed east to work our way to the Russian border. We said goodbye to our new friend for now, but he left us with our new road phrase - WWSD: What would Steve-O do? Little did we know this would come in common later that night...