Day 37: Team XPD Beyond Asia awestruck as they cover 712 km on the majestic Trans-Siberian Highway, from Khabarovsk to Belogorsk

In spite of a long drive the previous day, Team XPD Asia made an early start on Day 37 by driving out from Khabarovsk at 8.30 am. Khabarovsk is a city on the Amur River in southeastern Russia and is a pure Russian-Europe kind of place. Unlike Vladivostok, it has never been a closed city and curiously retains a certain international and cosmopolitan ambience with older style buildings.

The team decided to go to Komsomol'skaya Square before the team left the city of Khabarovsk. The Square boasts of a dreamy riverside setting, greenery and boulevards lined with beautiful tsarist-era buildings. 

The breathtaking Grado-Khabarosk Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God (Grado Cathedral of Assumption) is located on this stunning square. As the team had to keep up with the schedule of having to drive a long stretch ahead, they did not spend much time at the Square.

The team then crossed the River Amur on the famous Amur Bridge and hit the P 297, Amur Highway which is a federal highway in Russia, part of the Trans-Siberian Highway. With a length of 2,100 km, it is the most extended segment, from Khabarovsk to China, connecting the paved roads of Siberia with those of the Russian Far East. The construction of the road united the Russian federal highways into a single system, stretching from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok or vice versa.

The traffic was sparse with the highway being just stretches of miles and miles of marshy lands and greenery, and some grasslands too. The team then headed deeper into Siberia where the towns are far apart.

"The view was spectacular as we gazed in awe at the unfurling landscape. A trip across Siberia, on one of the longest continuous highways in the world is undoubtedly the journey of a lifetime for Team XPD Beyond Asia," says a delighted Meenakshi, the team Captain. 

The team had their lunch after 400 km of the day's journey at a Truckers joint run by a Jewish couple. "We passed the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO). Between 1881 and 1914, roughly 2 million Jews emigrated to Russia, creating the largest Jewish population in the world at the time. While thousands of Jews migrated to Birobidzhan, the hardship and isolation caused most to leave. In 1939, the Jewish population made up less than 20 percent of the overall population. Shortly after World War II, the Jewish population in the region reached its peak of about 30,000. As of the mid-2010s, only about 2,000 Jews remain in the region, making up about only one half of a percent of the population," explains Meenakshi on the origin of Jewish settlements in Russia. 

The team were surprised to meet a Japanese Biker who had been on the road for the past three months, riding a 110 CC Honda Moped. He was on his way home after riding through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The team filled up on fuel twice on Day 37 since fuel pumps are sparse on the Trans-Siberian Highway. 

The team reached Belogorsk at 6.30 pm and since it was a small town, there was not much to explore. Day 37 for the team drew to a close with dinner at a Chinese restaurant 'Pekin.'