Russia
Route: Vladivostok-Khabarovsk: 800 Km, all paved. Fairly flat, some hills, nothing big.
Khabarovsk-Blagoveshensk: 730 Km, 150 unpaved. Some steep short climbs on unvapaved roads after Birobidzan. Rest flat.
Blagoveshensk-Shimanovsk 290 Km, 10 unpaved. Flat.
Shimanovsk-Skovorodino Took the train... Probably mostly unpaved and flat.
Skovorodino-Chita Stayed in the train. Definetly unpaved, except around Mogocha and before Chita. But they are building a road.
Chita-Ulan Ude Took the train again. Paved and probably some hills.
Ulan Ude-Naushki 260 Km, all paved. Much hillier than I remembered from 95.
Maps: Worldmap by Geocenter (or something similar) of Eastern Russia is good. Bought some maps in Russia. A little book with only the main road Vladivostok-Khabarovsk 1-200'000 was excellent. Everything correct, gas stations, bridges, small 50 meter climbs etc. Khabarovsk-Blagoveshchensk was not as good (1:100'000.) With some mistakes, shops etc. Probably these little books exist for almost everywhere.
Cost Still cheap.
Visa: Easy to get on the net. Just google for Visa support Russia and you'll find many links.
Traffic In the cities it's not really fun, otherwise there isn't that much traffic. Probably close to none between Skovorodino and Chita.
Accomodation: Mostly camping. From Vladivostok to Khabarovsk was very swampy, difficult at times to find a good place. After that it became a bit easier. Hotels in big cities, and sometimes in smaller ones as well, but it's not really worth it, unless it rains.
Food: No more kiosks, or almost. Most of the shopping has to be done in real shops nowadays. In the cities like small supermarkets. In the countryside there are still some kiosks but not as many as before. Still mostly imported stuff. Small restaurants on the side fo the road still exist as well.
People: Still the main reason for me to go to Russia.
Language: I had the impression that more people spoke english than in 95. But still not many. Still think that it's not to difficult to communicate though. Words are easy to pick up, (no comment about grammar) and the russians are always helpful, sometimes I wonder how they managed to understand what I wanted.
Bike parts: Rims, and tyres can be found, but it's often a hassle. Had enough with me, so didn't have to try, still always had an eye open off course.
Weather: In May it was fairly good, although it rained a few times. In winter obviously very cold. A Russian told me that they break the ice in the Amur in Khabarovsk towards the end of April usually. In Summer it's hot and humid. Lot's of mosquitos the more north you go. Spring or autumn are probably the best times to be there.
Main Tour 2001 Mongolia