Siberia - Day 10

It was an early start, everyone was awake and ready to eat by 7 am; salami and pate was a lovely change to Kasa. The weather promised to be good: sunny with a hint of clouds. OMG I've just realised that I'm starting to sound like a weather girl :). We left our amazing camp just after 8 am and started our final journey back to civilisation. The first section of our trek was very easy, scenic and enjoyable. As I had a spare battery left I went a bit crazy with pictures ... no comments from anyone please :). The view gradually changed and opened to a gorgeous valley, just like a Western movie trailer: river, forest, cliffs and mountains in the distance. As I said it was great picture material.

The incline was gradual but almost from the start both of my knees decided to sing a duet with a vengeance; nonetheless, it was still easy with only a minor hiccup of crossing a very tricky path. At this point, we were all experts at hopping/balancing/floating and gliding across various-sized rocks. Some of us even changed into shorts, not because of the weather mind you, but the physical effort which warmed our muscles quicker than a sauna. Svetlana found some more herbs to pick while I was on a hunt for wild (greenish) strawberries; no luck there but it was a very relaxed half an hour. That's when reality crashed and the real decline started. My super-duper friends: Jack & Jonny, really helped but halfway down I joined my knees and started singing along with them. I was a bit worried about increasing my insect-bite ratio but luckily my amazing bug-repellent did its job and kept the bloodsuckers at bay.

Once we got to river level we crossed a sturdy new bridge that was built less than 4 years ago after the old bridge was swept away; the remains were still visible. I may have pointed out to Evgeny that this is what a 'real' bridge looked like, who totally ignored me :). Watching the river was very hypnotising but weirdly nice. The beautiful cliffs and mountains that we admired at the beginning of our track loomed ahead of us waiting to be climbed; we didn't yet know what that actually entailed. Big OUCH. We were introduced very intimately to what they felt like. I'm not sure what happened in the last 8 days but we must have gotten used to climbing 60+ degree boulders/cliffs/mountains because as much as it was slow it was quite enjoyable. About 30 minutes into it we had a break and were told we could have a whole hour to enjoy the scenery. You didn't have to tell us twice. It didn't matter an iota that my back was dripping with sweat or that I was tired to the bone, NOPE, I removed my backpack and with the speed of Mr Gonzales (aka Speedy) and headed to higher ground for a photo shoot. My GOD what a view: a vertical cliff behind me, mountains and forests in front of me and a huge valley with snow-covered peaks in the distance on either side of me. Breath-taking is the only word that comes even close to describing this view. It is very difficult to stop taking pictures of the same thing when said thing is stunning. I've almost lost my lens cover twice but that didn't slow me down the slightest. Svetlana was in heaven as she found her favourite herb that her grandma used to pick. Luck was on our side and the weather changed again for the better so I did what I've been doing on and off this trekking expedition, I stripped and sunbathe. I tried to read but the view and silence were too perfect so I lay back and enjoyed the one thing that I find perfect - THE MOMENT.

Once we left the cliffs the trail evened out and it became more a walk in the park, or meadow to be exact, than trekking. The forest thinned out, the river hid from view and the sound of bugs overpowered everything else. If you let your imagination go you could have come up with some pretty impressive creatures, and NO I don't mean Aliens and Predators. Saying that some of the bloodsuckers in this part of the world seemed to be very talented in group activities; before Christof had a chance to say 'AHM' Svetlana had a horde of 'creatures' on her legs; it didn't look pretty. Our next adventure was, you won't guess, another mountain (what else) that asked to be climbed. Well, bugger can't describe it: huge backpack on my back, massive camera around my neck, Johnny, my stick, in my right hand and a prayer in the left. We did some pretty impressive rock climbing acrobatics to get through this one, and then, we had to come down the other side of course. This time I used my famous 'ass-brakes', aka sitting and hopping down, which worked like a charm :)

A massive sigh of relief was released when the last person stepped down from the last rock. No broken bones, no major incidents though I can't say the same thing about nails. Not 10 minutes later we came across 2 older gentlemen, both painters, that were very friendly and absolutely stoned, They were very happy to pose with us, their painting and the background.

Fifteen minutes later we crossed the FINISH line.

It was hilarious to see how everyone dropped their backpacks and removed their shoes with the speed and experience of a Duracell bunny. I remember thinking: "We did it .... I really want more". Svetlana, Christof and I said a quick prayer and gave a proper send-off to our walking sticks, I've even taken a picture of the great and powerful trio. While waiting for the taxi we used the time for important activities: sunbathing, discussing food cravings and pillows, OH YEAH!

It was almost strange to see a car, sit in a car and move without using my legs. I didn't like it to start with, however, the first Restaurant on the side of the road changed my mind very quickly. We must have looked (and possibly smelled) like homeless people but we really didn't care. These roadside restaurants are very basic, cheap, efficient, tasty and absolutely amazing. As the menu was in Russian we didn't understand a thing except 'kaposta' (cabbage) but at this point, we really didn't care. Katya and Evgeny kindly ordered everything for us. Within 5 minutes, through a little window, a tray with our food appeared. I could have wept from joy, it was just delicious. We all had the biggest meal we could manage and the words "Mmmmm" or "Ahhhhh" were more or less the only thing spoken. It was such a weird feeling getting water from the tap, ready-made warm food on a plate and knowing we didn't have to clean any of it after.... AAAHHHH. Once finished, the tray with the dirty plates and cutlery was placed into a second window where it was whisked away and washed, just like in fairy tales. Again the tears of joy were threatening.

The taxi drivers waited for us and took us to our next site. I am very tempted to use capitals here but the huts included an actual roof, beds, covers, pillows and indoor plumbing with actual toilets. OH MY GOD, I think 'habba habba' was the only thing I could come up with. I know this will sound weird but as much as I enjoyed the amenities I missed my tent and sitting around the campfire, even the weight of my backpack on my back, but now I have these memories for a lifetime 😊 so all good. After commandeering the 4 bunks on the ground level of our house we went sunbathing. I couldn't have moved even if the cows, that surrounded us very strategically, decided to attack us. Going to the shop to get 'fresh food' felt more like punishment at this point but luckily, we had some heroes in our group: Svetlana, Katya and Evgeny took the initiative and went shopping. I think we only stayed for 30 minutes, with sun cream on, but I most definitely looked like a lobster for the rest of the day. And then we had our second experience in Bania. Boy OH boy, this one had electricity, an actual sauna and access to a small stream that didn't cause frostbite within seconds. We stayed for almost an hour, sweated our bums off with a smile, went into the stream 3 times and washed every part 5 times. My hair got the most attention even though I used purely cold water for rinsing. I haven't felt this clean for a very long time. While the boys had their own fun we attacked 2 watermelons that must have weight at least 10kg, it disappeared within minutes.

After a bit more lazy time we went to another restaurant for our dinner. I doubt anyone would have been willing to cook anything. This was a different restaurant but exactly the same setup, absolutely loved their efficiency and food.

When we returned we played a card game called '1000' which was great fun but for the life of me, I don't remember anything about it now. Surprisingly I was still full of energy but once we decided to finish and go to bed I could barely keep my eyes open for 10 seconds. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a pillow, bed, cover or roof this much before.

I DID IT and survived to tell the tale :)

This was a proper adventure, an amazing journey and a huge amount of memories to last a lifetime and stories to share for a few decades.

Thank you for reading :)