Siberia - Day 7

Waking to the sound of the river rather than rain was lovely, sleeping on a flat surface rather than a ski slope was just amazing, however, the salty 'salsa' from last night did its magic trick: my dreams ranged from weird to weirder.

I was a proper girl scout and woke early to start the fire and wait for the others to join me. There are few things in life I hate, rushing is one of them, so I sat there and simply enjoyed the moment. We didn't leave until 10 am. Today's agenda was simple, get out of the mountains and walk 20 km…

I was prepared for anything; even a volcano eruption wouldn't have surprised me. Thermal top, 2 normal tops, 2 pairs of socks, rain jacket, hat, trousers and another layer of rain trousers. 10 minutes later I thought I will pass out from heatstroke. We all have blonde moments, this was mine, not realising that physical exercise, straight uphill, equals quick warm-up. The sweat was not dripping but flowing down my back and face. The moment we stopped I stripped with the speed of a professional stripper from Vegas :) AHHH. It's interesting to notice that within a few days in the wilderness, modesty flies out of the window and practicality takes over to a point where you just stop caring and self-consciousness is a foreign concept.

My ankle was strapped so tightly that my shoes were more an accessory than a necessity, the swelling on my knee was minimal so I was literally frolicking downhill. I may have been the very last person in the group, but with my angel called Katya behind me I felt safe. This lasted until we got to the river crossing. Looking at the same logs again almost gave me a stomach ulcer in 2 seconds flat. I actually felt my blood draining, my hands going clammy and my knees shaking. SOOOO I took it philosophically and went for it with a lot of care. Before making the very first step I very kindly asked Evgeny to take my backpack across, if I was meant to fall in, there was no way I was getting all my stuff wet. It was almost annoying to see Evgeny walking across the logs like it was a 10-foot-wide sidewalk. Well for me it most definitely wasn't. Learning from my 'rainy day' experience I changed into sandals, took my shoes, the DRY clothes I was wearing, and my flapping courage and went for it. A snail would have run a Marathon by the time I managed 2 steps. It wasn't the crossing itself but what lay beneath the logs that gave me a bad moment, imagine an angry river that is going with the speed of a Formula 1 car and roaring with the sound of a lion all the while chanting your name. It may have been the buzzing in my head but it didn't feel like it. After much consideration, which may have been a good 5 seconds, I put one leg on a log, held on to thin air, and started walking.

I would like to take this opportunity and thank every single person in my group for not taking pictures and memorising this moment of utter concentration/terror/excitement/madness in my eyes that most definitely was Oscar-worthy. My priorities clearly lay with dry trousers and boots. Halfway through I sort of started waving my hand indicating my need for assistance, not a burger; my prayers were answered by Garret. He again became my saviour and helped me to get to dry land. I was very reluctant to let his hand go even after reaching dry land but I managed.

And that's when the hard part started.

The mountain that took us about 10 minutes to descend took us just over an hour to climb which also included several thousand stops for much-needed fresh air and a much-needed session for a Swiss masseuse. It's quite interesting how when faced with such a physical challenge every worry in your head disappears and for a while nothing else exists but the next step and the next break.

Once at the top, we started descending again which I hoped would be easier however both my knees vehemently disagreed with that silly statement. I think they were both singing 'Halleluiah' for the rest of the day.

Getting to the river with John and Jack was amazing, and having a mini snowball fight in shorts, again, was just brilliant, crossing the next river was a 'walk in the park' in my super-duper sandals. At this point wading through freezing cold water was actually refreshing.

Lunch was served next to, you will never guess, stream crossing :) and that's when the sun decided to make an appearance. Bikini time with CAPITAL letters, oh yeah baby. Being off my feet was just heavenly and the only thing that made me get up my very comfortable ass was food, not even Brad Pitt's attempts at seduction would have had the same effect. While we had lunch, another group settled close by and started a drone. As I've never seen one in person, I will be a sucker here, and say WOW. It went up and over the mountains within minutes; I very successfully managed to hide the drool that was pooling around my mouth, and yes before you ask I am a geek/nerd and proud of it.

The next phase was mainly through a plateau covered in small shrubs and branches so long trousers were very welcome. To be a proper girl here, for 5 million seconds and counting, a meadow had all of us girls dazzled and 'forced' us to pose for pictures. Pretty flowers, a gorgeous backdrop and another break :) I loved our 'girl's time. Five whole minutes later we got to another point, aka the top of the hill, that was earmarked 'Photo Mania'. The view was just amazing: mountains and hills, colourful meadows and lots and lots of green until the eye could see. The group picture should win awards for THE happy moment. The next section however was a bit strange; we walked across a field of soft mossy/bushy area. It went on like this for over an hour but my feet were grateful for the change. The next mountain chain emerged gradually and it felt like a new chapter of our adventure started. The mountains were much further away but the impact was still powerful. When we got to the top of the hill, thank you Jesus/Allah/Buda, the view that greeted us was something out of a fairy tale. A valley deep down, with a stream zigzagging in the middle and totally covered by forest. No picture can do it justice. That view was the good news.... finding the way to the bottom, after 18km, was the bad news. Surprisingly it went quickly and smoothly and we found our campsite with ease…. It was simply stunning. Sharp cliffs on one side, hills and forests on the other, a stream around us and a flat land in front of us.

Once we set up camp I honestly contemplated falling asleep on my butt but having a wash first seemed like the better option. As always it was an experience: after a sweaty day we were praying for some cold water but what we got instead was an ice-cold stream where washing was total agony. We most definitely felt revitalised after and I must have broken some Olympic and World records changing into my evening gear. After the day we had, the word 'hungry' didn't seem to fit, totally famished felt a bit more accurate. The fish soup disappeared in seconds and the hot chocolate was praised to 'Eternity and beyond' and went down with great greedy gulps. Evening activities were cancelled due to lack of energy/power/will to live and we ended up listening to some Russian music until our eyes dropped.

It was our longest day but I have to say one of the best.