Beautilful though Russia is, and wonderfully accomodating its people are, one thing is sure: Russia is flat. Endlessly flat. Vast and flat. So it came as no little relief this week that we found ourselves in the Altai Republic - a small corner of Southern-central russia where Mongolia and Kazakhstan meet - and which consists almost emtirely of mountains and lakes. real, snow-capped mountains and crystal-clear lakes, oh bliss!
We stayed at a reasonably lake-side wooden hut on the shores of lake Teletskoe - no puddle at 78 km in length. we went by boat to see waterfalls, and a groovy bit where a meteorite had crashed into the earth creating a kind of bolt-on crater that was now part of the lake. It was one of those perfect moments where there was peace, clear water and mountains coming down into the lake. We also walked a lot and Ellen got far too excited about all the strange flora to be found. I'm sure she will elaborate.
We met 3 nice Russian boys where we were staying, who got me very drunk on good vodka and then took me to the banya. I have never been so clean. We are now in Barnaul looking into how to get to Irkutsk so that we can get our Mongolian visas. Durig the wait we hope to spend some time at lake Baikal.