Visions of Falling Through

We were awaken at 9:30am by Olgar shouting over the wall in our bedroom (no, none of the walls in this house actually touch the ceiling) announcing that breakfast was ready. The usual items were presented in exactly the same way except the fried bready-omletey-thing changed slightly each morning. Today it was actually a very tasty lemon cakey type thing (I realise it would sound a lot less amateur if I could describe the exact contents or even call it the name that it deserves, but unfortunately Olgar didn't speak any English and therefore it was impossible to get explanations of what she had prepared for us. We just smiled and ate, usually followed by a grateful "yummy-in-my-tummy" hand movement). I swear there was large quantities of alcohol in her homemade jam too. It seemed to get stronger every morning.

After breakfast, Olgar asked what time we would like lunch and then set off for a hike up the hills - this time on foot. Apparently there is a specific hill that can be accessed by a ski lift and once at the top, offers amazing views of the lake and river mouth. We found the hill and started our incline towards the beginning of the ski lift. This was my first time on a ski lift and found it very amusing considering I wasn't about to ski, the ski season was far gone and we were the only ones on the whole lift. The guys sitting in the control room at the bottom switched the whole thing on just for us. Once at the top, the views were as incredible as we were told, even if they were slightly obstructed by the dense forest. We opted to walk back down the hill instead of taking the ski lift and made it back just in time for lunch.

Olgar had prepared yet another delicious meal. This time it was dumplings, soup, carrot and cheese salad, bread, and sour cream if so desired. Olgar wasn't very happy about us not finishing the vat of carrot salad that she had made, and forced me to eat more. Trying to see the positive aspects of eating something I didn't quite like, I figured it would be great to have super vision in the dark. Ali somehow was exempt from the whole ordeal and smiled the whole time I forced the orange shreds of goodness down my throat. It was a slightly awkward feeling knowing how difficult and expensive it is to buy simple things like even a tomato here. Life outside Moscow is tough and the likes of Olgar have to watch TV (which runs only on Moscow time meaning that she watches breakfast shows in the afternoon) that advertises items that are 10 times what she can afford and are only available in Moscow. If she can't grow it herself, she might as well forget about it. It's amazing how many different things she can make with potatoes and carrots!!!

After lunch we went for another walk on the crunchy miles of ice that lie on the frozen lake to admire the mountains in the distance. This time I was convinced it was unsafe to walk on and had visions of me falling through. I think my confidence was knocked since the yesterday when I actually did fall through. I was testing how safe a particularly dodgy looking area was by gently applying pressure with my foot. On the third press, I was convinced it was safe and proceeded to walk until my foot fell straight through. So, today, being the gentleman that I am, I allowed Ali to walk in front to lead the way (I figured if she fell through, she would need someone big and strong to pull her out - that was my justification). I remember looking back at one point and noticed a man walking out onto the lake with a bucket and fetching water from a hole in the ice. I wondered if Olgar has to do that too.

After more food than my body could handle at dinner time, we sat at the table drinking tea, eating biscuits, reading books and wrote in our journals. I read about Dostoyevsky and his accounts of life imprisonment in Siberia in 1849 and also about Mongolia, our next destination - one of the least visited countries on earth.