Back in Russia

We left Kostanay a bit tired a few days ago. Instead of getting a good night's rest at the hotel, we ended up going out on the town. We found that the dance clubs just get started at midnight. That made for a late night, and we didn't get to bed til at least 4am. We had a blast, though, and were glad to party down for one of our last nights in Kazakhstan.

Since then, we've been on the road and camping. Angus and Tim, the other team that we're traveling with right now, have quite a bit of "kit" in their Vauxhall Combo. They have a few chairs, a table, and a two-burner stove. Thus, we've combined our supplies and skills to make for some extraordinary camp meals. For example, we bought some fresh-picked mushrooms roadside a few days ago and had a nice pasta with sauteed onions, garlic, and mushrooms. The following morning we had mushroom omelets with beans and toast. Delicious.

Last night we arrived in Novosibirsk, Russia. We found a relatively inexpensive hotel with community showers and no hot water. No problem, though, as we're just stopping over to clean ourselves up a bit before we head on our respective ways. Randy and I will leave for Irkutsk and Lake Baikal today, which will take about three days. Angus and Tim head for the Altai and western border of Mongolia. It's been great traveling with them, and hopefully our paths will cross again in the future!