unexpected turn

Suspicious people I felt I needed to steer clear of, unless I wanted to get into trouble. I pitched my tent 20 meters from the road, separated from the roadway by several large blackberry bushes. I had to set up camp in the dark. I turned off my flashlight the moment I caught the headlights of approaching cars, so as not to attract uninvited guests. Over the course of the trip, I’d developed a habit of keeping a knife, pepper spray, and a stun gun near me while I slept. The day had been long and hard. Time to sleep…

AN UNEXPECTED TURN = Day 6 =

I continued on early in the morning toward the Vorontsov Caves. Every now and then, the thought crossed my mind that I could have walked much faster — the hill was too steep, and I had to rest very often. At one of the first stops, I ate the last of my food supplies. My body feels strange, as if it hadn’t slept at all during the night. It’s like it’s in shock and doesn’t know what to do — whether to sound the alarm and demand rest, or to pull itself together, muster up, and find a second wind, because otherwise we’re not getting out of here. The road was winding, with plenty of turns. There were significantly more climbs than descents. The one thing that cheered me up at that point was that on the way back, I’d be going downhill. Along the way, I kept running into blackberry bushes. The apricots and quince were still green, but still, I sometimes managed to find ripe fruit. On the left side of the mountain road, a magnificent view of the mountains and cliffs opened up. I could gaze at endless forests, and to savor that beauty, I would stop, slowly taking in the wild and pristine nature of these parts, forgetting about time… As I approached the village of Vorontsovka, my front tire suddenly went flat. This is awful… Just a nightmare. I have no patch kit, absolutely nothing to fix it with. I set off on such a long journey without… Yeah. Breaking all records. With my last bit of strength, I covered the final three kilometers to the village, carefully hauling the bike uphill with all my luggage. There wasn’t a single hardware store in this village, let alone a bike shop. No tire repair place either. Annoying. The caves are just a stone’s throw away… After thinking it over for a few minutes, I decided to wait for a bus and head back. I got to Khosta in exactly an hour, and it only cost me a hundred rubles. That’s funny. Why didn’t it occur to me right away to take a bus to the caves? And what the hell did I even need this bike for? Upon arriving in Khosta, the first thing I did was find a tire repair shop and fix the wheel. I got to talking with the mechanic — he turned out to be from the same region as me, also from Siberia. From Kemerovo, to be precise. As someone who’s lived here for a few years, he hinted that I was being too cautious all the time, having inadvertently noticed the stun gun in my basket. Here, according to him, it’s much safer than a tourist might think. He says the local big shots look out for tourists here, and if some thug got it into his head to mess with a visiting tourist, it’d be a bad idea for him, with painful consequences. I don’t know how true that is, but it helped me relax a bit. I even started leaving my bike with all my stuff outside unattended — for instance, when I went into a store or somewhere else — and everything stayed safe and sound. After the bike could once again perform its duties, I headed to Adler. The thought of selling the bike, lightening my load, and starting to travel with just a backpack is visiting me more and more often. It would be faster and easier. I don’t know how I ever came up with this utterly pointless idea of traveling by bike through these mountainous mountains…

Evening was approaching, and as always, it was time to find a place to sleep tonight. Searching for a spot in pitch darkness is starting to become a habit. This time, I looked for a campsite online. And I found one that many people recommend on forums — Silver Lake. It’s eight kilometers from Adler. But, as I’d guessed beforehand, it turned out to be just another resort base. There probably aren’t any wild spots left around here… Still, on the way back, I managed to find a suitable place, quiet and peaceful — near a house under construction in a small cottage community. The construction seems to have been halted, so there’s no one here but me. Tomorrow I need to find some hostel or guesthouse and stay there for a couple of days. I really need to rest, reboot, and finally get myself in order. And if possible, get rid of the bike…