Longer than planned

(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).

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Ulan Ude is extremely hot during this time. On some days, the thermometer climbs up to 40° in the shade. The air is enriched with fine dust, giving us the feeling of living in a desert city. The dry air and fine sand particles really inflamed the eyes of some of the inhabitants. Then storm clouds gather in the sky. There is thunder and lightning and a 24-hour downpour ensures clear, dust-free air until it gets hot again in midsummer.

The days in Ulan Ude fly by. We didn’t actually want to stay here for too long because the city doesn’t offer too much for a longer stay. Nevertheless, we need ten days to do everything we need to do. One reason for this is the total failure of our email traffic and an important charging battery, which is intended to smooth the solar power from the solar panels for the Bosch batteries. After a few days and a few specialists we reached via WhatsApp in Germany, we were close to despair. “Look for another Wi-Fi network, was one of the many statements. We tried everything, including other Wi-Fi networks. In the end, we all agreed that the Russians were blocking something. Then we had to leave our guestiniza, which was soon over 30 degrees every night, because it was fully booked. We found new and nicer accommodation with windows through which a pleasant breeze blows at night. Since we’ve been here, all our email traffic has suddenly started working again. The reason is a better WLAN. Strange, as we tried various cafés and restaurants with WLAN connections without success. However, since we’ve been here, we’ve been receiving our e-mails again. A solution was also found for the defective charging battery. A few days ago, I went to a store that sells car batteries. Obviously, they don’t sell the special batteries we need. After thinking about it for a while, I asked the store owner to connect my battery to a 12-volt car battery. “I know something much better”, he said and connected my battery to his 12 volt charger. Lo and behold, after just 10 minutes he showed signs of life again. For whatever reason, it had become deeply discharged.

In addition to writing and publishing our pictures, we also used the time to improve Ajaci’s trailer. Tanja discovered a needlework store where she found suitable material. After hours of sewing, Ajaci can no longer easily stick his front feet out of the trailer while driving. This ensures his safety.

We are currently in a supermarket to buy some food for our departure tomorrow. “Look at that. That woman’s collar looks like a real snake,” I say to Tanja. “It’s crazy how lifelike you can recreate animal skins these days. Where can you find something like that?” I ask the woman. “It’s real,” she says. “Oh what? I don’t think so,” I laugh. “Yes, yes,” she insists stubbornly, unwinding the reptile from her neck and holding it right in front of my nose. “Uahhh! She’s actually moving!” I let out a sound of surprise. “Of course. It’s a baby python from Egypt,” she says with pride in her voice and before I know it she’s got the poor snake around my neck. “How does a baby python get from Egypt to Siberia?” Tanja wants to know. “Smuggling. I can only imagine that these snakes are smuggled illegally in suitcases and boxes.” To show how much she loves her python, she takes it by the tail, swings it through the air a few times and starts dancing in the middle of the supermarket. Then she puts the head of the little snake in her mouth. After a few photos with our smartphones, we say thank you and leave. “It’s crazy what you experience as a traveler,” I say, shaking my head.

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