Summary of Russia / Diary of an expedition dog

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

LINK TO THE ITINERARY

I am now lying here in the small room in the border town of Kyakhta. My people are busy writing and so I’m also lost in thought. Arriving in Ulan Ude Siberia opens up a completely different and new world for me. Everything smells different, the sounds of the city are unfamiliar and so is the way people react to me. They are soon always surprised, admire me and some are really scared of me.

Luckily Tanja has discovered a beautiful large park. We do our rounds here every day. That’s what I like best about this city. I make a few animal friends in the town square. Horses stand around in the heat and wait for the children to ride across the course on their backs. We stopped by every day and noticed that the girls were good to their horses. Boy, boy in this monkey heat it’s good to see that my new friends are getting plenty of water!

Then we finally set off and I spend most of the time in my comfortable trailer. “You can walk alongside us when there are fewer cars,” Tanja comforts me. Not all villages have such a beautiful park as Ulan Ude, in Gusinoosjorsk it’s raining, it’s muddy, there are broken pieces on the road and on the flooded tracks. Tanja takes the long hotel walk to the bowling alley and I get to fetch the ball. We have an insane amount of fun and in the short term I think to myself, this is how I can spend the rest of my life. That’s nonsense, of course, because there’s still so much waiting for me in the big wide world that I want to experience.

The absolute highlight of the trip through Siberia is camping in the forest. A wonderful piece of earth. My camp for the night is next to the bikes with a view of the tent. Exactly my thing. I am alert all night and listen into the darkness to warn my humans in time if something is coming. Incredibly content and happy, I fall asleep every now and then, only to listen to the night again shortly afterwards.

As far as my physical well-being is concerned, I am also lucky in Russia. There is actually good dog food for me. I am also spoiled with curd cheese and the occasional egg. Quite a contrast to my Siberian colleagues. The dogs here live on the street and in the park, are mostly afraid of me and are quickly chased away by people when they come near them. Others live behind the fences with their families. Some of them are allowed to roam free, many are chained up. When we walk past there is a deafening barking noise. I’ve learned that there’s no point in barking back and I just keep walking.

I take my important job as a guard dog very seriously. When Tanja and Denis are out and about together, I look after the room and look after our luggage. The staff leave me alone during this time. I think my size is enough to give them a lot of respect.

Now the hours of my stay in Siberia are numbered and I am curious to see what it will be like in Mongolia, the country where Tanja dreamed of me.

Take a look at my first diary entry

(Diary entry 001 “How it all began”)

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