I have three theories for why it improved so quickly: 1st - the treatment I applied must have worked (overnight compresses and daily dose of Slivovice - a kind of Czech very strong spirit made of plums :-), 2nd - someone, maybe all of you, must have sent me help and strength - thank you!, 3 - I must have worked it off :-) That’s what the doctor said to everyone when I was serving the military service. To whatever problem you had he had just one kind of treatment, “Try to work it off...”, he always said... And I’m starting to believe that it actually works. However, I haven’t forgot my bad day and I took it as a warning. We’re getting tired and we’re not as alert as we should be... which could end up with something much worse than a simple “stumbling” over a piece of ice. So, since then I’ve been watchful as never and really careful about where I place my feet. All bad, all fears and all doubts disappeared and I’m once again happy, cheerful and full of determination!
We woke up to a beautiful and sunny morning and cold and annoying wind which fortunately died off during the course of day. As every day, we packed our stuff and set off for another day. The terrain got worse a bit - there have been more and more snow fields in the past few day. It’s been changing all the day - one moment it’s perfect to ski across it, the next moment it’s clear ice again. Of course, we knew that right in the morning we were about to reach the 500th km (310 miles) today! It’s just a number but for some reason we still see every hundred we cover as an important milestone and get excited about it. The village of Nizhneangarsk which is our final destination seems to be so close already!
As we were hurrying up along the coastline enjoying the spectacular views I was guessing whether we’d reached the 500th km already or not. Originally, we wanted to make another funny video for you but as we try to put on as many miles as possible every day, we didn’t want to lose time with it in the end. Still, I wanted to make the moment special and memorable at least for myself so I “write” the number into the ice when I had to go... well, you know what. Pavel saw how I was “dancing” there and having his camera ready, took a picture of it... Please, don’t judge us too harsh - after all, we’ve been here for almost three weeks and we need to entertain ourselves somehow :-)) The afternoon was just perfect - blue sky, sun was shining - it was calm and almost warm. What a beautiful day! It’s much easier to pull the sleds on days like these!
We want to dedicate this sunny day to our major sponsors and partners without whose generous we wouldn’t have been here. Also for you, our sponsors, we want to finish the crossing as we don’t want to disappoint you. Thank you!
I also want to dedicated this beautiful day to my two daughters Sandra and Martina and to my son Kuba. I’ve been thinking of you all the time, guys! It crossed my mind today that walking across Baikal is like bringing up children (teenagers especially) - one day it goes without any difficulty, the next day it’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been through... but you still do your best hoping that it will come out well in the very end... :-)
Vasek
