July 2, 2016

An early start to a glorious sunny Saturday morning! I had one kilometre walked before 6am!! What happened to me? Well, last night I finished after midnight having salvaged only 38 km for my tough walk through Ufa. There was no place to camp and didn't feel safe on the road as traffic was still heavy. I rounded a bend and was very surprised to see a petrol station in a small village. However, it was closed and nobody to ask permission, what to do! So I just popped up my pop-up tent on a patch of grass at the side and got inside. I figured I would be packed up in 15 minutes if I was asked to leave! In the morning the security guard who was very nice and curious about my walk apologised and said it was forbidden for me to camp there and that he was very sorry but I had to move on. Last night I didn't sleep much as I was following Wales great Euro 2016 win over Belgium on the BBC website! My friend Rosie Swale Pope who is from Tenby, Wales was very excited too and she was watching the first half while waiting for her bus in Arizona to continue her run across America after a short break back home. I am sure she was a tad bit disappointed when her bus came along before the end of the game. So, when I texted her that the gallant dragons won 3-1 I almost heard her cheer here in Russia =D She tells me she is on the lookout for a pub in the Arizona desert to watch the semi-final on Wednesday =D
I am hoping for a Wales v Iceland final! Like me Rosie also has a cancer awareness message for her run. Life is precious - early cancer screening saves lives, it's time for me to put my sun screen on.
Thanks to Ramilya Shagatova the lady in the photo for walking with me through much of the centre of Ufa yesterday. She is an English language teacher and even though she was busy preparing for her driving test she still stopped me to help when I was looking for mosquito spray, as the pests are biting hard! She says she is 45 and driving is a big step for her, she also wants to travel but has never been outside of Russia. She is my latest victim and yet again I had my ongoing offer of a walk to Mongolia refused :( This time it was only because she has two children and a husband waiting at home. Yes, that's all and I told her to take them along and we can all have a big picnic! Perhaps In future should make my offer easier by suggesting " only as far as Asia " as it's only less than 300 km away :)
On the way Through the city I was startled when a horse passed me in a city park, but I think it was for hire, an attraction. Below is my current location, however km 2 has taken an hour as I stopped to make coffee in the glorious sunshine and so to make this post! Have a great weekend my friends, I know I will, I am loving the road!