As we stopped last night 220 Km before Irkutsk, after waking up in the morning we started replace the tire. I helped with opening and closing of the bolts, the same as yesterday only today we needed even to put a tire on a disk as yesterday we already used the spare wheel and today we had only a tire with no wheel which was locked into a cargo section on top of the boxes with watermelons.
As I'm lighter than the driver, I was climbing on top of the boxes to get it. It took around an hour and afterwards we continued our journey.
Weather is nice and it seems like after cold Baikal region night it's gonna be a hot Siberian day as already at 10 AM is so hot that both windows are opened and we are moving with a speed of around 70 km/h as the road seems to be better than yesterday.
We are passing one of Siberian Salt mines. The day is getting shorter and shorter as we are moving towards East and it is already 8 hours different between Brussels and here.
I've been driving now with this driver already 24 hours and his wife is calling him at least three times a day, asking him how he is and telling that she can't wait for him to come home even if they are together for 15 years now. That makes a man want to come home.
The man itself by the nature is made to work, care and take responsibility about his family but there must be something which drives him to do it - and that is a woman's love and care towards him: the feeling of home - when he gets there; the feeling of peace. Woman needs a home for comfort, but for the man it's a place to rest and restore the energy he loses in work - to give the woman that comfort she needs.
And we are moving more towards South the weather gets warmer. In Novosibirsk, from where I'm driving now to Irkutsk the temperature raises up from 16 degrees Celsius during the daytime in Novosibirsk till 30 in Irkutsk. That makes me more happy!: :)
So now I'm in Irkutsk some Japanese restaurant where is a free wi-fi and tee:) Afterwards I'm gonna move towards Baikal lake and get some rest for a couple of days.:)
In Irkutsk I was dropped at the District of Lenin, from where I got on the buss number 6 and drove till the very center of the city for only 12 rubles which is about 25 Euro cents.
So after hopelessly searching it around the city Irkutsk for one more hour I decided to move towards direction of Chita - out of the city. i walked around the kilometer after I noticed that finally my Wi-Fi indicator becomes alive and I found that his life is coming from some Japanese restaurant and I moved towards it.
The door was opened for me by some Asian girl who greeted me with a low gesture. I explained her that I'm an tourist and I'm not hungry but I'm here just because of internet and all I need, probably, is a tea. She seated me and brought me a tea with a maximum kindness I even did not felt to be earned to receive and after asking her how much dos a tea costs she replied that it's free as it is usually a complimentary drink and it's free even if I'm here only for a tea. I felt uncomfortable regarding this free tea, kind service and myself - brutal, tired, probably a bit stinky and restless tourist who cared only about the internet.
So I took a seat, plugged in charger my iPhone, chatted with friends, replied to emails and updated website for around two hours and enjoyed a beautifully served green tea for free and when I moved away, I left 50 out of my 65 rubles to her as a tip - as anyway it was cheaper and more, much more pleasant experience as if I would spent it in internet cafe.
Afterwards I continued moving towards the South exit of the city and saw few churches on my way I heard about so decided to pop in at the first of them.
Together I visited three local churches, SvjatoTrojeckij, Church in the name of the Saviour Nerukotvornovo Obraza and the central one and afterwards continued my road outside of the city towards Lake Baikal.
I was picked up by two 30 years old woman and a man who was a husband of one of them. It was a very pleasant and attractive company who stopped after each 25 kilometres to have some vodka and I was unable to refuse it... They dropped me till the very lake Baikal and told to come to pick me up tomorrow for a colecting of strawberries.
On the Baikal are two types of winds: Sarma - the cold one and Arguzin - the warm one. Even if it seems like today is Arguzin - I have all my clothes on me again and I'm burning fire from a local woods at the very coast of this incredible lake.
The temperature is about +5 degrees celsius. And as i'm making the fire i've prepared to spend here all night. After the fire was gone I took the stones and covering them under the sand, put the tent upon it so I kept warm all night.
