January 5th to 7th - back at Natasha's

Wednesday January 5th - A last visit to our New Years cabin.

Today we had planned a last visit to our new year cabin (to see if we had forgotten anything in our hasty departure) and also to pay a promised visit to Babooshka Rita, who Lena and I had met during our stay in July.

	Unfortunately, as usual, we had failed to make an early start, and at 12:19 Sasha and I were just venturing out with Natasha to help with the shopping

At 15:25 we had taken the bus to the other side of town, and for a change were following a slightly different route than usual from the bus stop to our New Year cabin. Here Sasha and I are standing in front of a prominently placed monument which I think was in memory of Soviet Citizens killed in the 1919 war. I have no idea what the ghostly apparition immediately in front of us is.

	Sasha climbing a nearby rock for a better view - not as easy as it looks, being covered in ice as it was.

The view out across the bay at 15:27 (so it will be dark in about half an hour). The route to our New Year cabin follows the near shore along all the way to the right.

Needless to say it was dark by the time we arrived at the cabin, and without any electric power there was not much incentive to stay for long. So after a quick scout around with a torch, we locked the door and made our way back toward the bus stop to visit Babooshka Rita.

	At 17:58 we were with Babooshka Rita, and after a welcome cup of tea and some food it was time to take a picture.

Two young members of Babooshka Rita's family, who helped by taking the previous photograph.

	We arrived back at the bus stop for our journey back to Natasha's, and had a bit of time to kill before the bus. So we went for a walk down a track on the other side of the road. At the end of the track was a gate leading to the Hydroelectric plant. This picture was taken at 19:16 through the bars of the gate.

At 19:19, Lena and Sasha walking down the track on the way back to the bus stop.

	At 20:05 we are back at Natasha's. The houses here have no running water, so the water must be fetched in buckets from the 'Kolonka' at the end of the street.

The washing machine is also of a more primitive variety.

Thursday January 6th - Russian Christmas Eve.

	In the afternoon Lena and I ventured out on skis to attempt to retrace the route of our last hike in July. Here, at 14:16, we were just turning down the long road that led to our destination. The conditions were perfect, but soon after taking this picture I started having problems with the bindings on my borrowed boots and skis, and we ended up having to abandon the attempt.

Later that evening Natasha's daughter offered us the use of her shower again, so at 19:47 I was being entertained by one of the younger members of the family while waiting for Lena to emerge from the shower.

	At 23:39, 20 minutes before Russian Christmas, starting our celebrations. Russians seem to celebrate Christmas at midnight rather than on getting up in the morning.

Friday January 7th - Russian Christmas Day.

In Natasha's lounge at 14:17 - I was quietly reading my book on Russian grammar, waiting for the others to get ready, and for some reason Lena thought that worthy of a picture...

	However as we didn't seem to take many other pictures that day, I'll have to include both of them..

We eventually made it out of the house, and made our way to what had been suggested to us as a scenic part of town, a short bus ride away to a point roughly midway between Natasha's and where we had spent New Years Eve. The area did look interesting, but unfortunately by the time we arrived it was already getting a bit too dark to really appreciate it. Here, at 16:10, Sasha on a steel platform on top of a large construction that we had climbed. The construction seemed to form part of some form of dam.

	The ladder we had climbed to reach to top of the platform - although with the rapidly failing light, you will probably have to use your imagination. We soon decided to turn back, and resolved to try again the next day, this time starting a little earlier.

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