Spending one more night in Koriak Brigade #8 before going amphibious!

Thursday evening May 7th 2010

Location:
N 62° 41.451'; E 164° 37.136'
Mekino River
Brigade #8 (Manily section) Kamchatka

A quick update since this morning....

Sasha & the Koriak Brigade #8 posse somewhat "kidnapped" me earlier today, making it very clear that they wanted me to stay one more night as their guest, telling me to leave tomorrow around 4am, when the soil and water would still be partly frozen and easier to travel on and with hopefully a clearer sky.

To facilitate my decision to stay, they have even "stored" some of my gear 2 kms away in an undisclosed location in the middle of the tundra which they only took me to late in the afternoon... No joke!

And finally, they went and kill their biweekly reindeer today so that we could enjoy together a good meal tonight!
As a guest, I was often prized pieces: tongue, heart and a new one for me, a koriak special treat known as "ramlochka" which is nothing else than RAW bone marrow!

In the end, I am very glad I took the time to spend the day with brigade #8, sharing stories once again, responding to all of their curious questions, and showing them the videos I shot in Chukchi brigade #8 in Chukotka which they were eager to see!

Based upon brigade #8 feedback, what my friend Vova back in Manily told me over the Satellite phone today and what I have seen from the top of a mountain yesterday while on my way, there is still a thin line of ice on the coast and therefore I have decided that I am going to change my route.

I am going to leave the wezdehod trail I was following across the mountain ranges, and go amphibious,walk down/ swim down the partly frozen Mekino river down to the sea and try to follow the coast line on the remaining coastal ice to Paren, making use of my drysuit if I need to swim from time to time with my sled in tow...

For now, I need to go back to my photoshoot with my faborite reindeer named Kalabok!

As my new Koriak friends would say...
Nedien!