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Today we had a breakfast consisting of butter, with eggs. More butter than egg. The others didn’t like it, but I loved the stuff – truly delicious, and one of the few Russian meals I thought tasted good. I’m really starting to miss pizza though.

Unfortunately Randy and Anders had to leave at this point – they had gotten word that their dog  of many years, Roxy, wasn’t doing well and decided to head home.  We later heard that she had passed away on their way back. The team was pretty down after hearing that, and we’re sorry for your loss.

After Anders & Randy departed in a car just barely big enough to fit them & their gear, we walked about 15 minutes to the town, I should say village, or more accurately – a single street, called Cheget. It’s a picturesque area with the giant range that constitutes the Russia/Georgia border right behind it. We took a ski lift up to a restaurant that had some kind of sweet cider wine. I didn’t really like it, but the view was truly incredible. Unfortunately Elbrus was in clouds so I didn’t get any shots of it today, but the other mountains in the area are equally gorgeous.

Jo, being among many things, a yoga instructor, gave lessons to Gina & Sasha while we were up there. The mountainous backdrop really made the area a perfect place to do yoga. We hung out for awhile and came back down to Cheget to have lunch at an outdoor place with nice ambiance. Can’t say the same about the food though!

I stayed with Gina and Danijela to explore the local market afterward. It had a really cool village atmosphere, and if you looked up through the cracks in the roofing, you would see the giant snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus mountains. It may be a hard life out here, but it has its perks.

After dinner, I hung out at a local mountaineer hangout with Mike, Sasha, Gina and Jo – a cool dome structure filled with photos of expeditions and summits. I got a chance to chat with Sasha and Mike, and over the course of the trip learned some really interesting things about Russia that normal tourists probably wouldn’t discover. While on the surface it may seem similar to the West, government abuse of power seems rampant, and you really need to watch your back. The situation is worse for women, since there seems to be institutional inequality – a system that goes unquestioned. Or rather those who try to question it end up silenced or in jail. Same with anyone who disagrees with Putin. The Putin propaganda was everywhere in the cities, and it seems most people love him, though the implication was that if you don’t, you’d end up in jail.

Continue to Day 10 – Valley Hike