I think that’s how you spell it anyway.
We took ages to find a good spot to chill out for a few days – the highway runs right down close to the border with China and there just weren’t any good places to turn off.
We’re by a series of murky ponds full of lotus. Our Russian friend we kidnapped from Blaga, Lyosha, keeps telling us that if lotus grows on a lake then the water must be clean but none of us are too convinced. Luckily the mighty river Ussuri flows nearby – fresh, warm and a lovely swim if you don’t stand in one place for too long before something nibbles on your feet. Lyosha says that they are leeches and they’re good for you. We’re not too convinced of that either.