Today was a day of (mild) contrasts. We started the day with a light covering of snow and once under way we traveled through a fairyland of snow and frost covered forests with a light fog. It was really beautiful. As the day progressed the fog lifted and the sun occasionally appeared, For the remainder of the day we were treated to periods of snow and sunshine; sometimes both at the same time.

The Russian road system also got into the act - contrasts that is. For much of the day (say 250 of the 320 km we drove today) the road was very good. Smooth black top as good as any North America secondary road. However this was interspersed with periods (of up to 20 kms at a time) of construction work that produced a surface that would do justice to a 4x4 or off road test; mud, rocks, wash boards everything you can imagine. Of course the weather synchronized with the roads giving us the heaviest snow falls of the day just as we were negotiating the worst sections of road of the day.

This section of the Khabarovsk to Chita road also has the best rest stops we have seen so far. They are sealed, quite a treat, have nice new steel ramps for those necessary fixes to ones vehicle, and even in some cases pit toilets and picnic shelters.