After breakfast our hosts from last night called by to continue guiding us. First off was some shopping at a local mall; and a very up market affair it was too. It also demonstrated the universal appeal of modern electronics. In a single story mall with maybe 10 shops there were 3 cell phone stores and one computer store. For us of more interest was the well stocked supermarket.

We spent a hour or so at the local regional museum. This had extensive displays and was very well presented. One of the large displays was a model of a timber fort that was situated in the region in the 1600s.

Following lunch at a cafe where we got a chance to use the internet we headed north to the town of Svobodni where we were to meet another of Vladimir's friends Alexander. We had a passenger on this leg as Michael (our main host from Blagoveshchensk) was to travel with us as Alexander in Svobodni was fixing the transmission in Michael's car. Nina had the dubious pleasure of riding on the bed in the camper.

We had an interesting afternoon in Svobodni meeting Alexander, and another Alexander. Immediately on arrival the two Alexanders gave the truck a thorough inspection and concluded with the observation that "it is not Russian" (meaning it was complicated). They also pointed out (probably correctly) that the suspension was too soft for Russian roads. We then proceeded a little way out of town to a nice area next to a small river (and natural spring) where we had a BBQ Russian style. Over a makeshift BBQ pit we cooked kebabs and combined the meat with bread and juice for a tasty dinner.

Back at Alexander's house Michael left for his return drive to Blagoveshchensk and we went to bed.