Travel

Good morning, my dear friends! A new work week begins today, and I'm ready for it. What’s new about my day? Yesterday, I watched two movies about drug dealers: the first one was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the second was Pineapple Express.

Today I decided to take my next blood test in Kazan at a private clinic before my next dental implant surgery. My family members also decided to go on this trip with me so we could visit our relatives afterward. But something went wrong. When I finished my business at the clinic, we got a message saying they had already gone from the city to their country house. So we changed our plans and drove there instead, as we had some presents for them and couldn't just cancel the visit.

I arrived in the village at around 4 PM and immediately started washing and vacuuming my car. It was a mess both inside and outside, even though I don't use it every day. All four passenger floor mats were dusty and covered with frozen mud after the trip to the forest to check on the wild strawberries. Some parts of the carpet and seats were also smeared with some dirty, undefined substance. But the outside wasn't that bad. The rain over the past few weeks had basically washed it off, so it looked much cleaner. This time, I decided to clean it properly by myself, as I had a good opportunity to do it out in the village, surrounded by nature.

In yesterday's post, I already mentioned that I'd be taking another trip to the village. So after my morning routine, I immediately went there around 11 AM and arrived before the guests had arrived. Even if the guests had already arrived, it wouldn't have made much difference to me. I still didn't sit at the table with the other guests, as the seats were limited and everything was crowded. As a result, I was starving until 3:30 PM and just spent my time in a small, hot room, which didn't make my time there very comfortable.

The last time I visited the village was around May 26 to celebrate our Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha. That trip was a bit challenging and rather short because it was a workday, and I only had limited time in the evening. However, today was different. After the first part of the day, I was already in the village, spending time with my relatives.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy the village scenery or take a walk through the meadows because the weather wasn't very good, and I didn't really have the opportunity. As a result, I spent the whole day indoors. Still, it wasn't a bad experience. I had a great chance to talk with my relatives, have various conversations, and finish the day with a traditional village bath house.

After my morning, I applied sunscreen to my face and went to the border of my city, where there are forests and abandoned fields, to pick wild strawberries. But before that, I had some doubts about the strawberries because, in my entire life, I had never seen so many wild strawberries growing in one place. So I was a bit skeptical about finding any, even though this spot had been recommended by a familiar local resident. However, my doubts vanished when I saw patches of strawberries growing directly in the fields.

Finally, after about five months, my crowns were installed — I started this whole process back in December last year. I want to share how it feels to have artificial teeth in my jaw now. Luckily, during normal talking and speaking, I don’t feel any discomfort at all. The crowns even look like my real teeth — maybe even better (okay, that’s just a joke, but still, they really look great). However, at the same time, I do feel a bit of discomfort with the lower crowns when I eat. It feels like I can’t chew completely normally, like something is slightly in the way when I grind food. These sensations mostly appear during meals, and it’s not something terrible, just a bit unpleasant.

My trip to Seoul, South Korea turned out to be surprisingly smooth—maybe even easier than my experience in Japan. From the moment I arrived at the airport to getting into the city, everything just felt convenient and intuitive. Taking the bus was simple, paying with my debit card worked everywhere without any friction, and the metro system was easy to navigate without overthinking anything. I never found myself confused or making mistakes, which made the whole experience feel very comfortable. In some ways, it even reminded me of the best moments I’ve had traveling around Europe, where things just work the way you expect them to.

Today’s trip to Kazan turned out to be one of the most stressful travel days I’ve had in a while—two flights, tight timing, and a bit too much optimism on my part. I flew from Seoul to Tashkent and then onward to Kazan with Qanat Sharq (HH822) and Uzbekistan Airways (HY649). In hindsight, not researching the airlines—especially Qanat Sharq—and giving myself only a two-hour layover in Tashkent was a mistake. I’ve taken similar risks before and gotten away with it, so I guess I trusted the pattern a bit too much. This time, though, it nearly cost me my second flight and added unnecessary stress (and expenses) along the way.

The day started cloudy and kind of cold. The weather wasn’t great — around 22 degrees, with a cold wind hitting from time to time, which made it feel chillier than it actually was. Still, I didn’t cancel my plans to visit the last spots I had in mind from yesterday. Actually, I did the opposite — I started as early as possible and managed to finish everything before 6 PM.

Later, after dinner and on my way back to my accommodation, I kept walking around the streets of the district where I’d been staying all week. Funny enough, I had only properly stepped onto these streets yesterday. But today felt like the final walk — quiet, calm, just me wandering under the streetlights. There was something about the atmosphere that felt really unique, like one of those moments you know you’ll remember later.

It wasn’t the easiest day, though. Nothing unusual really happened, but I felt surprisingly tired almost the entire time. I started late, sometime after noon, after taking my time with sleep and my usual routine. Even so, by around 8 pm I was already heading back to my accommodation because the cold started creeping in and it just didn’t feel comfortable to stay out any longer. What’s interesting is that during the day it actually felt quite hot—I was walking around in just shorts and a t-shirt, and at one point I saw a building display showing 27°C. Still, many locals were dressed in jackets and long pants, while most tourists, like me, were clearly in summer mode. It made me wonder if I misjudged the weather a bit, especially once the temperature dropped in the evening.

Today ended up being a shopping day, so everything felt pretty calm, but also more expensive than I expected. Honestly, I hadn’t planned to spend that much money, but it all happened spontaneously, and I really wanted to keep updating my wardrobe. I ended up buying some essential clothes from brands that left Russia after February 2022, and since I can’t find them back home anymore, it felt like the right decision to get them now. Still, this led to another problem — how I’m going to bring everything back on the plane. I don’t have any checked luggage, and my backpack is already full and overweight, so now I have to figure out where to fit all these new clothes and somehow get them home without issues.

My morning was as usual — I slept until 11 am again and basically skipped the first part of the day. But the weather in the morning was quite cloudy, so I don’t think I really missed anything important. When I finally started the second part of my day, the weather had changed completely — it became much sunnier and more pleasant for a walk. It felt like a positive sign to finally start my day and explore new places in this unfamiliar city. To be honest, the whole day felt very long in a good way. I started my walk at 1 PM and finished it only at 9:30 PM. Even though I didn’t have time for dinner during the walk, I just ate after I returned to my accommodation.