Dog sledding and back to Irkutsk

It was lovely waking up in he forest. We got a knock at about 9 o clock and went for breakfast. Happy and friend were back, so I snuck them the chicken I'd saved from dinner. I spoke to all the dogs down the line, noticing how cold and thin they were. One was just like Hayde in that she pawed me if I tried to leave. I wished I'd saved the chicken for her as she was so thin and had left her pellets on the ground. She needed some proper food! We set up and were soon trudging up the steep side of the mountain, sweating and wishing we were fitter. There was no sun this morning and it was snowing. This time the ride down was expected, and not as steep, so I positioned myself correctly and enjoyed watching the dogs run full out. Would love to know what speeds they get to. It was truly magical riding with the dogs through a snow filled forest in this pristine place.

I was given the reigns again and soon could hear the dogs back home. While the mushers were unsledding the dogs one got loose and came flying at one of the dogs tied near to where I was standing. A vicious attack ensued with the dog next to them climbing in as well. I threw my bag at that one and the musher ran up and eventually managed to separate the two. The one that had attacked the tied up dog had a bad bite on it's face where the dog would not let go. I saw that later they took the injured dog inside.
My toes were too numb to stay out anymore and I hobbled into the tackle room. It's very sore when your toes thaw.

Thawing my toed

The sweet dog that had been in the cage the previous day was now out in the room, and as sweet as anything.

Sweet dog with arthritis

She had part of her lip missing in what looks like an old fight and obviously hobbles. I think he said she has arthritis, poor thing. Oleg soon locked her back in her cage.  

Dogs garden

We said goodbye to Natalie and Oleg organized us a taxi to Irkutsk. Afterwards we regretted not having lunch in Sledvianka first but it was too late when we thought about it. Took about an hour to get to our hotel,  the 'Happy Cat', which was very adequate.

Taxi to Irkutsk

We caught up on emails and then caught a bus over the river to look for lunch. The guide book said the best restaurant was a Mongolian one, and a cold half hour walk later we found the very smart restaurant. They had wi-fi and the food was great. The walk home was freezing but we went via the station so we knew the quickest way there in the morning with our luggage.

Walking back from lunch

Looking towards the station, cold!

Back at the hotel I sat up late trying to catch up on the b logging, not realising that China has banned the blog sites and this was actually my last chance before SA.