The day began with a surprise. We were having breakfast quite peacefully when a police car appeared. I already pictured myself packing up camp in a rush, and at first, there was a bit of a language barrier, but as soon as Daddy Edu pulled out his mobile translator, everything was cleared up. The officer, being very kind, told us: "We patrol around here; if anything happens, we will come. Everything is safe, everything is normal." What a relief. With official permission in our pocket, we headed to a nearby cemetery car park to fill up on water for the camper and set a direct course for Grozny.

Upon entering the city, I was absolutely wide-eyed with surprise. It is super modern, with wide, clean avenues that look like they were taken from a catalogue of the future. It is hard to believe that just over twenty years ago, during the Chechen wars, Grozny was completely destroyed, being declared by the UN as the most devastated city on Earth. The reconstruction has been total and spectacular, heavily financed to erase any trace of the past.

We parked the car in a fairly central area, right next to Vladimir Putin Avenue, and went to explore on foot. First, we passed by the Central Square, which has a giant map of Chechnya drawn on the ground in mosaics. From there, we went to see the imposing Akhmad Kadyrov Mosque, known as the Heart of Chechnya. It is enormous, in the Ottoman style, with minarets that prick the clouds; we only saw it from the outside, but it is deeply impressive. Next to it, the skyscrapers of the Grozny City complex stand out—super modern glass buildings that contrast with the flower-filled parks in the surroundings.

We walked for a good while along Kadyrov Avenue until we reached Minutka Square, a historic roundabout where a gigantic, arch-shaped residential building now stands, imitating traditional Chechen towers. Next to it is another beautiful mosque. The best part of the two-and-a-half-hour walk was the reaction of the people. Everyone would stop, delighted, to greet me and give me affection. Apparently, you see very few dogs walking the streets here, so I felt like a real celebrity.

Back at the car, we took the motorways heading northeast. Travelling through Russia includes a routine we are already getting used to: we were stopped twice at roadside checkpoints. This time there were no issues with Daddy Edu’s surnames; the police checked the papers and the camper, and everything went very smoothly.

By late afternoon, our only mission was to find a place to sleep that had good LTE coverage, because we wanted to call Uncle Joan in Spain and tell him about our battles. But in these lands, phone reception is as unreliable as a chocolate teapot, making searching for shelter with internet an almost impossible mission.

As night was already falling, we decided to bin the coverage requirement. We diverted and parked in a spot that promises to be very beautiful, although for now, we can only see what is illuminated by the car’s headlights and the torch. We locked ourselves in our camper, prepared dinner in the dark, and settled down to rest. Tomorrow we will discover where we have woken up.