Today has been a rather short day for us; we could almost say it was a mid-morning kind of journey, much to the delight of my four paws, as I had already imagined myself with my bottom glued to the seat again. We left our latest paradise and Daddy Edu stepped on the accelerator to devour about a hundred and fifty kilometres in one go, almost without stopping, straight to our next destination.

Mind you, finding the exact spot took a little bit of effort and the occasional grumble on my part. To get off the main road, we had to turn onto a dirt track over a kilometre long that was truly awful, full of potholes that make you bounce around and lose all canine dignity. But just before we headed down that road from hell, we stumbled upon two genuine relics from the Soviet era. They are old agricultural cleaning and drying stations, from the days of the *kolkhozy*. They have elevated structures where trucks would drive under giant funnels to be showered with grain. The curious thing is that one was intact, keeping its original wooden cabin at the top, while the other was completely stripped bare, exposing all its iron guts and rusted gears. Daddy Edu was fascinated by the contraption; I was just wondering if it might rain sausages from those funnels instead.

The place where we’ve pitched camp is great. We’re almost on the riverbank, in an area that forms a small sandy beach which, it must be said, isn't exactly inviting for a swim (and thank goodness for that, as you already know what I think about cold water). Daddy Edu manoeuvred like a professional and tucked us half-hidden among the bushes, perfect for my spy missions.

The afternoon has been very lively. First, I saw a bunch of majestic horses go by, and finally, the *tabunshik* appeared, which is the strange name they use around here for a horse herder. The good man came straight over to nose around when he saw our house on wheels. The guy was very friendly, the only problem being that he talked the hind legs off a donkey... but solely and exclusively in Kazakh. He gave us a tremendous speech from which I didn't catch a single "woof", so we just put on our best "good boy" faces, nodded, and used the universal language of smiles.

After the visit from the chatterbox of the steppe, we were left alone to enjoy the calm of the river. It’s time for dinner (I hope it’s something better than those cardboard treats from the other day) and to settle down to sleep, well camouflaged in our leafy hideout.