Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It was after Chris cycled straight through the first village that I began to worry.
I was hungry and we were out of biscuits. By the time I caught up, I was in a state
of hypoglycemia, near collapse.
'Chris, I really need to get some biscuits,' I said, eyeing a village 200 metres
further on.
'No way, mate, we've got to get to Vologda. I am not stopping before lunch,' he
said.
I looked at him, trying to hold in my frustration.
'Well,' he said, looking at the map, 'what about this village here? It's only an-
other six kilometres.'
'All right, fair enough,' I said, satisfied that we had reached a compromise. We
pressed on.
I was riding alongside Chris as we approached the turn-off for the village. I
veered towards the houses, but Chris didn't budge. I stopped on the far side of the
road. 'Chris! What are you doing? We agreed to stop for biscuits!' I yelled.
'Yeah, well I'm not stopping. I'm going to Vologda and I don't even want
pry-
aniki
!'
Didn't he realise how hungry I was? Or maybe he didn't care.
'Well, give me the group wallet and I will buy the
pryaniki
!' I yelled. Chris did
a semi-circle, lobbed me the wallet and rode off.
There was no time to waste so I released the brakes and rolled into the village.
My eyes darted in search of a shop. 'Where can I buy biscuits? Where can I buy
biscuits?' I yelled at pedestrians, until a frightened looking woman pointed me in
the right direction. To my horror there was a queue outside the kiosk window. Five
minutes later I stood drooling over the
pryaniki
display.
I purchased a bag, stumbled two metres onto the curb and devoured half a kilo-
gram. Only then did my heartbeat slow and the world come into focus.
With renewed energy, I returned to cycling. My anger and frustration balled up
in my chest. I wanted to tell Chris exactly what I thought of his behaviour. As I
became lost in my thoughts, I heard a familiar voice.
'Tim, hey, Tim!' Chris was sitting in a bus shelter. My fury faded as I was
greeted by the warm soup he had prepared. As I slurped it down, I noticed that he
was even more pissed off than me. 'You know I've had to wait for half an hour. My
toes are getting cold,' he said, finally.
'If you had come to the village that wouldn't have happened,' I replied.
