Day 150 - Kindness of Strangers: A 10-Hour Ride to a Small Town and A Kind Gesture from A Stranger

Updated: Oct 1, 2023

Day 150 (31 May 2023) - Blagoveshchensk to Yerofey Pavlovich, Russia

DAY 150 (31 MAY 2023) – I left for a 10 hour ride from Blagoveshchensk to Yerofey Pavlovich. I rode on a mostly empty highway with tall green trees on both sides of the road.

On the way, I stopped to capture the beautiful scenery at a nearby dark blue lake.

I arrived at my stay, ‘Hotel Udacha’ by night. It was interesting to see a household radiator in my room connected to a pipeline. Basically, hot water travels through the pipeline and helps to keep the room warm during winter.

It was raining when I arrived and the temperature was 7.5 C. Since it is now summer in Russia, daytime is much longer than the nights. 10 pm is just like 7 pm back in Malaysia, where the sun is still out and about to set.

I met a gentleman at the hotel and asked him where I could go to buy dinner. His name was Zhamin.

He offered to take me in his Toyota Car to a nearby restaurant where I purchased some food. He also took me for a visit to the riverside, about 6km from the hotel.

Yerofey Pavlovich is a quiet urban locality with a population of less than 7000. I was fascinated by the many traditional houses around the neighbourhood, skillfully made out of wood and log. There was also a beautiful place of worship.

Later, Mr Zhamin took me to his apartment. He insisted on preparing some food for me as his guest even though I had already bought my dinner earlier. From our conversations, I got to know that he is a muslim and is married with 2 children. I am thankful for his kind hospitality.