Day 47, June 13 - Ilet River - Kazan

75km - 2931km, hot and sunny 34C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, HC

Woke up with the sun at 400h and was going to start early to beat the heat. But then I started playing with resetting the alarm on my phone and eventually got up at 930h. I probably didn't want to face to swarming insects that were just waiting for the opportunity to jump in the tent with me. Decided not to make breakfast in the forest and opted for a cafe about 15km down the road. Started out riding pretty well over some rough road. Eventually made it to the cafe and ordered cutlet and mashed, and then goulash over rice for the next main course. Texted Adel to tell him that I was going to arrive around 1700h, which gave me about 4 hours to make the last 50km into town. The riding was pretty good, but with the hot weather and increasing traffic closer to town, I got a little bit cranky.

Made it to the edge of town where I had stayed with Timur. The thought of trying to negotiate the roads of Kazan and not really knowing where I was going didn't really please me, so I opted to pay 50 cents and take the #22 bus directly to Adel's house (my apologies to the purists!). When I got on the bus (much to the discomfort of all around me :) ) I received a message from Adel saying that he was at the beach and wouldn't be there until 2000h. I decided not to head to the beach with everything I owned, and waited outside Adel's place for 3 hours. (The babushkas were getting a little anxious looking at the unsavory character waiting outside their place!) Eventually Adel came and we made dinner, had a few beers, and then I headed to an insectless sleep.