Thursday 7/19, 5:04pm – in the van on the way to Ulan Ude

Greetings from the deepest lake in the world, a reservoir containing one fifth of the world’s fresh water – Ozoro Bajkal (Lake Bajkal). When entering Russia, I really wanted to see two things: Moscow, and Bajkal. Yesterday I swam in Bajkal, today I ran by Bajkal. Both were majestic experiences. At one point, Bajkal is one mile deep. It is a true wonder. Surrounded by mountains, it is truly breathtaking and humbling to see this jewel. Running through Russia has been long, exhausting, challenging, at times boring… but seeing Bajkal was a great reward. As a ten year old boy back in Czechoslovakia, I saw a documentary about this lake. It was fascinating. To this day I remember the narrator’s deep voice saying: “Nejhlubsi jezero sveta, jezero Bajkal” (“The deepest lake in the world, lake Bajkal). Tomorrow we are crossing to Mongolia. Unbelievable. Mongolia! This is the country I was most excited about before the trip. The Gobi desert! Almost four weeks in Russia are over. I believe we have endured the hardest part of the trip. In the next 12 days, we’ll run
through Mongolia, China, and Japan. And on August 1st we’ll arrive to San Francisco and start the month-long trek across the U.S. On August 1st I’ll be able to call many friends and family, have familiar foods, maybe see a movie, I’ll be able to read the alphabet, use a regular toilet… Ah, the wonders of life. We’re doing it, we’re running around the world, because water is life, and life is good at Bajkal.