Date: 15 July 2017

Location: Viking Akun moored at Mandrogy (on the River Svir between Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga).

We cruised overnight and arrived at Mandrogy around 09.00. There are no “compulsory” excursions today, but those who have decided to go for the banya experience (see Giving the Banya a Body Swerve) are having it here. There is also an optional Matryoshka Painting Class, but we have decided to buy one of these as a souvenir of the trip. We don’t really fancy the class.

Mandrogy was not very exciting,  but it was quite nice to have a day where we just had the opportunity to have a bit of a walk. The main downside of walking in the forested area was the fact that we were almost eaten alive by insects—mainly mosquitoes!

We returned to the boat and at lunchtime they had a huge selection of Russian food served buffet-style. We managed to resist eating a huge amount.  The boat carried on cruising along the Svir. By dinnertime we had started crossing Lake Ladoga. The weather had improved and there was a lovely sunset. When we first started crossing the lake the boat definitely started to rock more, but fortunately I didn’t start to feel seasick.

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