On the way back to the ship we drove through a national park founded in 1992. Its size is 160,000 square hectares (618 square miles). From the road we saw mostly pine trees. Surprisingly, there are nine species from the orchid family growing here. The whole area (minus orchids) reminded us of Michigan's upper peninsula.
The guide said moose, brown bear, wild boar, wolves, foxes, and hedgehogs (?) live here. Hunting, fishing (pike, perch), and ice fishing are allowed with a license. Folks can also hunt for mushrooms and berries (raspberries, cranberries, strawberries).
As we set sail again we heard an alert to check the starboard side of the ship to see a view of the Church of the Nativity once located in the hamlet of Krokhino.
So...Mike had been sniffling all day and when we returned to our room, he was feeling way worse. We decided to nip things in the bud and go to the ship's doctor.
It turns out his name was Mikhail (Michael in Russian) also. He had been practicing for 55 years.
He was quite friendly and wanted to practice his English, so we learned a lot about his family. His mom died at 81 of diabetes. He brother died in his 30's from being in a fight. He often lived at his grandmother's home.
He asked us a lot of questions about our family and home also. We were happy to trade information. His English was VERY good.
Anyway, throughout Mike's life he has often contracted bronchitis. Dr. Mikhail examined Mike and deducted that was the issue here today.
He prescribed and gave us on-the-spot three medications with hand-written instructions.
He reviewed instructions to make sure we understood. The price for the exam was $35 and meds were $73 USD. What a bargain!
Mike felt better over the next day or so, and then had a setback. We returned and he received a shot. No extra charge.
Dr. Mike also checked in with me or us whenever he saw us on board. Many of Mike's meals were soup, ice cream, and cookies delivered to our room by myself or the staff (who were very attentive to the situation). Mike put in a lot of zzzzzz's.
Unhappily, he missed some great dining room entrees and land excursions during the next few days. I was lucky to tag along with our new found friends from Ohio, Jim and Donna (who incidentally are a doctor and nurse). So patient Mike really had three people weighing in on the situation. It was good to have the reassurance of those two. Mike never fully recovered til we got home, but in our experience this situation really just takes time.
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If you have visited any of these places, we would love to hear your comments. Or send us recommendations of places we should not miss.