If we'd known, we might have gone a different way.

But I'm glad we didn't.

"Jo, are you sure this is right?" I asked as we wound our way down from the road towards the river. I had been expecting, quite naturally, a bridge to take us across.

Instead, a handful of roubles later, the boatman waved us aboard and got us moving. How many roubles, I couldn't say - it was just the change left over from lunch at the USSR Cantine, so I figured it couldn't have been more than a euro or so.

A dog hopped onto the little ferry with us. Before we'd even reached the opposite bank, he leapt ashore, clearing the narrowing gap as the ferry eased alongside, and disappeared into the bushes. As we drove off, there he was again, trotting back just in time to board with the truck waiting to make the return crossing.

We didn't stop smiling for hours.