The joys of Russian plumbingThe hotel in Tynda is I believe a common occurrence in the space-time continuum, It is a place where time can stop for 30 years. Maybe it's another dimension but nothing had moved in that hotel for some time (except the furniture, most of it being in the corridors).
After some gesticulating, I was rented a room, the price being calculated by the hour. Since I was unaccompanied, I did not understand why it should be hourly charging and if I was accompanied, 18 hours? Be that as it may, I headed aloft to pick up the key from the key person (who is not the same as the reception person and may not be the same as the show-you-to-your-room person). Neither lift worked until the sixth floor button was pressed, the remaining five floors being for show I presume. Exited the lift to a unlit corridor of uneven terrazzo. I exaggerate here, the corridor was lit, at the far end by a single fluorescent fitting outside what was my room. Closer inspection revealed that room 612 was also the only room with a TV signal. This room must have been the VIP suite because it had an en-suite. Well a combined hand-basin, shower, toilet closet. Very handy when caught short in the shower but the seat is always wet and because the floor is uneven so is the floor. I greatly appreciated the warm shower, even though it soon wasn't warm. It had been two days since my last shower and about seven since my clothes had seen soap.
The true unevenness of the whole construction was shown by the amount of water that ran away from the drain and into the room. I wondered what the extra towel was for!
Bought beer from the restaurantette at the end of the hall. The power-saving policy unfortunately extended to the catering facilities as the fridge was a beer-warmer.
Food from one of many magazines and succumbed to inebriation and a warm bed. I'm sure the yak who owned the blanket before me found it comfortable, however with Russian sheets that don't fit the bed, I was forced to don more clothing and swelter.

Next day was still cold and raining but my search for an internet cafe had proven futile so I was resigned to pressing on. It wasn't until after I had checked out that I found the internet just metres from where I had asked people. Understanding that ИНТЕРНЕТ is INTERNET helps greatly. Internetted until closing time and checked back into the hotel. I discovered a way to annoy the receptionist even more than being a dumb kiwi with no Russian, asking for one day when you really only want 16 hours. The whole manual, triplicate, long-hand with annotations thing is REALLY time-consuming.
Another night of magazine food topped off with a half-bottle of the what proved to be currant wine from the world-renowned SMORODINOVOE vineyard. At 82 roubles the French had better sharpen their pencils!

Breakfast at the restaurantette at what I thought was 8:00am. It was actually 7:00am, having crossed a time zone (one of ten across the Russian Federation).
I watched the counter person do the Tuesday stocktake.
Count the cigarettes...Check
Count the booze...Check
Weigh the coffee tin...Hmm
Count the DRINKING STRAWS! Not just how many spare boxes but how many in the jar.
I am tempted to order a milkshake and take TWO straws. It would take a workers committee and a full council of the Komsomol to resolve that one.

I fiddled about waiting for the internet cafe to open, only to be told that it was independence day and that despite people being at work, the internet did not work.
So set off earlier than expected on the road to Yakutsk. This is a 1000km section with no towns of any size