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Travels in Siberia continued to 424

Wild ride on dangerous "highway" with 1000 foot drop offs. . . Stay profilaktorii--a place for workers to sleep and relax . . . author loves it .. . Second railroad an amazing accomplishment, young Soviets come from all around to build it, last enthusiasm for communism . . . Ridiculed on bus by older Russian woman who calls him a "fat American" and accuses him of stealing her space and jostling her . . . everyone laughs . . . moment when he loses all his Russian language skills from stress, exhaustion . . . visit to "lager" prison . . . tales of prisoners of Nazis wishing they could be held by Hitler again, because Russian camps are worse . . . wishing they could be slaves in America . . . eat grease thinking it might be butter . . . discovery by workers of ancient frozen stream complete with frozen salamanders . . . scientists can't investigate salamanders because prisoners ate them!

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