The following day I go hiking towards the North Ossetian border on the main road which runs alongside a beautiful river. I want to avoid the traffic and a long dark tunnel ahead of me, so I decide to take the road left to the tunnel that leads up to a village on a hill. As it turns out, the road is long and winding and not the short bypass I had hoped for. I finally reach the village Tsdo, which consists of only 10 houses and about the same number of graves. I am welcomed by the fierce barking of a large white Caucasian dog who comes my way. However the „beast“ is wagging its tail…
A big man emerges from his house saying hello. He tells me that the dog who I’ve made friends with in a matter of seconds is not dangerous but stupid. „You can have him if you like.“ “Stupid Dog”, apparently smart enough to understand what is being said about him, decides to follow me for the next three hours, two of which I spend desperately struggling through high grass and bushland, trying to get down to the road again. I act on the man’s advice (“The grass is pretty high but you can continue that way”.) The dog keeps following me. As I do my best to make my way through the high grass, for a moment I foolishly believe that the dog is leading the way when he suddelnly takes a different turn, but that’s not the case. Instead, Stupid Dog comes back and jumps right on top of me when I – completely exhausted from my fight with the bushland – decide to sit down and take a rest. He also goes for the little food I have in my backpack as soon as I take it off. That dog is clearly no help at all.
Instead Stupid Dog keeps following me back to the village and beyond. Two hours later I again run into his owner, telling him that there is no chance of getting through the bushland. He then suggests “If you want to avoid the dark hole you better take the old road which runs to the right of the tunnel”. Thanks for telling me that after getting cut by all the grass.
When I leave the village Stupid Dog is till trailing me, sniffing at whatever there is to sniff at for a stupid dog. Whenever it seems that he has finally run back to his village I spot him out of the corner of my eye yet again. I finally get back to the main road, cross it and take the old disused road. My hopes of finally getting rid of the dog are dashed when I see him cross the road too… Stupid Dog catches up with me, ambling around, back on the busy main road.When I pass a rest area thank God a heap of rubbish catches his attention and he finally forgets about me.
