The lake city

Today I took the "fast" land transit to Nizunpaska, the city by the lake. I put fast in quotation marks since it took most of the day to get there, crossing a large and desolate mountain range. Nizunpaska (its Napanii name as indicated in the stations is not the local name) is not a large city by any planetary standards. 

While its core districts are still markedly Caldari in the way we know it from Jita, the old lakeside part has a different feel to it. It is more relaxed and less efficiency-focused. The remoteness of the city with respect to major metropolitan areas also shows itself in the demographics: there are markedly less Deteis and Civire here than in the main hub I was yesterday.

The city is located at the eastern tip of the lake, so the sun sets over the lake. Right in front of the city, there is a small islet in the lake, deemed a holy place by the inhabitants. In the evening, they gather at the lakefront to watch the sunset. Even though it was a bit cloudy, I took a picture to remember this place.

After sunset I went for dinner, and had a simple meal, the local soup. It is a fish stock with fermented soybean, to which they add small clams from the lake and local vegetables. I was explained that there is quite an art to serving the soup, as the serving (in a bowl) must balance greens and non-greens in the soup, as well as balance floating elements (a kind of fungus) and parts that sink to the bottom of the bowl. Also the clams must have opened in exactly the right way. I hope I did justice to the dish...