Two weeks ago, on 1 and 2 september 2012 , Karsten and I went to Borodino (Russia) and gathered a few testimonies of participants. Since we plan to walk 1000 km (Moscow - Vilnius) to catch up with history, we asked those participants what they thought about our plan to follow the retreating French army that left Moscow 200 years ago. This first testimony comes from Azat, member of the 1st Bashkir Regiment that fought Napoleon under the orders of Platov and the Cossacks of the Don. Thank you Azat and all the members of this regiment for your kind hospitality on our behalf!