This report is about the tour: Above the Sea
Hiking “Over the Sea” Crimea, July 17-22, 2011.
Everyone managed the route thanks to the experience and communication skills of our guide. Both the first and subsequent difficulties of the path were overcome under the strict control of our leader. We took our time, Anton correctly selected workarounds for difficult sections. The reliability and experience of this person was felt, and unconditional trust in him arose.
Friends! If one day the moment comes when everything starts to fall out of your hands, when you stop understanding where you are running, pushing others around with your elbows, and when you run, you don’t notice the result, because another goal has appeared that carries you away with renewed vigor, then it’s time to stop. Look around. Close your eyes. Shut up and listen to the inner silence.
But what to do if the thought of business, worries, problems continues to drill into you. When everything around reminds you of vanity? You go out into the street and see worried, gloomy faces, eyes looking right through you. It feels like you are under the influence of some kind of intoxication. And the desires that you realize are not really yours, you simply copied them from someone else.
Fortunately for us, there is a cure for this half-asleep state. The simplest and most primitive method is recommended by psychologists. It is necessary from time to time to change something around you, to refill your living space. The most effective way to distract from the problems that oppress us is to change the environment. So that nothing around reminds us of the reasons for the fuss we have invented. Go away for a while into an unfamiliar area, surrounded by people who have also escaped from their problems with glowing, healthy faces.
This summer, the two of us, my better half and I, attempted to exit our fleeing society. We found a wonderful site on the Internet. Which offers a variety of tourist trips for people of various levels, of any age and income with an experienced guide, in general, from zero to... It was not easy to choose a route because... each was good in its own way, but we settled on the beautiful combination of “mountains and sea”. Our route was called "Over the Sea".
Arriving at the train station in Simferopol, we met at the appointed time with the group and our guide Anton. From the first minutes, the responsibility and competence of the organizers of our trip began to be felt. After distributing the food into backpacks, our group was registered with the Crimean Ministry of Emergency Situations and we safely reached the starting point of our journey.
First climb. After a small meal in the clearing, we began the first ascent. The work of overcoming our first hill was carried out on all levels of our being. Starting from the confrontation of thoughts, “why am I here”? “do I need it”?. Finishing with adjusting the body to a certain rhythm of movement and adapting to the backpack and other equipment. But the end of the ascent was also the end of all uncertainties and the end of the body’s adjustment to new conditions.
It must be said that both the first difficulties of the path and the subsequent ones were overcome under the strict control of our leader. We took our time, Anton correctly selected workarounds for difficult sections. The reliability and experience of this person was felt, and unconditional trust in him arose.
Our group was diverse. It included both strong men and fragile girls and one woman of Balzac’s age. Our group was also international, it included representatives from Ukraine and Russia.
After spending the night in a beautiful place on a plateau located at an altitude of about 1000 m above sea level, we continued our journey to the coast. The weather was wonderful. The summer Crimean sun did not interfere with our journey, since most of the hiking trails passed through wooded areas. Ascents and descents were overcome with a familiar, adapted step. Mutual assistance and general high spirits also helped in overcoming obstacles.
And here we are over the sea! It becomes clear why the organizers came up with the idea of building such a route. The beauty and grandeur of landscapes cannot be conveyed by any means of communication. Photo and video equipment is powerless here.
I have always been fascinated by the views of the sea from above. And the higher we go, the more petty our vain needs seem. You look at little houses, some buildings, people are milling about, trying, going somewhere, doing something. And all the trees, roads, houses, cars, compared to the boundless sea and huge rocks, seem like toys in the hands of nature. An understanding comes that everything artificial, created by man, is so fragile and short-lived. And at the same time, he (the person) is allowed to live, realize his desires under the protection and calm contemplation of the space around him.
Our crossings did not cause fatigue. From somewhere the potential of our body appeared, and it felt like we could walk like this with the backpack of my attachments to comfort for a long time.
Two words about the contents of the backpacks. I noticed that Anton (our guide) had a full backpack. But its contents consisted mainly of public things necessary for our entire group, to ensure our daily life. It made me think about how many unnecessary things I carried with me. Our backpacks were filled to the brim with things solely for our personal benefit and most of these things were not useful on the hike, which leads to certain conclusions.
Our journey was accompanied by ups and downs. The presenter, sensing the group, made stops at the right time and rationally distributed their duration. In one place we had a difficult transition at the end of the day, and at Anton’s suggestion we used the services of motor transport, thanks to which we saved energy and time, which we spent getting to know the beautiful temple and the subsequent rest that we needed so much after the difficult transition.
Our hike took place through protected, clean places of Crimea. Accompanied by life-giving air filled with the fragrance of herbs and flowers. We breathed in! The chirping of cicadas, the singing of birds - divine music! And of course the views! Mountain Crimea is very beautiful.
Our camps were created in shady groves, next to springs, which allowed us to keep our bodies and clothes clean. Nothing caused any discomfort. Before the hike, we familiarized ourselves with the list of things we needed and, frankly, questioned whether we could get by with just one T-shirt and just pants. But in vain. I walked the entire hike in just a T-shirt and shorts, but I carried three kilograms of other clothes in my backpack “just in case.” Stupidity.
At the end of our passage, the long-awaited sea. The most beautiful place near Balaklava. Rocks and boulders typical of Crimea near the coast. Sparse forest on a steep slope. Our tents were placed on a small ledge directly above the sea. Night, refreshing thunderstorm. The next day we arrived safely by boat to Balaklava.
Result. A lot of impressions from communication with nature, pictures of its beauty. Inner peace, a slight sadness of parting with this new world, which included open people - participants in the campaign, simple, unprejudiced communication with their own kind, regardless of ranks and ranks.
Clarity of unity with everyone and everything around you. A huge potential of strength that will not be quickly wasted, because there is nothing to resist.
We thank the organizers of the hike for providing such an opportunity to look into ourselves, for providing conditions that allowed us not to be distracted from contemplating this fairy-tale world!
Everyone managed the route thanks to the experience and communication skills of our guide.