The latest Russian visa rules state that foreign tourists must register themselves if they plan to stay in one town for more than 3 days - registering involves paperwork and having a local vouch for you as their guest. Danil's wife, Larisa, kindly agrees to register us, a process which ends up spreading out over 3 hours as we hunt down the appropriate forms and a working photocopier, and wait for businesses to re-open after their lunch hours and work breaks are done.
Arshal has a population of about 1000 residents (but more in summer) so infrastructure and services are limited. There's one main street that runs through town - the highway - and it ends where the trails to the mountains begin. We don't find any place during our stay with Internet and don't see any public phones.
We relax in town on 282, and by Day 283, Pierre's eager to get out again though I'm still not too enthusiastic about the idea of a hike. My feet and legs hurt, and I'm still a little irritated with the mountain. Pierre suggests a short hike so I pack a few apples and some bread. I notice Pierre packing 3 litres of water and wonder if our ideas of a "short" walk are quite different.
I join the walk on the understanding that I'll turn back if I get tired - more tired than I already am. This will let me get back to the room and get some work done at home. I want to study a bit, maybe write a few blogs out by hand in a little notebook. I have lists and lists of Russian words and phrases that I've been learning/remembering for the past few days and I know that if I don't review them and copy them into my study book then I'll forget them all. These words and phrases are tools we need for getting around everyday so they're important to me.
The beginning of the hike starts in the shady woods - it's a bit steep and dry, and it feels like we're up near the end of the tree line.
Around the time I'm ready to turn back down the mountain, we run into a group of students hiking up the mountain. One of them, Julia (sounds like Yulia), strikes up a conversation with us in English and introduces us to her friends Christina, Nikita and Sasha.
We talk about music, and school, and as the trail gets steeper and dustier, they teach us the trick of taking rests by leaning backs against the trees, facing up towards the top of the mountain. We use this trick a lot.
The trail becomes much more challenging than I or my tired body had bargained for. Julia and her friends keep assuring me that the peak is just 20 or 30 minutes away, but the "just a few minutes" and "just over the hills" keep adding up until, before I know it, we've been hiking, almost straight up for almost 4 hours.
Finally, about 30 minutes from the actual top of the mountain I sit down and enjoy the view and let Pierre keep going. Our group of hikers is a bit scattered by now. The boys have gone on a side trail to find some water in a nearby river and the girls continue on to the top. There are storm clouds in the distance...
...so when Pierre returns we head straight down.
"The top really was only 30 minutes away," he says.
But I don't care. I'm happy to be hiking down and off the mountain, though my knees are still sore from our long walk down on Day 281. After 2 hours of walking down hill, we reach Arshan again. By this time, even Pierre is pretty sated and not in a hurry to go for a big hike. We agree that this will really really be our last big hike together in Arshan (though Pierre is welcome to go alone since the trails are so busy and well marked).
As we arrive back at our little cottage, the storm we saw in the distance finally arrives and the wind picks up. After dinner in a snackshop, on the way back to our place, we get caught in a small duststorm on main street. We walk into some stinging nettles (which really do sting) and get home and settled in just as the rain starts (and just as the nettles stop stinging). The wind does its best to shake the walls of the cottage, and just as we are debating whether or not to turn out the lights, the power goes out. The entire town is dark.
Problem solved: we go to sleep. I try to dream about anything but hiking and wonder if I'll get time to work tomorrow.
Photo credits: All images in this post courtesy of the lovely and amazing Christina S!
1 comment:
It is a pity, that you were not on the peak of love. There is such beauty! ))) My name is Christina, but Krysztina is wrong name. ))) Julia is my best friend. Nikita and Sasha are my brothers. ))) Arshan is the settlement. Arshan is no town. We are not kids. I, Julia and Nikita are students, but Sasha is the schoolboy. )))
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