|
English
Русский
|
|
At last summer has spread its power over us! Students are happy to go on their summer holidays and grown ups are thinking over going somewhere but those who study at Severobaikalsk Tourist Ecological School have to face another life full of adventures and hikes. Three lyceum groups Edelweiss, Ant and Eagle have chosen the first category water route by catamaran to try themselves on the Upper Angara. The team was named simply EAE in order not to avoid any offence. The members are quite young, from 13 to 14, as a rule, Mary and Michael Moshkin, the leaders, brim with tourist and life experience. Pre-hitch fuss, the last parents' instructions are passed and a week of freedom somewhere on the river is expected.
It is hardly 6 a.m. in Severobaikalsk on June 15, 2002 when the Severobaikalsk-Uoyan train carries us eastwards, where our trip should start. At 10 a.m., getting off the train, we become pretty amazed by a truck that must be waiting for us. This means our friend Alex Klutchahin has arranged it for us, so we have a chance to get rid of catamarans for a while. We embark with joy find ourselves on the shore of the North Angara twenty minutes later. The group has gotten to the starting point. Hurrah! We start assembling the catamarans. Captains Andrei Moshkin and Timophey Philipov are guiding the crews competently while the guys on duty are cooking dinner minding the responsibilities. Everybody is doing their job so the leaders can't help admiring our harmonious interaction. The only thing to care about is good weather that we hope for but this matter is better left to the chief manager of the Goujekit meteorological station. The dinner is ready right on time, just when all the boats are equipped.
Our route is not long, which implies covering the distance between New Uoyan and the spa of Dzelinda. On the first day we are scheduled to pass 10 km with staying overnight on the beach of one of the islands. The section of the river we are to deal with is calm and pacific to a large extent; the slight slant makes drifting safe. Ramifying into a great variety of flows and streams, the Angara magnifies the beauty of undoubtedly stark scenic landscapes. Now we are with our travelers who are rowing enthusiastically trying to get accustomed to the water, equipment and the captains' orders. The atmosphere stimulates everybody to talk and trifle stories in order to exchange the impressions. Last winter while working out the participants of this expedition managed to acquire all the crucial skills in operating boats. Tourism usually works as the basis for further practical and theoretical researches in Ecology, Regional Studies, Geology, Geography and turns current boys into future men who are on the verge of serving in the army. Drifting or floating in other words manifests plenty of advantages, such as the absence of any necessity, to carry the backpacks yourself and surely a great opportunity to socialize and interact without anything distracting. In passing we're negotiating obstacles, observing everything, meeting and seeing off birds. The stately figure of a Manchurian deer remaining stock still of astonishment caused by the appearance of our small fleet makes everybody aboard deeply stunned. Nobody-even the most talkative people can dare to drop a single word. Every day brings new surprises and unexpected encounters. Either cautious herons or multiple flocks of geese with noble swans couple emerge in sight. Once we hear the bear's heavy steps so close to us that blood freezes at thinking of that. Fortunately, our operator manages to take down all the episodes so we will have something serving as the testimony of our adventures. Our way is extremely original; thus nobody has a chance to get bored or start idling. Having forced one of the streams of the Upper Angara we find ourselves floating in the waters of the River Kotera. It is already known that the team is supposed to return to The Angara two days later. Currently, the boats are at the place where the Koteckta, one of the confluences of the Angara meets the Kotera. The plan to camp on a low and fishy spot has been supported. Outgoing fishing is also an indispensable staple of any expedition to the above-mentioned water vein. A lot of species of fish inhabit these waters. Having a day of rest is something associated with various reminiscences for any tourist. Waking up bright and early, fishing, washing, and essential repairing keep us engaged. We are absorbed in this sort of activity on such days. In order to keep fit and avoid forgetting what we have been taught before we organize competitions, in which is important to jump over hurdles. All traditional kinds of games applied: racing, setting a tent, etc. As for the prizes, they are very typical of tourist life and include lots of sweet stuff such s chocolate, candies, canned condensed milk. Our fishermen contribute to our elated state by exposing their massive catch, which denotes that a festive supper will be started with dense fish soup. Guitar music will accompany the process of eating and the campfire is definitely to warm up our spirits.
We walk off Ivan's house and reach a hill that is apt for observing the whole Uoyan hollow, which is 40 km wide and 60 km long. It's a miraculous scene especially in springtime. This bowl-like-shaped place fringed with the Upper Angara, Severomuysky and Barguzin ranges generates northern waters and "nourishing" the Baikal Sea. All the streams, lakes, moors and basins of the rivers glitter in sunshine like a diamond mirror. Only trees growing abreast and remaining still flooded designate the pales of water and shores. Here it is our Baikal Amazon!
We have been acquainted with Ivan since 1996 when we happened to have our first float in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. Having seen our solid camp he got very curious. He wanted to know everything about the team and the place we had come from. We talked a bit and he shared fish with us. This is how we made a new friend. Now this person of a rare soul lives in Chentcha in his parent household after having left his own estate in Kumora, a village located up the Kotera. The Evenks are very nature-oriented people. The state tends to always keep them away from their traditional activity. Less reindeer inhabit the woods; hunting and fishing resources are rather scanty. Four or five generations of Evenk children brought up in boarding schools, are lost to their accustomed mode of life. Upon leaving these schools, they still haven't adapted to civilized life. The folk is stark blunt and trustful in its temper, that's why it suffers. I feel really sorry for them! An Evenk needs very little. Ivan is still content with very few necessities: fish and wild plants. We are not the only ones who come to these lands. Other visitors devour Ivan's stock and drink wasting the remnants. Ivan's lot in such a case is poor-he remains drunk to the premises until new guest perturb him. The Evenks have no genetic protection against alcohol. Three hours later we call Severobaikalsk school of Ecology and Tourism to remind about our plans to take a bus in Dzelinda. We manage to make this call from the settlement of Angoya. So far the traditional ceremony of Devotion, a bath in the hot springs of Dzelinda and a farewell bonfire are left. Finally, we are on the bus. Somebody is screaming out, "Do you remember? " now and then. The air is imbued with joy and the talks revolve around the Manchurian deer that swam across the river a stone's throw from us, a swimming snake. We are recollecting all those happy moments of acrobatic diving off a steep shore. Seven days of adventures have passed like a shot but everything has chased on or memory. The guys have become stronger and manly and friendly. Nobody left behind during the expedition because tourists absorbed and acquired a great amount of practical and theoretical knowledge. Summer is not over- some of us will conquer the Baikal range or try ourselves at an identical adventure but in a youth center of Karelia. Edited by N. Rasputina after M. Moshkin, the chronicle writer of Amazon tour Translated by Kirill Ponomaryov, Tomsk State University Tourism Information Maps Stories Weather |
Main
Information
