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I’ve been meaning to add some more personal notes to my travels, within a dedicated section. Hopefully, someone will find them intriguing. In the “Travels” section, I avoid tiring my readers with personal photos and musings, but here, under the closed cover of the “Travel Diary,” I can give more freedom to my traveler’s pen and the person who loves and cherishes Life the most. And finds inspiration in Beauty in all its forms.
So, why not recall the vivid moments and personal experiences that don’t quite fit the format of a tourist guide but remain an integral part of the impressions that warm and inspire me for many months upon returning, fueling my passionate pursuit of eternal optimism.
Just now, I had the thought to describe how I approach the process of planning my next adventure. Perhaps it’s a topic for a separate post in “Useful Tips.” Do you think such information could be genuinely helpful to someone? If there’s interest, I’ll definitely share it in a separate post. I’ll be waiting for comments. 🙂
For now, I won’t dwell on it and will move on to describing personal moments from my summer trip to Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania in 2024. As well as everything that simply didn’t fit into the travel chronicles of these countries. After all, there, I strive to describe everything very briefly, in the format of “key points” that define the main milestones of my adventures. A bright array of facts and events.
Hostel STAR in Almaty: the first haven of my journey. One peculiarity of hostels is that they’re not always easy to find, even with an address and a pinpoint on the map. Getting into them can be tricky too, especially at night. Sometimes, you have to call the owner. Hostel owners are truly remarkable people, particularly those who run guesthouses. They’re hospitable and always working, without a regular sleep schedule—since guests can arrive at any hour, and helpers aren’t always around.
I strive to choose good hostels. Interesting options come up. In this one, for example, there was a large aquarium with fish in the kitchen and paintings on the walls. And there was this amusing instruction for using the toilet too. X)
Medeo in Almaty: a special place. The air even feels freer there, and the picturesque mountains around are enchanting. It’s no wonder that my favorite singer Uta was inspired to write her beautiful song about Kazakhstan here, expressing her emotions through music. This feeling lingers in the air, almost tangible on your skin. I fully absorbed it during my first visit here back in 2008, and now I felt the urge to visit Medeo again.
I am generally a lover of the sea, even an enthusiast. Yet, the desire to climb mountains still exists. I even did some rock climbing during my university years.
Above Chimbulak: it’s breathtaking, with mountain slopes covered in flowers. There are plenty of visitors, but most stay close to the base camp, at most climbing a hundred meters up the slope for a photo session or picnic. Many reach here by cable car or by car, though there are also backpackers trekking on foot. I’ve climbed Chimbulak before and even thought I saw Kapchagay through a gap in the mountains, which is 60 km from Almaty. But this time, it was cloudy, and I couldn’t even see Almaty.
This time, I decided to climb higher without any particular goal—just moved along the cable car path as long as I had the desire and ability. Very soon, all the other visitors were left below. A herd of horses was grazing on the slope. This place is paradise for them.
Had I been in the company of someone, we would surely have turned back soon. Who wants to keep climbing a mountain without a clear purpose? Well, except for me, of course. X) So I kept going and going, climbing up the slope until I found myself in the clouds.
It’s an unusual feeling. Visibility drops to just a few dozen meters, and beyond that, there’s only a gray haze. It’s as if the entire world shrinks to a small circle around you. The local nature doesn’t usually treat us to thick fogs, so walking in a cloud was a completely new experience.
I slowly made my way to the next station, guided by the line of the cable car supports. The second base was completely enveloped in the cloud, reducing visibility even further, and the foghorn sounded off. It felt almost mystical.
There were people here too, who had come up by cable car. But they seemed lost, like hedgehogs in the fog, and didn’t stay long. I took a photo and continued my ascent.
The slope became steeper, and large rocks began to appear. At times, I even had to scramble over them to climb higher. Then, the incline got so steep that I practically had to crawl upwards, holding onto the sparse vegetation for support.
Interestingly, despite the height and remoteness, the signal worked here, and I could see my location and altitude. The cable car line helped me stay on track.
Eventually, I climbed much further than I had planned, almost reaching the Talgar Pass. I managed to surpass an altitude of 3000 meters. If it hadn’t been for the fog, I would have easily found a relatively even path upwards, but I had to stop—it would have been reckless to climb further. Yet, what sublime impressions!
Surprisingly wordy description. A real mountain adventure. Although I thought that I would fit all my personal impressions from the trip into one post. Uh-huh, sure.
I think this amount of text is enough for one post. I’ll continue it in the next one. Or in a whole series of the following ones, as it goes 🙂
Until then, let’s turn the page of your Travel Diary and prepare for the next adventure.