So, let me tell you about my incredible hike to Syuren ata Mountain.
It was Thursday, and I was thinking about my weekend plans. It had been a while since I had hiked, so I decided to hike on Sunday. I ran into Sergey, an independent mountain guide and former lifeguard, who offered me a hike up Syuren Ata Mountain, which I gladly accepted.
We gathered early on Sunday morning at our meeting spot and owing to a lack of people, we had to drive in a little Korean minivan Chevrolet Damas.
Thanks to the fact that it was only a 1.5-hour drive, I still felt some pain in my ass; if it had continued any longer, I would have died.
At 8 a.m., we arrived at our starting place and began climbing along the Nurekata River.
It was crazy cold, but climbing warmed us up enough that we were able to remove our warm clothes.
The earth was covered in shells, and we were on land that had once been ocean hundreds of thousands of years ago.
We arrived at the route after an hour and a half and followed it to a camp beside a sacred Kazakh man’s tomb.
“есikтi жауып жур” – please close the door behind you
Tea is served with a traditional Uzbek kettle.
Uzbek lagans to serve food.
Before starting our trek, we took a quick lunch break. Everyone in our group was nice and generous; we shared our food, everyone had a story to tell, and one woman brought Georgian food called UCVNO, which we enjoyed.
We began climbing the mountain following our arrival. We passed by this fallen tree on our walk, which reminded me of Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky’s classic painting Morning in a Pine Forest.
Look at how detailed the snowflakes are, and how lovely they are.
Later, it began to snow, my first snow of the year, and I was very glad to be here today because Tashkent is devoid of snow.
We ascended higher and higher, and the weather became colder and snowier.
Finally, we reached the summit of Syuren Ata (2042 m). We didn’t stay long because it was quite windy and snowy, and we wanted to get back to our minibus before it became dark.
We decided to take a different path down the mountain in order to descend faster; the descent was steep, therefore I teamed up with one girl and we assisted each other, holding hands as a safety net.
We had another lunch break and a small bonfire with some hot tea and Georgian cognac before our last descent.
Mountains shrouded in mist.
It took about two hours for us to return to our minibus. On the way back to Tashkent, we sat and drank beer, exchanging our impressions of the walk. Everyone appeared to be happy, as well as exhausted.
We are grateful to our guide for an incredible and unforgettable hike. Another beautiful fall weekend. Another beautiful hike. Another bucket list item checked off before winter comes.
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