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Base camp

For the next three days we took some time to rest and relax. We were in great moods thanks to spring weather, and daily visits to the sauna (or, as it is called in Russia, banya) significantly supported strength regeneration. As everybody knows, resting with full belly is more efficient, so we didn’t say no to any delicious and energy-giving dishes, that our cooks Larissa and Slawa made in their kitchen. Common meals were also an opportunity to exchange views and thoughts with people working in the base camp during the season, incl. with Vladimir, a short and nice man who was always ready to help, thanks to his excellent knowledge of the German language. Our life stories were moving for him and, as we learned from the locals, were evidence of our search for meaning and harmony, peace and freedom, which we had found right here in Aktru.

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Thanks to our mutual interests, we quickly established friendly relations. On the last evening we were invited to a farewell dinner. We were not the only ones leaving the valley – some of the camp’s crew were also to be replaced by a new team. At night, by a bonfire under the starry sky, our hosts gave us a royal feast, offering a rich portion of culinary and cultural experiences – in the form of shashliks and Russian folk songs. The whole thing was complemented by the moon, flooding the surrounding mountains with magical light. Finally, we sat around the kitchen stove, exchanging folk wisdom and jokes until the early morning. Vladimir was a translator, adding his own sauce to all the stories and causing endless laughter among the group.