ICEF students have set up a group for traveling around Russia. With experiential travel as its main activity, the group believe that visiting new places is a great way to refresh the head from too much studying and restart creative muscles. The group have been to Tula, Nizhny Novgorod, and Lake Baikal. They plan to expand their route network and welcome new members to join them. Here are some of their impressions and how adventures and emotions can help reset the health of our brain.
How we came up with our travel project
Polina Budneva (Y4):
In the summertime, when we have a break from fast-paced learning, we start to miss the drive and want something to add color to our lives. We got together time and again to brainstorm activities to do together until we finally arrived at the idea of experiencing cultures and learning about great personalities. It had to be an entertaining and yet enriching experience.
We agreed that we should travel for experience to cherish for life. Experiential travel seems to be the best way to refresh the mind, to open it and get a wider picture and perspectives that may not be evident to others. We started with a couple of easy routes and destinations filled with history. Our team consists of Anya Golovanova (Y3), Artyom Azarenko (Y4), Georgy Rafaelyan (Y4), Alina Archibasova (Y4), Zhania Murzalina (Y4), Matvey Chernigovskiy (Y4), and Stas Borisov (Y4).
To find our feet with traveling, we went to Tula. Our first destination had to be close.
Tula
One reason we chose Tula was because it is easy to get to and it offers weekend tours. But, getting tickets appeared a bit hard, increasing our motivation to see Tula. Our first day there was real fun. We laughed a lot, walked along the embankment, went on a fairground ride, and learned to bake the Tula gingerbread under the guidance of an insanely artistic host who turned the act into a stage performance. We of course wanted to experience the nightlife but somehow didn’t get to any club – apparently we should have done some preparation in advance.
We spent day two in Yasnaya Polyana. And again, the guide was simply amazing. You could listen to him with your eyes closed, his stunning stories, his timbre soft as if he was doing it for the audiobook. Two hours just flew by. The stories we were told made us rediscover Tolstoy and his life in a whole new way.
Urban residents, we marveled at the beauty of the local landscape. Guess what we found in Yasnaya Polyana? Right, the meadow, as the name suggests. We were running barefoot, playing around like kids, sunbathing and resting in the shade of Tolstoy’s apple orchard.
In Yasnaya Polyana we felt ourselves the freest people in the world
We left Tula an even closer-knit group of people, feeling pleasantly drowsy, with positive thoughts, happy faces, and new emotions.
Nizhny Novgorod
Stanislav Borisov (Y4):
A week later we went to Nizhny Novgorod, known as the “city of sunsets”. With insanely picturesque expanses framing the confluence of two rivers, breathtaking views, invigorating air and big open sky, this city does live up to its name. We’ve been to its Kremlin and the legendary Nizhny Novgorod Fair. We took a walk along the embankment and down its cozy streets, admiring the view. Nizhny Novgorod abounds in water bodies, so we didn’t miss the opportunity to go early morning swimming. Having water close to us on a hot sunny day was very helpful. With BBQ and singing to the guitar, we had a real waterside picnic.
Nizhny Novgorod is in many ways a unique place. Its heritage combines with modern urban design. This place safeguards its traditions while maintaining its image as a megalopolis full of entertainment
What impressed us most was urban spaces and the renovation they received to mark the city’s anniversary. You don’t feel like leaving these spaces, and you thank the architects mentally for the comfort they created. At the time we were in Nizhny Novgorod, it hosted a major triathlon event – another good impression of the city center. It was an endless elation and excitement in that place.
Nizhny Novgorod is just ideal for a weekend trip. It’s easy to reach from Moscow by fast train or air, it’s one-hour flight, and it offers a variety of entertainment from sites and beaches for outdoor activities to sightseeing to busy nightlife. Even a short trip will benefit all aspects of your life, allowing you to reset your emotions, have a break from problems, studies or work and return refreshed and with new vision. We all need a charge of air. My advice is travel as much as you can. Explore and get away from the routine and busy studying.
Lake Baikal
Polina Budneva (Y4):
Our trip to Lake Baikal, I can talk about it for hours. It was a camping tour, so we made serious preparations for it – we selected sights to visit, plotted our route, rented the equipment, got trekking shoes, and even made a list of the backpacking foods.
Our route began on the 56 km long Great Baikal Trail – a 3-day hike with tents and backpacks. The track twisted through a diversity of incredibly beautiful places with pine forests and blooming meadows. We climbed the rocks, walked along the shore and went for a swim in icy water. We used our tents only once and slept in shelters in the villages along the way. Physically, the hike turned our difficult, but with the view as beautiful as there fatigue goes by the wayside. Besides, we talked all way long to keep ourselves energized.
We were a group of nine. Cheerful mood, positive emotions, communal environment and mutual support made us a close-knit team. We even did yoga together a couple of times as a morning warm-up.
In Listvyanka, we used the ferry service to get to the other side and catch a train to the Baikal Neutrino Observatory. One reason we put it on our route was that my granddad works there. It’s a very picturesque place. We walked along the shore, took pictures, swam, talked, and when night came we made a bonfire and we sat around it, enjoying the sound of waves, singing and read aloud.
We even got to experience an incredibly hot session in the Russian bathhouse. Jumping out of steam right into the icy Baikal was such a cool experience
We returned home absolutely happy, refreshed and feeling pleasantly tired. It was an eventful trip. Baikal gave us lots of beautiful impressions. It inspired to seek out new perspectives and take action toward a better present. And apart from the beautiful scenery, we experienced a bond with one another, thanking ourselves for embarking on that trip.
This travel project has given us a broad variety of useful experiences. We hope it will continue with more members in it. We will soon be able to offer students some new weekend tours. We welcome new people and their travel ideas. One of the most daring ideas for now is a summer trip to Kamchatka. It requires a lot of preparation but is surely worth the effort because Kamchatka’s stunning landscapes are always an amazing experience.
