We are finally reaching the conclusion of this story. There is still a lot to tell and reflect on regarding my journey to Teriberka, but perhaps I’ll come back to it once again in the future.
This is now the third day into my journey, and so far every second of it was full of events and experiences. Not just while outside, exploring. Everytime we came back to the Arc from one of our hikes, a different kind of life continued — we would cozy up with warm drinks, play board games and get to know the strangers around us a bit more. The night before I stayed up with a girl who like me was trying to escape the reality of every-day mundane routine at the time and this was her birthday gift for herself. We talked for hours, sharing ideas and thoughts, supporting each other even though we barely knew one another. That journey definitely showed a different side of me I never knew was there — more open and free. And ready for adventures. There was one awaiting the next morning!
We had to have a very early (by my standards) breakfast that day, around 9 am we headed out. We got into a mini-van that took us closer to the sea and we noticed a small fishing pier with small boats and ships moored to the dock. As we got out of the van, a man in a fisherman’s winter clothes approached us. He was the captain of one of the ships and that day he was also going to be our guide on our trip to the open sea.
Me and the rest of the group carefully boarded the very shaky ship and it was instantly a huge challenge. The floor of the ship was covered in fish scales and water which has frozen due to the temperatures and now made everything extra slippery. To add to that, all the surfaces you could cold on to were metal — cold, covered in ice and snow. If you are a smart genius and are wearing gloves that shouldn’t be a problem. If you are like me and want to do photography and film some videos on your phone for your family, you use fingerless gloves like me, only occasionally wearing a second pair of mittens when you can no longer feel your fingers that much. Spoiler: all ten of my fingers are fine and have not been damaged. That being said, if you do travel to such areas, maybe don’t do what I did. Warming them up later will definitely not be a fun experience.
Dramatics aside, the actual experience of being on that fisherman ship was quite unique. Later, after I returned from that trip, I talked to a friend about it. And they mentioned that for them the idea of being in open waters is terrifying, almost resembles death in a way. It was an interesting point of view, one I never really considered. To me the idea of being faced with an open ocean or sea was also terrifying but in a fascinating way. It’s such a surreal experience. I imagine being in an open space would feel similar to a degree — being surrounded by vast space of emptiness and being a tiny speck in midst of it. To me it’s fascinating, that’s why I was more excited than scared.
And there we were, sailing deeper into the sea. Yet again, we got quite lucky with the weather, and and as the hours passed we were greeted with the most beautiful gradient of midday sunrise! It was very interesting witnessing the colours change from deep blue to light warm shades of lavander and pink. We knew, that there was always a chance of not seeing the whales — they are free creatures of nature and if we got lucky they would show themselves. But if not — we still got the most beautiful sunrise in the most unusual place, what more can you wish for?
That’s what we kept saying to ourselves, still hoping that maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to get a glimpse of them. And a glimpse we got. More than a glimpse!
A family of three whales swam right past us, greeting us with their majestic tails! Unfortunately, my lens and my skills and knowledge of how cameras work at the time weren’t enough to capture them properly, but if you really zoom in, you can see the tail. There were a couple of times when one of them swam really close, but I wasn’t fast enough to capture it. I was mostly busy trying to take the whole experience in, and when you are faced with one like that, the last thing that comes to mind is snapping pictures, I think. At least for me, maybe I am not in that “photographer” mindset yet, but I made sure I remembered every detain with my own eyes and ears before anything, and if I was lucky enough, I would also get a couple of nice photographs.
That day, after our “boat trip” we also visited a husky village. Everyone, who knows me, knows that huskies are one of my favourite dogs and being surrounded by so many of them was like being in paradise. They were all so cute!
This little one was a cheeky one: pretending all sweet and shy he sneakily stole my glove! When I realised it, it was too late, I had to run after him to get my glove back and we ended up playing “tug of war”. I am sure he really enjoyed it, me — not so much. But I could’t be mad at him, look at that cute face!
The next day was our last day on Teriberka. It was also the day of our last hike — probably one of the most difficult one. We had to climb over rocks to one of the highest points in that area. I was yet again the last one in the group, meaning, there wasn’t really anyone to support me or me insure me from the behind in case I trip or fall. I tried to follow the traces from the steps of those who walked in front of me, making sure my legs don’t get stuck between rocks, locking me in place and insuring an inevitable fall (like it happened last time at the beach). For someone like me, who has zero fitness or physical training, the climb seemed impossible. I definitely thought of quitting halfway and going back.
But I kept thinking:* “I have to do this”*. I heard people in front of me cheering me on from the top of the cliff we were climbing. And so I continued. I was getting warm, I even had to take my hat and my scarf off. But I thought to myself: “If I can do this, I can do anything”. After another 20 minutes I finally joined the rest of the group. And the views that unfolded in front of me were worth every second of me getting short of breath while climbing.
It was my first experience of actual climbing and I can’t explain with words how proud of myself I felt that moment. Possible for the first time in my life. That experience, I truly believe, changed my mindset and later on — my life.
In two months after my trip to Teriberka I will have quit my job that was making me unhappy and unhealthy with each passing day, getting an offer I could never even dream of — a job at an architecture school. I’ve always wanted to work or at least be close to the architecture industry, and suddenly things started falling into place for me. Not just work, things in life in general. That was definitely a life-changing journey for me, one where I started listening to myself, not my fears. I still have a lot to learn, but the most important thing is to start somewhere.