A handful of raisins from Vorokhta.

02 February 2018 • Travel time: with 02 September 2017 on 09 September 2017

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A PAIR OF WORDS TO BEGIN ...

Many people in our world spend part of their lives traveling.

Who is more, who is less ...

Who will succeed.

And that's great!

What a wonderful world we all live in, people!

So colorful, diverse, multi-voiced, multi-faceted and always and everywhere incomparable and unique!

But to tell, to share with others on paper what you have learned, not every "amateur wandering the white world" dares to do so. And for those who still decide and do it, it is not always good to tell…

Why so?

Yes, because in the story of the trip, it turns out, there must be a "highlight"! That is, as they say, "blood from the nose", but you have to tell your readers that they have either never seen, or if they have heard of something like that, then only "the edge of the ear. "

That's when your work is definitely not boring to read to those who caught its eye!

I once wrote stories about my "travels". Then he left the business, because the priorities in the field of personal creativity changed (you see, a person wanted to try his talent in serious literature! ) And the desire to spend time writing essays about their paths disappeared. It seemed then even that forever. But!

It so happened that I was lucky enough to visit very recently in such a place, where these same "highlights" just asked for their hands every day! I left there with a "difficult" heart and a slight sadness in my soul.

Which for me is a sure sign that it's good where I've been and I must go back!

And before that I just have to tell others! Well, you can not miss this case!

In general, I am very happy to present to your kind attention this handful of raisins!

It is worth learning about its taste and color - believe me!

And we'll start, of course, with what we say…

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THAT REMINDERABLE PLACE WHERE WE FOUND ALL THESE « < em> raisins » …

My wife and I love the Carpathians ...

In winter we go skiing there. And in the summer we also try to get there. And when we get to the "starting point", we sit down, as they say, on the "11th number" and - forward! That is, we like to walk 15-20 kilometers now so - no less!

And at the beginning of the golden autumn of this year, as difficult as all the previous ones, in 2017, we guys visited the Carpathian village of Vorokhta. We decided to get acquainted with this settlement and its environs, which used to be only a driveway. And we were not even wrong!

It's a wonderful place, dear readers!

What? ! !

And here's what!

Carpathians - all, "in general" is a wonderful land. And, perhaps, in terms of geography, is the most interesting landscape in Eastern Europe.

Vorokhta is a large village located on the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, just 21 km from Hoverla. Which, as you all know, of course, is the highest mountain in the Ukrainian Carpathians (height 2060 m 80 cm, to be exact! ).

Your attention, I think, undoubtedly attracted a loud, maybe even for some of you quite intriguing name of this village.

Vorokhta! That means it must have been one of you, right?

Before, so to speak, you start scattering the collected "raisins" in front of you, it is my "essential" duty to first present here the most interesting and original versions of the origin of this name.

Thus, the first version is the most common and therefore almost common.

As in the middle of the sixteenth century lived and was a certain Mikhail Vorokhta. And he was a soldier in the Austrian army. And the service of ordinary soldiers in Austria was so bad that he took it and fled the army.

He got to the places where the village of his name is now located, and decided to settle here. And he was not an anchorite-loner at all - he was not wild people! And, being a handyman, he willingly helped anyone who did not ask to help in something. And the people went to him, as they say, "jamb"! A kind of another "sufferer" directs his feet to him. And oncoming acquaintances ask him - where, they say, are you stomping? The answer was always the same: "I'm going to Vorokhta! »

That's what the place was called - Vorokhta.

People began to settle near the "folk" craftsman. Apparently, so as not to stomp here and there for many kilometers with another problem.

And the village of Vorokhta appeared.

Now the second version is more plausible to me, although not as romantic as the first.

At the same time of Austrian rule, in which the above-mentioned good man Vorokhta allegedly settled in the places now called by his name, the same order existed in the same area: the local Ukrainian population, under the full control of the Austrian state authorities, that he had to pay her to feed the forest. It is understandable why: this region is still quite forested, and then, in the XIV-XVI centuries, there were still dense, you could even say, fabulous forests! And it belongs to the local population of each district (county, district - or as they were then called there, I do not remember exactly how…) to ship annually in the "state reception" a certain number of first-class logs from the Carpathian forests. And this number was measured in "heaps".

And the "heap" is 25 big carts! Like this.

Apparently, there were many forests on the outskirts of the village, as it was called. And settled here by order from above.

Important gentlemen from Vienna and other cities of the Holy Roman Empire had to live for something and not know grief…

Let's move on to the third version - the original. Linguistic!

She caught my eye quite by accident. But I quote her here because she is very intriguing.

In general, Ukrainian enthusiastic linguists once found out that many names of Ukrainian settlements are of Bulgarian origin. Remember, there was such a people - the Bulgarians?

They lived on the Volga quite well until a certain time. Then a friend, then fighting with their neighbors - the inhabitants of Kievan Rus. Until the Mongols came from the east and brought their notorious yoke. And the Bulgarian state was absorbed by these terrible conquerors.

And, it must be understood, a considerable number of its population managed to escape to the Russians (who, however, in a few years awaited the same unfortunate fate! ).

To visit here, and not notice these two, no, even the three most interesting local attractions, it's about the same as visiting Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower (as told in one already quite "bearded" anecdote) . And they, like the most striking "object" of the French capital, are very notable not only for their large size!

First, Vorokhta is known to people of our time for the fact that there are ski jumps on its territory. Everyone who enters Vorokhta from Yaremche, of course, pays attention to them, because the highway passes right in front of them.

So we have passed by several times, raising our heads and "sticking" to the windows of the bus, thinking - what is their height?

And how can ski jumpers not take off on the road (directly on the transport passing below) if the springboards are located so close to the road? ! !

Now we know the answers to these questions!

On our first day in Vorokhta (which was free for us, Lviv residents, because all the other "tourists" from our arrival were to arrive that day only in the evening and excursions that day, of course, were not planned) decided to meet with them closer. We have already learned that the place where these springboards rise (90 m and 70 m high, respectively; all-Union facilities were once, by the way! ), Is called the sports base "Vanguard".

And so, we go to them and see first a completely different and completely unfamiliar to us "object" (a little out of our way), and behind him, a little further, and the second similar to him, under which we passed , raising his head in surprise…

What was that? !!

Guys, these objects turned out to be strikingly similar to Roman viaduct bridges! And these were real viaducts, only built not in Roman times, but in the mid-1890s thanks to the efforts of the Austro-Hungarian authorities.

They were very much needed here to ensure the railway connection of these areas with the central and western parts of the "patchwork empire", Austria-Hungary. They were built by Italian soldiers captured during the Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866. So, the construction took many years - at least 20-25. Almost like in Ancient Egypt…

And built these unique viaducts, by the way, were forever!

Because the work was done simply on ingenious projects! Soviet builders, those in the 1950s could not understand how it could be built? ! !

Not everything was as bad as you can see in the Austro-Hungarian kingdom!

In his immortal novel The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik, Jaroslav Hasek tried to convince us, his readers, of something else. So the genius was wrong…

However, I have heard of an alternative version of the origin of these viaducts, the essence of which is that they are the work of ancient Roman masters!

And they are not 100 "with a tail" years, but almost 2000, or even more!

I don't know if that's true ...

The viaduct we had right on the way turned out to be smaller in size, but active. On the inside of its arches, someone's skillful hands depicted the famous Carpathian insurgent of the XVIII century Oleksa Dovbush and his beloved. I immediately began to call him ("about myself") "Dovbush viaduct. "

And the other, bigger one (the one that was on the sidelines and which we had to get acquainted with a little later), is no longer used for "direct purposes". But how stunning he turned out to be nearby!

However, as I said, it will be discussed below.

That's right! They were looking for one wonderful object, and occasionally found two more, the existence of which in Vorokhta was not even suspected…

Yes - let's finally get to the springboards!

And here we are at their feet.

The souvenir market, located at the exit from the base, was not of much interest - we have already seen many such markets in the Carpathian settlements. We would like to climb the springboards!

Note that next to them is an old single chairlift: obviously to lift athletes up. An old aunt, who looked out of the booth next to her, asks that if you need to go upstairs, I'll turn it on. Only - money (20 hryvnias "from the nose") forward! Well, what problems - let's go!

And here we are upstairs. We see that the springboards are very old and, unfortunately, they are not supervised. Fences, stair railings - rusty. Steps - erased by the feet of many generations of "jumpers".

Concrete structures - so it just falls off in pieces. It's sad to see all this when you're standing next to…

Just as if the "ski" itself looks much newer.

The two strips of "guides" for skis are so white-white and so fun to shine in the sun! Are they made of metal or what?

Since the gate in the fence is not closed, we decide to climb to the very top.

"Guides" are made of some special ceramics. When you try to put your foot on them, for the sake of "sports interest", immediately begins to slide down. Let's give up this dangerous occupation at once. Boards nailed to the edge of the ceramic ski look just like new. So, watch the "working" part of the springboard!

And most importantly - the view before us is just great!

Aerial view!

Mountains, forest, extreme houses of the village below… It's funny to see under us a train going from Vorokhta to Yaremche, which has the appearance of a huge snake, which slowly and peacefully crawls somewhere in its affairs into the gorge!

We sat there for a long time. They took and took photos - they couldn't stop!

We imagined what it was like to jump off a springboard - and it became uncomfortable when our eyes turned to the abyss that opened up below us…

We admired all this beauty and went to the forest that day - "breathe health"!

We met the second, the same grand viaduct, the next day.

But I will tell about it here and now. After all, it does not change the essence!

So, in the evening, having brought ourselves after another excursion to the mountains, we decided to "inspect" the building that was located near our tourist complex, and even from a long distance it seemed grand.

In general, we finally moved to this viaduct.

Yes, people!

It's, as they say, something with something!

We did not expect such a scale!

Length - a few hundred meters! Huge arches (as you can find on the Internet - up to 30 meters in diameter! )! Stacked stone to stone - so, as they say there, when praising the Egyptian pyramids, you can't put a knife blade between them!

And the adjacent modern railway bridge (a viaduct that actually worked for more than 100 years, replaced in 2000, which could easily and reliably work out just as much! ) you just don't notice because of its primitive appearance compared to with THIS…

We couldn't leave for a long time…

Climbed it.

We walked along the railway track laid by the viaduct, here and there, looking into the abyss ...It's dangerous, in general! After all, the width of the "working part" is about four meters and the fence was removed - apparently by local scrap metal collectors.

We went down and looked at the viaduct from all sides…

We climbed the modern bridge next to it, not paying attention to it at all, because our eyes could only look in one direction!

And did, did, took photos…

It was just some joyous dizziness from seeing this amazing work of human thought!

And we could not understand - really, how did they build this grand structure? ! !

We returned to the base with new impressions!

Well, our vacation in Vorokhta just started great!

SECTION SECOND

CENTER OF EUROPE

- Here is the center of Europe! - said clearly Inna Pavlovna, our teacher of Russian language and literature.

And our whole 9 "B" class of secondary school №9 in Lviv obediently creaked in unison with ink pens. May 1991 was on the calendar. The school year was coming to an end.

We wrote an annual dictation in Russian. Many of them were written by us during these school years. Not to mention everyone! What we just didn't write…

But the topic of the dictation, the quote from which I quoted at the beginning of this "highlight", was remembered! Because she seemed so interesting to me that as we continued to write, one thought kept running through my head.

I thought to myself then: “And what does this center of Europe look like? ! ! That would be there to visit! ».

And it didn't seem difficult, because this place is not far from our Lviv - between the cities of Rakhiv and Tyachiv, in the village of Dilove, in the Ukrainian Carpathians.

But I managed to visit the geographical center of the part of the world where we live only 28 years later. And this is exactly what happened during our trip to Vorokhta, about the collected "highlights" in and around which I am now trying to tell you all.

It was especially interesting to listen to it on Yablunytsky Pass, where we made a half-hour stop. She, being a local by birth, told us a lot of interesting facts about the history of lands located on the outskirts of the pass. During the turbulent twentieth century, these territories passed from hand to hand more than once. And it was interesting to get acquainted with these facts on the example of the life of her ancestors.

In 1918, her great-grandparents changed their "first" Austro-Hungarian citizenship to Czechoslovak. That, for a very short time, turned out to be citizens of Poland, whose ruling circles took the most active part in the partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Then, also for a short time, the Soviet government came here, followed by the German occupiers during the Great Patriotic War. And then the Soviet troops came again and now for a very long time. Until the recent, but fortunately, past "amazing" 1990s.

I was very pleased to listen to this unhurried story also because Ms. Olga spoke very correctly about all those who came to her homeland. For now, when May 9 is no longer considered a holiday in Ukraine, she called Soviet soldiers the liberators of this region from the Nazis, I wanted to shake her hand gratefully - my grandfather was a Soviet officer.

By the way, the monument to the soldiers of the Soviet divisions who took the Yablunytsya Pass in 1944 is located on the same place where it was erected in the 1950s, and its condition is excellent. And this is not uncommon for the Carpathian region. Apparently, here in the Carpathians, the people of the testament to preserve these monuments are passed down from generation to generation.

Well, let's move on!

Rakhov, I'll tell you, we somehow didn't even notice!

The city center, where the Hutsul Brynza Festival is held annually (brynza is a salty sheep's cheese), turned out to be quite nice and reminded me of the Hungarian provincial towns we once visited. Well, it is clear not far from Hungary!

But we were not dropped off there (because we saw everything interesting from the bus windows and it turned out to be enough), but almost on the outskirts, where we were shown several churches built in the mid-nineteenth century.

Well, then we walked through narrow, crooked, flooded streams of dirty water, streets… Bought a bottle of homemade wine from a local grandmother (burda and more - sour with a taste of something like that, imperceptibly rural! ). That's all Rakhiv!

And then the geographical center of our long-suffering and rich in the history of the continent was waiting for us.

I confess honestly, for some reason, while our, still quite old and even regularly puffing on the Carpathian serpentines, "Ikarus" overcame the last few hundred meters from Rakhiv to the village of Dilovy, my head was stubbornly thinking that, if, perhaps, on The North (or South) pole of the Earth is not our destiny, most likely, to put our foot in this life, then at least we will enter the center of Europe, "Pardont", we will step!

We pass the village of Dilove quickly.

The village is like a village. Notable only by its name. Probably, many of the locals (or their parents) are so "vulgar" that it is better not to put a finger in their mouth. Joke!

The rain continues. Therefore, all tourists, after listening to the information of our dear guide, are photographed near the most important "object", trying not to linger.

And we do not lose such a case, of course!

Rakhiv shows another tourist "ark" that takes the next ones to get acquainted, so to speak… Behind him the second, third…

Life goes on!

In the afternoon you could visit the Carpathian Museum of Nature, located here, two steps from the most important geographical object. We did not go to look at the exhibits, but preferred to continue to communicate with this very nature, walking through the park where the museum is located.

There I picked up some wild hazelnuts - in memory of…

And, "together with a pure soul, blessing fate's blow, " we went back to Vorokhta.

And what were your impressions of visiting the above-mentioned object - right, you ask?

Yes yes… Nothing special. You can't choose the best words to describe our impressions!

Everything turned out simple. Understanding the importance of the moment came later.

As is almost always the case…

" raisin " THIRD

"THE MOST MOUNTAIN WEATHER STATION IN UKRAINE"

The next day we had to visit places we are still unfamiliar with.

We decided to get acquainted with the Pozhizhevskaya meadow.

There was an option to go to Hoverla, but we refused, although we really wanted to check as soon as possible whether we had lost our strength during the summer "sitting" in the not yet capital city of Lviv. We decided, so to speak, to leave a tasty piece for us for a snack!

So, tempted by the famous name of the place, which would be great to visit (according to our tour operator), we went to get acquainted with new places for us.

For those who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Ukrainian Carpathians, the word "mountain meadow" may be of some interest. I will explain briefly what it means: this is what mountain meadows are called in the Ukrainian Carpathians.

She told us that she was the forester's daughter. And everything immediately became clear! People who grew up in the bosom of nature do not become "mothers of sons" and "oxygen girls".

Well, we went, so we went on a hike to the "fire field".

The starting point of our route was at the foot of Hoverla. We were brought there by the same Ikarus that drove to the center of Europe the day before. Two more of the same Ikarus were delivered by two groups of colleagues from the race, who wanted to conquer Hoverla that day. As it turned out, they were in a hurry and it would be better for them to wait until Friday.

Tatiana, without putting off the case in a "long drawer", led us up a rather steep path, strewn with large cobblestones wet from yesterday's rain.

The second option is to run away, zigzagging from side to side, because, according to her, a bear with its heavy carcass can not perform such sharp maneuvers and so, imitating hares, there is a chance to take his feet away from him. In my opinion, the first, second option, both are not perfect!

You need to have a strong psyche and be physically developed to be able to do that! While Tatiana was telling me, I remembered what the Siberians were doing during a similar meeting in the taiga with Mikhail Ivanovich. They advise not to shout when you see a clubfoot, not to rush to run - you still will not run away from the bear, because he runs faster than a man. And he will run after those who run away from him and shout for fear of "the king of nature" necessarily, because with such a spectacle he has the instinct of a predator. How do Siberians behave in such situations? But it's very simple - they calmly and kindly order with the bear and, respectfully backing up, try to leave calmly.

And the beast, as a rule, releases the person with the world.

One of my dad's university friends, having moved to a permanent place in the Siberian snow and ice, once, collided head-on with a bear with cubs in the taiga (it's more dangerous in the "relationship" of bears and people is hard to imagine! ), Not a fool, took and and calmly showed his empty-handed mother to his mother, who was growling with rage - look, I don't have a weapon! And the bear understood him! She fell silent, sat down calmly, and her unequivocal look told her uncle that he could go.

The bear is a very dangerous predator. While everyone was listening to Tatiana's advice about the purely "Carpathian" tricks of salvation from him, I remembered the story "The Evil Spirit of Yambuya", which tells about the real events that took place in the late 1940s in Eastern Siberia.

He lived in a deserted area on the outskirts of Mount Yambui, a cannibal bear killed and ate many of his "guests" in human form, until the people realized that these are not devils playing, and some more "material", fierce, cunning and vile . , and did not find this "taiga master" council…

But we were distracted. We apologize!

So, we went up to the "fire meadow". Although the ascent was quite simple and the path ran along a path, quite hollow "serpentine" on the hillside, on the way still made a few stops, because in the group there were several elderly women, who also found this road difficult. During the rest, the whole group, almost in full force, went to the blueberries, which in the Carpathians pond-herd. And to them, the inhabitants of the steppes, wild berries, after all, surprisingly!

The third, they said, was sent down to the village for groceries.

The chief, an uncle in his fifties (looks very much like Ataman Sidor Luty from the well-known Soviet western film "The Adventures of the Elusive Avengers" - only old), talks about the work of the weather station. About how temperature, humidity, air flow rate and other parameters are measured.

Here he gives us, at our earnest request, the most accurate forecast for the coming days. We could not miss such a case - we still have to travel in the Carpathians and would not like to do it in the rain!

It turned out that it happens that in winter the weather station is simply cut off from the world, when the snow falls and all the trails are under a meter and a half (or even more! ) layer of snow. Then down, to the people, you can only get to ski.

And back - except for a helicopter, which here, of course, no one has. That's why the residents of the station have to be idle for many days.

As for me - even romantic somehow, right? ! ! What a fantasy field for a writer like Stephen King!

We were all amused by my uncle's words about how a bear once looked at them. In search of food, the clubfoot foolishly climbed the fence to the place where the meteorological equipment was, and how to get back did not understand immediately. And, as a result, he knocked everything down and broke it until he knew how to get back. Fool bear has bothered people!

After this pleasant acquaintance, after drinking Carpathian seagull in the station, finally made a lot of photos of beautiful species, we went back to our "Icarus".

It seems like a rather simple walk ...

But did you admire the beauty of the Carpathians, were you inspired by healthy clean air, did you meet good people?

Well, isn't that enough? ! !

While "Pozhizhevskaya mountain meadow" - somehow, we will definitely look at you again!

SECTION FOUR

FORGOTTEN CHAIR

There are many recurring names in the Carpathians. The same places in different parts of the mountains are called the same. Whether the circumstances due to or under which they were so named coincided, whether the inhabitants were confused and repeated and called different mountains, valleys, rivers, waterfalls… I do not know what is going on.

In the Carpathians there are almost a dozen mountains with a somewhat mysterious name, Magura.

And it was on this mountain, located near Vorokhta, that we had an excursion the next day.

We chose this hike because it was promised that although it did not provide for the sightseeing of many monuments, but, nevertheless, it, the hike, had to be quite long in terms of time and distance. Accordingly, in terms of physical activity is also quite difficult. And we had to train until the third conquest of Hoverla in our lives!

So we went to Mount Magura.

Vasily warned that it was poisonous. If you take it in your hands and then, for example, rub your eyes, in a few hours you will be completely blind - forever. Yes, we really need it - to take it in hand and rub our eyes afterwards!

Another memorable halt was on a fairly large rock ledge, which offered a magnificent view of the ski jumps from which athletes were jumping at the time.

Yes-yes - they train in "non-winter" time! For this purpose springboards have a special covering. I saw them with my own eyes - "telescopes" (well, for some reason, constant communication with the computer does not spoil my eyesight - a mystery of nature, and never mind! ).

Well, we rested and moved forward!

Then we climbed to the top of the mountain, which did not meet us with anything interesting. Only managed to "use the services" of large blackberries.

After that, having made a stop for "snacking" (well, it's "sacred"!

), And after crossing a rather short ridge on a mountain called Pyatihatki, we began to descend its slope home - in Vorokhta.

On the slope of Pyatihatok we met a decorative Cossack "hut" (fenced with a wooden fence camp of the Zaporozhian Cossacks of the time of Bohdan Khmelnytsky).

A group of our colleagues from the Vorokhta tourist complex has already visited there, and they have chosen an easier and shorter tour for this day. We saw their devastated cauldrons for the Cossack kulesh, which they probably had already "burst" while we were climbing Magura.

And then…

Then my wife and I just had a heart attack!

We saw supports, ropes and hanging on them, on the suspensions, chairs of a huge (along the length of the track) chairlift. We are skiers - "fans"! This is ours, dear!

One thought was running through my head - but where did it come from? ! ! No guidebook informed us about it. And in our tourist complex, in the program of this tour, she was not mentioned.

How so? ! !

Our guide Vasily, to our surprised inquiries, answers that here, in the already covered by the veil of time "perestroika" 1980s, Soviet skiers trained.

"Flying skiers" jumped from the springboards, and here on this track as long as four kilometers (in the same developed Western Europe, there are not so many such trails, for example! ) Trained in ski slalom. But since the early 2000s, according to Vasily, this route has been abandoned. Reason? The guy answered shortly - "business". The ski giant of Ukraine and, at the same time, one of the most expensive ski resorts in Europe called Bukovel has made this place unprofitable for skiing. Ех…

From so. Springboards still somehow serve the great cause of the development of sports on earth, and here…

Rusty ropes creak in the wind, cells with almost rotten wooden seats and backs sway…

Launch…

We went down this route for a long time. The experienced eye of a skier noticed all its "ski" features. Great route!

But, apparently, no one should ride here anymore ...

The slopes, where skiers used to run faster than the wind in winter, are now occupied by local cattlemen…

We walked and walked the track. The supports of the "chair" accompanied us with their quiet sad noise ...

Vorokhta could be seen below. We're back…

Sorry. So sorry!

Some sad "highlight" came out, dear readers!

But what can you do. It happens.

Sorry ...

"FASHION" FIFTH

“NEVER SCRATCH IN DIFFICULT PLACES! ! ! »

This trip to Vorokhta turned out to be extremely useful for me personally in all respects. I have already had the honor to tell about many beautiful and useful things above, and I will continue to do so later, but now I would like to tell you about something not so fun…

On this day we chose a hike to the Written Stone.

We were not interested in the name at all, but in the promised unusualness, beauty and even some, as it were, mysticism, or something, of this place.

This is a group of very unusual sandstone rocks, as if deliberately collected once in one place by someone very powerful, ancient and wise, hopefully. Their height is from 2 to 20 meters. The total length of this small rock massif is from 80 to 100 meters. In general, there is something to "look at".

This object is located in the Verkhovyna district of Ivano-Frankivsk region, a few kilometers from the Bukovytsia pass.

These rocks got their name after petroglyphs (ancient inscriptions) from the times of Kievan Rus were discovered on them, and not from one human habit, the thought of which some of you may have flashed in your head for a moment…

On the bus, our guide that day, the sweetest young man with a radiant smile named Ivan, told us that there was once a pagan temple of the ancient Slavs on these rocks.

And that, they say, Carpathian white magicians, sorcerers-molfars like to visit here. It immediately "strained" me. Magic? Ta-a-a ...There is nothing good in it and a normal person should stay away from it and those who use it.

But immediately the saving proverb came to mind: "God will not betray, the pig will not eat! ».

This time the road there was not particularly interesting for us, "amateur walkers". Because most of it passed through even picturesque places. They were located on the outskirts of Mount Kapilash ("cap" - translated from the local "Carpathian" dialect). And we visited here a year ago.

Dear our attention, as on the previous day in the campaign on Magura, attracted the behavior of some of our companions.

For some reason, the elderly couple was constantly behind the group.

Large stones of the most bizarre shapes, located in one place ...Some of them have small caves ...

Between the stones - in some places narrow passages ...

The forest approaches the rocks from all sides…

The whistling of the wind and the noise of the trees turned the imagination into a whisper of spirits…

Indeed, an extraordinary town! And, however, something mystical was felt around.

And so, I don't know who, but I immediately felt gloomy ...

Okay. After eating your "dry ration", we begin to tour the site. Our guide Ivan, shining with his smile "for a million dollars", tells the story of this place and its features. That there was a pagan temple here. About some mythical giants of the Carpathians (from their names, they say, came the name of the Carpathians), that all these "stones" and once sketched nothing here.

The outlook from here is really great!

And here are the "baths". That's right: they are filled with strange, even some, or something, bad water.

And here could be the first trouble in this bad place. And not only with me!

Just your humble servant, unfortunately, in some situations where you need to listen carefully, has a habit, I apologize for the expression, "clap your ears", thinking for no reason about something of his own. So it was here too! I listened to the words about the inadmissibility of touching water in the "baths". And at the top of the rock "shot" I thought to wet my fingers in it! But fortunately for everyone, I was ashamed to do it. It's too unusual here!

No one has ever learned that he could have one more problem that day. And a very big problem!

Believe it or not, our guide Ivan told us that he and a friend once specially stirred the water in one of the "baths" to check the sign in action, so to speak.

As he once said, long before his death, a king who did not believe in God or the devil - "...so, grandmother's tales tell the truth! »

No more events, good or bad, have taken place this day. We returned to our "Vorokhta", beloved in our souls, safe and sound.

Thank God ...

SECTION SIXTH

CITIZEN GOVERLE

And here came the main day of our tour!

Hoverla Rise Day!

We have already visited the "roof of Ukraine" twice.

Now it's the turn of the third, which should always be. After all, yes! ?

In the morning we go to the starting point.

Drive nearby - 20 kilometers, no more.

It seems that this campaign was chosen by half of the guests of "Vorokhta". As many as three buses gathered to ascend to the highest point of Ukraine.

Let's go.

The girl-guide from the tourist complex, who is constantly embarrassed (obviously - by her responsibilities) and periodically blushes, tells us about the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, which is the Montenegrin mountain range, the highest peak of which (and at the same time all of Ukraine) and is Hoverla. It covers an area of almost 6.000 hectares. She tells something there about the boy Prut (as you know, this great river originates on the slopes of Hoverla) and the girl Hoverla and their unhappy love, which ended very sadly for both of them because of the reluctance of the beauty's dad. I, as if from the same mythical Carps) to meet the wishes of young people.

I confess, I didn't really listen to it all. Fairy tales are all for children! All thoughts were about the future ascent. There was a certain anxiety in my soul. No, not because of future difficulties of recovery. We have already passed this way and knew that there is nothing super heavy in it.

Worried about something else.

Well, I didn't want to be like my colleagues in the race, who hurried to Hoverla on Tuesday and, in the apt words of one of them, "wandered there like hedgehogs in the fog"!

After all, Hoverla is still good, so it is that it offers simply magnificent views of the surrounding mountains! Of these, we especially wanted to see Mount Stig, which is a ski resort Dragobrat.

Well, profit!

Of course, we were brought to the Zaroslyak camp site, which is located at an altitude of 1100 m above sea level and, as you know, or, most likely, as you know, dear readers, is the starting point of the "classic route" on the top of Hoverla. Why is this camp so called? I have not been able to clarify yet, but it seems to me that this was the name of an important person involved in its construction. Well, yes it doesn't matter, in principle.

And here we are standing in the woods at the foot of the "Ukrainian Jomolungma".

Newcomers are worried about the future. They can be immediately distinguished by excited voices and nervous movements when they dig in their backpacks, occasionally feeling and looking at each other.

And my wife and I are calm. The weather is great - the sun is shining brightly!

We are waiting for the conductor. The guy and the girl who accompanied us from the tourist complex on Hoverla will not take us. The girl stays downstairs, and the guy will go "closing".

We didn't buy anything from him, because we got such souvenirs in 2011, under the influence of our emotions, during our debut ascent to the highest peak of Ukraine.

Our leader was named Vladimir. He gave us a brief briefing, the essence of which was that we must unquestioningly obey him, follow the same path as he, and not where the soul is drawn. What will he say, where you can collect water one last time before climbing to the top.

He also said that after the past rains, the stones lying on the path to the mountain, gained great mobility and therefore it is necessary to step on them very carefully.

Questions? No questions asked. Perfectly!

Just like Comrade Sukhov from The White Sun of the Desert!

In short, of course, in fact! Without unnecessary words and sentiments.

Looking ahead, I will say that this was the case during the ascent. I personally respect such people!

In response to a question about him going up Hoverla again, Mr. Volodymyr said that this was his 57th ascent this season. Like this!

A real "citizen of Hoverla", I thought!

The ascent took us two and a half hours.

Fortunately, everything went without incident and emergency. From time to time, Vladimir shouted at the smart people, who still found themselves in the group and tried to break away from the company. On the walkie-talkie, he gave orders to the locksmith (he was our guide from "Vorokhta") to drive the laggards. His eyesight was truly eagle-like!

During the stops, he told us various stories that happened to him during the previous climbs. Unfortunately, I could not listen to them - I had to pay attention to my beloved wife and photograph her against the spectacular views of the Carpathian mountains, which unfolded more and more before our admiring gaze.

The ascent was not difficult for Lida and me (unlike some beginners), because we already knew this route. As always, the hardest part was the climb to Mala Hoverla. But everyone managed.

No one backed down. Well done - colleagues from the rise!

I remember how our guide, smiling sarcastically, asked us that, they say, you probably already hung noodles on your ears, telling a tale about where the name Hoverla came from, right? What was the boy Prut, the girl Hoverla, and her evil father did not allow them to marry, etc. , etc. ? After that, he told reliable, in his opinion, information about what the word means and where it came from

SECTION SEVEN

(AND MOST IMPORTANTLY FOR ME…)

“THANK YOU MASTERS! »

Well, that's it, guys!

Or almost everything.

Ah, people, what is wrong with me!

I added to this place and realized that I had lost something important ...

How could I forget about that? ! !

And now I remember…

The evening of the penultimate day of our stay in Vorokhta…

Tomorrow most of our colleagues arrive home early in the morning, and we, the people of Lviv, can still stay until the evening ...

We are now at the farewell party. I didn't write about it, but in vain - in "Vorokhta", because every night we had an excellent and always very emotionally prepared evening program. Initially, there was an entertainment section similar to the local Hutsul flavor. And then - dances-shmantsy-obzhimantsy! Joke - everything was very cultural - "multicultural".

And now we are dancing - who is capable of what… Disco is, after all!

Where "ball" dancers will not be interested, probably…

Although, maybe they like to take and "throw off" the shackles of the rules of "correct" dances and break away, how do you know? ! !

Well, yes, in general, it doesn't matter that someone is very good at improvising, and another (well, like me, for example! ), just "tramples" to the music, diligently trying to get in time.

We are all here, like brothers and sisters, almost having fun sincerely - from the heart! After all, we helped and supported each other in daily hikes, which for many were very difficult…

And at the heart of this sadness!

Because tomorrow it's time to divorce - "tu-tu" home…

And here are the last chords of the melody of the last dance of our last disco in "Vorokhta". Latin American singer Fonsi "slowly" passionately sings his super-popular song about passionate love…

Everyone is dancing - also passionate!

There are many more good words to say ...

It would be possible to repeat here the words from the interview, which Lida and I wanted to take the staff of the tourist complex to find out the opinion of their guests about the rest of this race and which the girl-operator, delighted with what we said after receiving our consent, posted on the website "Vorokhta" ...

But I will not do that.

Why?

Yes, because you (if, of course, you are a little interested in all of the above) you can read these words on the website of the resort - in the feedback section.

And here's what I decided - the best thing about these people will tell the words of a Ukrainian song, which was composed in Soviet times (and did not get any worse! ).

It is called - "Land, my homeland". It has an incomparable refrain, and that's what I'm quoting here.

Yes, this is a Ukrainian song and many of you, dear readers, are unfamiliar with this language and therefore, although it is related to Russian, you will not understand it. But I hope you all feel what her words are about, aren't they, friends? ! ! Smart, cultured people are always aware of and perceive words sung from the heart, even if they sound unfamiliar or unfamiliar language…

So - LISTEN!

Come to Prykarpattia!

Come, good people!

We will always be glad to see you!

Gay!

To meet you with bread and strength,

A nice song is sung,

In honor of our bright days.

And in the blue far

This song is pouring over the mountains!

About a wonderful land,

The magical land of Cheremosh and Prut!

Land, my homeland,

Song edge of zeal and hard work.

You are my love, you are my motherland !

Gaida to the Carpathians, friends!

Don't waste time!

And, unfortunately, a few more words - ALREADY COMPLETING ...

After all, in these verses everything is said about the beauty of Vorokhta!

Of course, it is also sung in Ukrainian. But you will understand and accept these words with your soul, as you have already understood and accepted the words of another song, which I was already lucky to cite in my story - because I'm not mistaken, my friends, right? ! !

Well - LISTEN to these words!

ВОРОХТА

Oh, my dear, snow-white beauty!

Singing the ringing rod of the Blue Mountains to awaken,

Here the spruce strings play music,

Oh, my God, let everyone know you!

Oh, my son, son and Carpathians,

The land of beauty and goodness, the heart wants to sing,

Whoever sees you will love forever,

Oh, my God, the sound of the trembita is heard!

Oh, my Vorokhta , you are a Carpathian pearl!

And friendly to all and always have living rooms,

The mountains caress you, the forest gently embraces you,

Oh, my Vorokhta, the Hutsul sings sincerely!

Oh, my devil, you are a dream fairy tale!

Your joy and kindness will always be with us,

Let the stars shine for all, let the hutsul shine with joy,

Oh, my God, the blue mountains are singing!

That's right…

That's right.

Come to Vorokhta, people!

Good there!

Sincerely

П. S. I never threw nuts out of the center of Europe. They lie on my desk, in one of the offices of the stationery. In memory of a wonderful vacation spent in a wonderful place. And the "handful of raisins" we bought - we give it to all of you, dear readers! From a pure heart!

Alexander,

Lydia

m. Lviv

October-December 2017

Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original

Называется она - «Край, мій рідний край». У неё есть бесподобный припев, и именно его я здесь приведу.

And here's what I decided - the best thing about these people will tell the words of a Ukrainian song, which was composed in Soviet times (and did not get any worse! ).

It is called - "Land, my homeland". It has an incomparable refrain, and that's what I'm quoting here.