So, Here Are the Results of 2021: Travel and Toil Overcome All

Why should we take stock? Lately, we have all felt how plans collapse and forecasts fail to come true for certain reasons beyond our control. So we need to revise our schedules, our programme, and our approach to planning, and move towards realising our ideas. In the passing year of 2021, not all of our escapades came off, but we did not sit still, and discoveries, riddles, and achievements lay in wait at every step. A hike is a step out of your comfort zone, a sudden downpour, waiting for a delayed suburban train in a 17-degree frost, and even an electric shock from an accidental touch of an electric-fence wire. Every outing is always a sense of novelty and the conquest of a new summit — a chalk cliff in Bilokuzmynivka

 

Bilokuzmynivka, Donetsk region. Chalk cliffs

or the heights of spoil heaps.

 

Spoil heap

Trials and obstacles let you get to know yourself in unforeseen situations or in extreme conditions. A walk through the abandoned gypsum adit in Ivanhrad— a splendid test of endurance and stamina.

 

Ivanhrad, Donetsk region. Gypsum adit

Every hike shapes your perception of the surrounding world and gives golden lessons in valuing your time and devoting it to worthwhile things.

 

Slovianka, Dnipropetrovsk region. "Pearl of the Steppe" estate. Museum of Ukrainian folk life

On journeys, fate grants interesting acquaintances and conversations, and once again you become convinced that the world rests not on three whales, but on wonderful people, enthusiasts, and experts in their craft.

Suderman Estate. Zelene, Donetsk region.

In 2021, I fondly remember the meetings with Father Alim at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in the village of Dmytrivka

Dmytrivka, Dnipropetrovsk region. Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God

and with the keepers of museum treasures — Lidiia Vasylivna Kolesnyk in the village of Dmytrivka, Dnipropetrovsk region

 

Dmytrivka, Dnipropetrovsk region. Village Museum

and Tetiana Valeriivna Kiiashko in Mezhova of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

 

Mezhova, Dnipropetrovsk region. Museum of Local History

I thank all my fellow travellers and the locals I met along the way for their tips and hospitality.

Admiring the natural landscapes near the source of the Kazennyi Torets,

 

Upper reaches of the Kazennyi Torets River. Donetsk region.

in the riverbed of the Samara

Samara River. Dnipropetrovsk region.

and the Siverskyi Donets,

 

Siverskyi Donets, Sviatohirsk, Donetsk region.

breathing in the phytoncides of the"Druzhba" arboretum in Lozova,

 

Lozova, Dnipropetrovsk region. "Druzhba" Arboretum

watching the birds in the"Pryozernyi" ornithological reserve,

 

Sloviansk. "Pryozernyi" Ornithological Reserve

making your way between the stone monoliths in the"Prytorskyi" reserve,

 

you come to the conclusion of how important it is to protect natural resources and monuments not made by human hands. Sometimes nature itself covers the wounds with dense vegetation, as on the site of the closed "Vershyna" kaolin quarry near Prosiana.

 

Prosiana, Dnipropetrovsk region. Kaolin quarry

And in frontline Avdiivka, a worked-out quarry withits sandy dunes and emerald water lures holidaymakers from all the nearest towns, despite the ceaseless fighting just a few kilometres away.

Avdiivka. Beach at the sand quarry

The personal discovery of 2021 can be considered the salt lakes in Sloviansk, which have healing properties.

 

What you see on your travels does not always inspire admiration and elation. Sadly, rare examples of folk architecture or public historical buildings are in a dismal state. A particularly sad impression was left by the abandoned railway station in Chunyshyne,

 

the lordly bathhouse in Ivanivske in the Donetsk region,

 

the water tower in Myrne of the Pokrovsk district,

 

the mills in Pysmenne

 

Fast's Mill. Pysmenne, Dnipropetrovsk region.

and Yurivka.

 

Abandoned mill. Yurivka, Dnipropetrovsk region.

In a hopeless state, the sanatorium buildings and the pump room of Slavkurort.

 

The trips and hikes of 2021 filled my travel bag with hundreds of kilometres covered, the most fascinating locations, and life experience. Each time, video stories about what I saw were created.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgh5PpEUyQfq41_4Oa1YHkg/videos

With the year drawing to a close, nothing freezes or vanishes; instead, new horizons open up with new roads and rest stops that will enrich the traveller with useful information and incredible impressions.