Christmas break 2023
By the end of September I asked my friend Jan to take me some place nice, some place I can get closure, some place I can leave all my demons behind. Jan suggested going hiking in Slovakia, I didn't think it twice.
I booked my plane tickets to Czechia, requested days off at work, got some mountaineering equipment, and got ready for a life-changing adventure.
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| The Prague astronomical clock is a medieval astronomical clock attached to the Old Town Hall in Praha. It was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock still in operation. |
On August 2023, I took my parents to Paris, and despite the city itself is objectively gorgeous, I found it disgusting in many ways. Praha has a similar style, but it feels completely different. It feels sober, clean, impressive, enlightened, old but modern, housing the cultural centre of central Europe for many years throughout its history.
Walking the streets of Praha during Christmas time is an interesting experience for an inexperienced Mexican person. We are convinced by TV shows, films, books that Christmas is associated with cold weather, snow, candles, hot chocolate. For me, Christmas wasn't really a good time, we usually spent Christmas eve working ungodly hours at the store. But being in Praha in Christmas brings different sensations. My family is away, but I feel warm inside, despite the very cold weather of Czechia, my parents' house is 8000 km away, but I feel like home, my Spanish speaking peers are nowhere to be seen, and I don't understand the Czech language, but I don't feel isolated, Christmas here feels more Christmasy, but that might just be due to my over sensitive emotional state. 2023 was a year to remember, too many ups and too many downs, and they all come to an end in the beautiful city of Praha, the incredible mountains of Slovakia and the comfort of my home in the UK.
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| The cathedral of St. Vitus is a prominent example of Gothic architecture. It is the largest church in Czechia, located within Praha Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors. |
It's not bad to meet your heroes
On December 25th I went to the National Museum of Praha, which is hands down the best museum I've visited. Everything was impressive, but not ostentatious, as compared to the items on display at the Louvre.
Time and time I've said that I don't like missing... and this was no exception, but it felt strange to see an animal from my continent in a museum in Europe. I know that this is due to colonialism, it's not that America native tribes didn't want their animals, instead, they were taken away from them, safely stored in museums and art galleries in Europe, away from the dirty hands of their rightful owners... But colonialism does not make the Andean Condor any less impressive. It took me more than 30 years to see one of my favourite animals, I couldn't help but to be mesmerised at the majestic bird that otherwise ruled the skies in South America.
With the natural science part being over, it was time to visit the history halls of the museum. The history of Czech republic is too vast to be described in a single post, also, not the purpose of today's story. By the end of the history halls, I noticed a drawing of a familiar face, the Czech locomotive, Emil Zátopek.
Zátopek was a long distance runner, the only person to win gold medals in three sports in Olympic games. In 1952, he ran the 5000 m and 10000 m races, and then decided to run his first ever marathon (42195 m), winning gold in all three races.
Approximately halfway through the marathon race, Zátopek pulled alongside Jim Peters from Britain and asked him, "Jim, is this pace too fast?" Peters replied, "No, it isn't fast enough". Peters later said he was joking, but Zátopek accelerated into the lead and won by more than two and a half minutes.
Despite being an incredibly talented athlete, he was humble, well spirited, and very humane character. In 1966, Zátopek hosted an Australian long distance runner that went by the name of Ron Clarke. Clarke was upset because despite he broke several records, he never won a gold medal in Olympic games. When Zátopek hosted Clarke, he gave him one of his own gold medals, just to make him feel better.
I was already primed by the skeleton of the wholly rhino, the cute baby wholly mammoth and the Andean Condor, but seeing the portrait of one of my personal heroes was simply too much. I don't know if people noticed, I didn't care too much, but I was in tears while watching this drawing. I always say "Never meet your heroes, or even better, don't have heroes at all". But with Emil Zátopek, I can proudly make an exception
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| Drawing of Emil Zátopek by Marcel Niederle. 1952. |
Astonishing panorama of the end times
Once the visit to Praha was over, it was time to put all the gear on and hike the beautiful mountains of Slovakia. It is no exaggeration to say that it was a life-changing experience, but more on that later.
Everything was as unfamiliar as it was astonishing as it was relaxing. Jan and Petr were amazing guides in this adventure and I treasure every moment with them. We started fresh on the 27th after having a cup of coffee in Čertovica. From the very beginning the views were spectacular, it didn't matter that the temperature was close to 0 Celsius degrees, we were there to ensure that the "Man vs nature" race continued.
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| Getting ready for the first day hike. |
Petr constantly joked about repeatedly watching the sun rising and setting. I had the same feeling when I was in the cathedral of St. Vitus, at some point you realise all the cathedrals are very similar in construction... but that does not make them any less beautiful, or impressive. And the same was true for the sunsets and sunrises, you see them here and there, it is the same star, always rising from the east, always setting at the west, yet it remains spectacular, no matter when you read this.
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| Throughout the trip we were extremely lucky with the weather, the lack of mist and snow made this sunset a moment to remember. |
When I asked Jan about the wildlife we could see, he failed to mention that we could find paw prints of what we suspect was a pack of wolves. The tell-tale sign was the lack of human prints in the nearby areas, suggesting that the prints didn't belong to a dog.
During one of the climbing sections, Jan and I were not looking up too often, mostly because of the slope, but also due to 12 Kg we were each carrying on our backs for hours on end. Looking down has its advantages though, at some point I noticed the presence of small round brown objects on the snow. I asked Jan if those could be goat poo. We looked up and our horny friends said hi. The goat doesn't care about being the GOAT, the goat cares about being a goat, be the goat, doing goatly things in a goatly way.
Kamarády
Jan is that kind of person that is very transparent, he has flaws like everybody else, but that makes him human. The first time we met was during an interview when he was applying for a position in the department of biochemistry. If you would have asked me 2 years ago if I would trust this person with my life, I probably would have said: "Who are you? And how did you travel back in time?". I'm glad I met Jan, always with a story to tell, always with some controversial, unironic but well spirited opinion.
Jan and Petr met in 2007 when they hitch-hiked from Czechia to India, spending 3 months together without knowing each other before. Petr is an easy going person, and I enjoyed every moment with both of them during the trip.
Friendship is a very tricky term, you don't know if you're friends with someone until you're friends with someone, and then you don't need to acknowledge that, you simply know you're friends with someone.
The moment I stepped on Czechia, I felt a sense of community, Praha, despite being a relatively big city, is different from London or from Mexico City in the sense that people are not rushing to places, they seem to care, they seem to engage with one another.
Perhaps the same can be said about people in the huts, you go to the mountains, either using your skies or your snow shoes, reach the nearest hut to have soup and bread, and suddenly the people there are your brothers in arms.
It is true that this might be due to lack of options, after all, we're at the mountains without anyone else but us to take care of each other in case of any event, but it is also true that Czechs and Slovaks share an intimate past, and they still treat each other as siblings
The calm before the storm
Throughout the trip I was constantly thinking that it had not been life changing, but close to it, that it was not as cleansing, but close to it, and it didn't need to be, until it was.
The beautiful landscapes provided a very calming sensation, the objective of the trip was more than achieved, I went there to leave my demons behind, to heal, to grow, to let go. The physical effort to traverse the Low Tatras kept the mind at ease, the incredible views, kept the soul at ease.
I'm still a country mouse and my favourite place is and will always be the house in the mountain back in Mexico. For a moment when I saw this town I wondered... could I live here? Probably not, there is still a lot to explore, and part of me still resists to root in a single place. On the other hand, having this view every single day for the rest of my life can be a very tempting offer.
The beauty of the snow resides in its many shapes and textures, it can be crystalline, compact, soft, icy, deep, shallow, layered, to name a few. The whiteness of the snow speaks about purity, it's just water decorating what otherwise is already beautiful. But snow is also a force of nature, on the fourth day of hiking we saw the river covered in snow, although it looks amazing, it is also quite dangerous because the proximity to the river, makes it icier, more slippery and difficult for the inexperienced mountaineers such as myself. But then again, that does not make the snow any less beautiful.
When we passed Téryho chata, I felt insignificant being so small next to the giant rocks that make up the High Tatras. Climbing all the way up implies a reward in itself, but once you get to the top, you see something that is bigger than the previous summit, bigger than you. The "Man vs nature" race is pointless from an objective point of view, no matter how much you think you are strong, nature is always bigger, always stronger. One cannot help but to fall prisoner of its beauty, its strength, its vastness.
Once you reach the summit, it is time to go down, the day, the trip, the year, they all are coming to an end, and you feel satisfied, empowered, happy, tired, fulfilled about what you just accomplished. But there is not such a thing as a goal, there's always a taller mountain, a deeper ocean.
All the stuff they tell you about in the movies
When we started going down, we were happy about the whole trip, we were lucky about the weather, the food, the paths. Right after leaving Téryho chata, there is a steep climb that proved to be challenging but fulfilling, with astonishing views of the valley, the huts, the other peaks, the forest below, and in summer time, a couple of lakes.
Once you finish climbing, there is a small downhill section where you can slide and have your daily dose of fun, your body gets filled with adrenaline, with oxytocin and with the satisfaction of reaching the bottom of the slide in one piece.
But that's just the first part, the next part is tougher, steeper, and as a consequence, more dangerous and unpredictable.
Jan told me to be careful, stepping on your heels, following the steps of the person in front of you: "This is a place you don't want to slip, because you can easily die".
Accidents can be prevented, but often they happen because of their own randomness.
When we were descending, I tripped with my own feet, slipped to the central part of the path and slid without being able to stop myself.
All the things they say about facing death are true, it is confusing, it is scary, it is exciting, it is reflective, it is sad, all at once.
The moment I noticed I was heading directly to a big boulder, I thought "this is it, this is how I die". I was ready, knowing well that my mind and my soul were clean, that I've made amends with the people I hurt, that I've forgiven the people that hurt me.
The rock to which I was heading was covered in ice, and it wasn't but a ramp that made me jump into the air, gaining even more speed. Despite I was ready to die... I didn't want to die and tried to cover my head with my hands. I eventually stopped with nothing but very mildly injured knee and hip, some surface level scratches and nosebleed that went away in no time... now that was lucky.
Once more, with feeling
I got up after the sliding stopped, I saw that I was able to walk and collected my now torn apart backpack and my snow-shoes lying next to the rock-made ramp. It was confusing, it still is, not two seconds ago I was ready to leave this mortal world, and now I was alive and kicking. I wanted to call my mum, I wanted to hug Jan and cry, I wanted to shout at the mountain for trying to kill me, but it was not her fault.
We still needed to walk 3-4 more hours, so we just put our equipment back on, and proceed to reach Tatranská Javorina, just 9.3 km away. The whole time I was scared, I told Jan several times to wait for me, for some reason I was hearing in my head O'Malley's Bar in a loop, and there were two ever-present thoughts in my mind:
- I could have died
- I still need to get to the UK
I'm still processing the whole thing, I know that my time has not come yet... I still have time to explore the world, to fall in love, to live, to laugh, to form a family, to make mistakes, to progress here and there, to make amends, to help people, to nurture people, to live... to live once more, with feeling
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