'The best trip of my life': what surprised and delighted the Belarusian in Alaska
'05.05.2021'
Source: Tut.by
I never planned a trip to Alaska, from the word "generally". For me, this US state has always been associated with glaciers and polar bears. This is roughly how Americans perceive Russia: there is snow all around and bears with balalaikas. There was no civilization for me in Alaska. Now I understand how much I was mistaken, Ekaterina told the project tut.by.
“In the bars, all the people at us constantly turned around and whispered among themselves”
This summer, I finally made it to the United States through the J1 student program. Honestly, I planned to realize my long-held dream and fly to Hawaii. But, to my great happiness, I met a very interesting girl from Russia - Nastya, who arrived on the same program. It was she who opened my eyes to Alaska: it was her cherished childhood dream.
I remember, I still thought: “Pf, I also have a dream - to fly to Alaska. Is there little snow in Russia ?! ” But the more she told me about this state, the less I wanted in Hawaii. Alaska has always been so far away for me, so uncharted and dangerous that it was hard for me to resist the urge to take a chance and go on another adventure!
The decision to travel was very spontaneous. Just one morning we woke up with the thought that we must certainly fly. And that’s it! No magic!
It took 20 minutes to prepare the trip: book tickets, accommodation and rent a car. And voila - a week later we were already sitting on the plane to Anchorage. This was perhaps the most unprepared and spontaneous trip in my life. But it turned out to be one of the best!
Departure was from New York with two transfers in San Jose and Seattle. After 14 hours of flight, we already set foot on the land of Alaska, as it turned out, quite civilized.
While waiting for a taxi to our rented housing, two airport workers approached us and asked where we were from, since we did not resemble the locals at all. When they found out where we came from, their surprise knew no bounds. I remember one of them even said that for the first time in his life he saw girls from Russia and spoke with them. I even asked for a hand to hold on, for good luck, I guess.
Honestly, for all the time that we spent in Alaska, they looked at us as people from another planet. In the bars where we went, all the people at us constantly turned around and whispered among themselves. Of course, it was very uncomfortable.
We stayed in Anchorage quite a bit, only 5 days, and this was definitely not enough! At a minimum, you need to plan a week to travel around all national parks. And there are many of them, believe me.
On the subject: “Only in the USA did I know what it means to really work hard”: Belarusian about life and work in America
We rented a car, because this is the only and most convenient way to travel, given the distances we had to travel.
On the first day, we decided to ride along the southern part of Anchorage along the Seward Highway, passing through the picturesque Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Turnagain Bay and Mount Kenai. The road is very picturesque: beautiful views of snow-capped mountains, covered with forest and wrapped in fog. Living there is only for this. Yes, why unnecessary words, you will all see so in the photographs.
We never reached the glacier, alas. But they visited the very picturesque Portage Lake, which is located on the way to the glacier.
On the way back, we still reached the famous Alaska resort and took a cable car ride. The cost of the trip in both directions amounted to 34 dollars. A little expensive, but worth it. A lot of people come there to go hiking (a short hiking trip through the mountains using marked and well-prepared trails. - Approx. TUT.BY). All mountains and hills are indented with paths that you can walk for days.
A trip to the northern lights
On the second day, the idea occurred to us that we should do something unusual and memorable. Therefore, we decided to go to Fairbanks, which is located in central Alaska, an 6 hour drive from Anchorage to watch the northern lights.
It was September, and the probability of the northern lights at this time of the year is usually below average. But that did not stop us! We quickly googled the hotel, which according to reviews had the best location for observing the northern lights. As it turned out later, it was simply located closest to the airport.
The fact is that it is better to observe the northern lights from an open area, so it’s worth going somewhere to the outskirts of the city or to the edge of the forest. But at the edge of the forest there is a chance to run into a bear, so go better to the outskirts.
All in all, 6 hours of driving turned into 8 hours with all our stops and photo shoots. The nature and landscapes are so amazing that we simply could not pass by without a photo.
From Anchorage to Fairbanks there is only one route - deserted and deserted: continuous forests and mountains, streams and endless open spaces where you can walk around the Slavic soul. The path lay through Denali Park.
Denali National Park and Preserve is a biosphere reserve in the United States with a total area of about 25 thousand km². It is located in the heart of Alaska. We were lucky: we drove through the park at the peak of the golden autumn, which lasts here only a few days. We did not get into the park itself, because there was very little time. Believe me, even a whole day will not be enough to go around all its beauty.
There were almost no cars along the highway, only bounty hunters, in the literal sense of the word. There are actually a lot of hunters there. Perhaps this is one of the few entertainment in Alaska. Sometimes it became uncomfortable when, stopping at a gas station, we saw a bunch of parked vans loaded with carcasses and animal heads, and next to a gang of brutal hunters with cigarettes in their teeth and guns on their shoulders.
Once we drove one segment of the route - so beautiful that everything seemed unreal to me: massive mountains in the distance, the route, and nothing more. We slowed down to take a couple of photos and, getting out of the car, did not hear anything! It was so quiet that it felt uneasy. No wind or bird was heard, not even the rustling of grass or trees. Only we are alone with nature. I understand that it sounds too arrogant, but believe me: when you find yourself in such places, you just wonder how all this could happen to you. After all, you could only see it in the movies before, but here you are! You are in Alaska. You stand in the middle ... in the middle of nothing, and nothing happens around, as if time had stopped. One feels such peace.
On the subject: 'You won’t understand, the millionaire is in front of you or the seller in the store': Belarusian about life in Silicon Valley
Eight hours behind — and we finally got to our hotel in Fairbanks. It is much colder here. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we immediately ran to the reception desk with the main question: “Will there be northern lights today?” And you know, we didn’t just go here for 8 hours. ”
The girl was not at all surprised. Apparently, we were not the first to come to the hotel for this purpose. As soon as they settled in, they rushed by a bullet rather to look out for this miracle of nature, because it was already 9 evenings. And you know what, it did not keep us waiting long: an hour later a greenish glow appeared in the sky, which from time to time became more intense. Indescribable sight! Our delight knew no bounds. It seems to me that with our cries we even woke the bear from hibernation!
It still doesn’t fit in my head, how did I get into this part of the world, a girl from Belarus who could not even dream of visiting Alaska! For me it was always so far, so transcendental. And here I am sitting in a light jacket and watching the northern lights in Fairbanks, the existence of which I learned only a couple of days ago. This is something from the realm of fantasy!
The next morning we headed back to Anchorage. Another 8 hours of road along a deserted track, forests and mountains. Livestock, by the way, often ran out onto the road, and I'm not talking about hunters. We were met by moose whole families, foxes, once ran a lynx.
Upon arrival home, we finally found the owner of our house.
It turns out that he had been hunting all four days and spent the night somewhere in the forest. In the back of his van, we found two huge deer carcasses. As it turned out later, the landlord was from the Philippines. He moved to Alaska as a child with his family, but every year he certainly flies to his homeland to winter in warm lands.
Traveling in Alaska, I came to the conclusion that the people here are very friendly and helpful. Well, or maybe it was they who were only like that in relation to us, foreigners. We clearly stood out from the crowd of local people.
The guys from the car rental center even helped us make the route and wrote all the main places to visit in the north of Alaska.
Anchorage itself is a rather small city. There are no tall buildings, maximum 4 − 6 floors. In the evening, you can hardly meet people on the street, everywhere is suspiciously empty. Although we lived almost in the center of the city, still the feeling that we were somewhere on the outskirts did not leave. Everywhere is very clean. It was very surprising that even public toilets along the route regularly come to wash a special service.
Still all the trash along the track - with special covers. To open them, you need to put your hand in a special pocket and press the button. This is done so that the bears do not go into the trash.
By the way, another feature of Alaska. This is one of the few US states where there is no additional tax. Therefore, prices are relatively cheaper than in New York.
To say that this is the best trip of my life is to say nothing! I doubt that something like this will ever happen to me. Alaska actually turned out to be some kind of winter tale.
So guys, dream big! Who knows, maybe one beautiful morning your dream will come true.
