Ladies and gentleman, Dear Attendants,
we have gathered today
for the graduation ceremony
of the students of
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
at Brno University of Technology.
We are honored to have
the dean join our gathering...
Spending my winter holidays far up North
with a pack of husky dogs is pretty awesome.
The daily morning routine of feeding
the dogs and cleaning their shit
isn't what I, as a first-class slacker,
would normally call the best way to start the day.
I don't really mind doing it here though.
Unlike getting up for a boring lecture,
I feel that watching a bunch of mutts
happily munching away is
very much worth the early rising.
The real icing on the cake
is the actual dog-sled rides.
When I loosen the rope,
all the impatient barking stops
and the well-rested and well-fed rocket
shoots forward with incredible acceleration.
The swishing of the sledge
making its way through the snow
is the only distinct sound
the dog sled makes.
Forget about roaring
6-cylinder four-wheel drives.
With this legit and quiet
6-tails, 24-paws drive,
it's virtually impossible
to not enjoy the ride.
Having spent most
of my life in Central Europe
I wasn't prepared for one of the most
important facts of life up here.
It's dark like all the time here.
Wandering the polar night with the dogs
while chasing the northern lights was awesome.
It worsened after coming back
within four walls and eternally dark windows.
Hours and hours of dark
can really make you feel lethargic.
It's pretty obvious,
that all the things
I did to get me
though those dark hours
weren't exactly
challenging my brain
so its unused parts
decided to contemplate
some tricky topics like
life, the future and stuff.
The result of the contemplation
was an unpleasant realization that
my student life was slowly
but surely coming to an end.
Life is change,
there is no denying that.
But by the end of my studies
I'd lose one important privilege
which I value the most:
The three month summer holiday.
Whether I like it or not
This summer will be my
LAST SUMMER BREAK
During the three months
that have passed since
I became aware
of my holiday crisis,
I have fallen back into the beaten tracks
of student life in Trondheim,
the city I had chosen for my
one year exchange stay.
The approaching end of semester
gave me a bad feeling for two reasons.
First, the schoolwork was escalating
and I needed to catch up,
and, secondly
I had no idea what my last holidays
were going to look like.
I wasn't going to
just idle them away.
Piss off!
[Laughing]
Honza,
I didn't mean it. Sorry!
I'm never gonna do it again.
Talk to me, please!
No, man, it's over.
No, no, no!
Don't do this to me.
You know you're
the only light in my life!
Give me one more chance!
OK, but last time.
OK, OK, thank you.
You're not gonna regret it.
Hey, what's up?
Seriously now.
Hey, what are you up to?
Well, I'm kind of studying...
I feel like I'll know
everything pretty soon.
No kidding.
If you don't know something feel free to ask.
Yeah, I know.
You know everything, right?
Are you calling
to tell me this?
Yeah
All right
I'm gonna hang up again then or something.
No, I'm calling about the summer.
What are you planning?
Well, man, I don't really...
And so it happened that my holiday plans
started shaping up.
Honza and I have known each other
for quite some time.
Our adventuring started
two years ago on New Year's Eve.
Unfamiliar with winter mountaineering,
I agreed to celebrate
New Year on the "Mala Fatra" ridge.
What followed could be described by the phrase
Fools of a feather have fun together.
Some thoughtful quip, Honza?
Pi r squared,
Thanks for your scientific contribution.
While I was playing with a camcorder
and annoy the others...
C'mon guys,
give it some energy!
Nobody's gonna be watching
this slow-mo, for fuck's sake!
Man, I...
Run, c'mon, run!
C'mon C'mon
That's it. That's it!
And I've got a fall!
Thank you.
... Honza's enthusiasm for climbing up
snowy slopes was reaching new heights.
We both grew so fond
of our new hobbies that
in less than a month
we were on our way
to the mountains again.
Honza's green Skoda,
called Freddie,
became not only our ride,
but also our hotel,
Good morning
kitchen,
dance floor,
and bathroom.
A trunk packed with borrowed
mountaineering gear
was kind of indicating
what was going to happen.
We were shambling over the hills
and testing what's what.
Crampons and ice axes soon became boring
so we moved on to
avalanche transceivers and a rope.
Rappelling a tiny hillock did not
discourage us from fooling around with the rope.
Quite the contrary.
The next day we strode
into a winterized rope centre
and our DIY climbing course
could continue.
Today's topic:
protection and advanced rappelling techniques.
I'd like to show you our
patent pending belay system.
It's called Honza Just system.
If one of us falls...
If one of us falls,
the other one will too.
As you can see,
we're tied up to each other
and we love each other
so much, that if one dies,
the other one has to die too.
Shit man,
How am I supposed to get up now?
I don't know.
I've just made a life changing decision.
By using this pulley system...
I'm putting my life
into the hands of Honza the freak.
And now I'm gonna take a critical step.
OK, slowly go.
Oh, fuck!
On the way back to our hotel-on-wheels,
we met a cool Moravian guy
who enriched our low-cost lives
with a few shots of plum brandy.
I'm shitfaced like a Russian pig!
Well, we're on a holiday.
We can afford it.
Wait up, where are you going?
Wait, no, wait!
That's... we...
It's all good.
Let's go, my car is over there too.
Where the fuck is our car?
Dude, let's go out here
Here, come on, open the fuckin'door
I'm absolutely sober and...
I've never been on a better holiday.
Party party!
Holiday [in Slovak], I should say.
This is what it looked like back then.
Within two years of this legendary trip
things changed a bit.
While I was just floating between things,
Honza's flirting with mountains
was becoming serious...
and both summers he was
scrambling up some mountains.
This year it seemed that we
would go on a trip together again.
We only had to arrange
where to go and what to do.
It may sound simple,
but planning was never our strength.
Before we agreed on anything,
classes were over and the exam period began.
This unpopular period
wasn't too bad this time.
I left my boring and expensive room,
and moved to my friend's horse farm.
Her temporarily unoccupied timber house
with wood-burning stove
was a living exactly to my liking.
With a magnificent view
I fought an uphill battle with
differential equations, integrals
and other funny stuff,
that engineering is full of.
But you can't do this all the time.
During rainy days
I didn't feel like going outside,
so it was the ideal time call Honza and
try to turn the usual phone anarchy
into serious planning.
Hello.
Hello.
It's me, who's there?
It's me too.
Oh, Hi.
Hey.
How are you?
I'm fine, how's me?
Me is even better,
it's snowing here.
No shit!
The big news was that
our vulgar infantile crew
was going to recruit two other nutcases,
Milan and Filip
Knowing that Milan had been
Honza's mountain buddy
for the past two summers,
I also knew which direction the planning would go.
Simply put,
Honza kept persuading me
that I'm a natural climber,
and that and few kilometer high hillock
is exactly what I desire.
It's just, the atmosphere is so...
it's not...
it's just nothing like lame old hiking!
The atmosphere just gets you!
You can be gazing around for a week
and still not get tired of it!
I'm fascinated by how confident you are
in telling me what I actually like.
You know me inside out I guess.
Dude, I've read you like a book!
OK, why do I even bother
to think about my life then?
Why don't I call you right away?
Just ask me, dude.
I'll probably be calling
you more often then.
He grew more and more insistent...
Just buy a pair of ice axes
Buy the ice axes!
Just shut up, buy the ice axes
and we're fuckin' going!
So I decided to set aside my
Honza-induced dislike for ice axes
and think it over while
working or enjoying my free time.
I had to figure out exactly
what I wanted to do.
After a probe into my soul and wallet,
my answer to the high peaks was NO.
Despite all that, we still managed to agree
to spend the summer together.
We're going to Kyrgyzstan.
The main goal for my three mates
would be summiting the 7000m tall Lenin peak.
I'll accompany the A-team
for as long as I can,
and for the rest of the time,
I'll figure out my own way.
All this is supposed to take up
the first month of the trip.
For Filip this will be the end,
as he is chained by a full-time job.
In the second month Honza and Milan
should conquer a second summit.
Which summit, and how far will my
crappy gear allow me to follow them?
That's the question.
But let's get back to the present.
I'm still more than a month and 2000 km
away from the flight from Prague to Kyrgyzstan.
June marked an end to my farm life
and the beginning of my journey home.
I only had to write one last exam,
get my “Red Dragon” ready,
and fiddle-de-dee!
Adios Trondheim, it's time to move on.
The biking trip along the west coast
was better than I expected.
This part of Norway,
dented with fjords,
is really nice.
The long summer days and
miraculous 4 days without rain
made perfect conditions for biking.
Happy as a clam,
I was slowly approaching Geiranger,
known to be the most
beautiful fjord in Norway.
I've always tried to avoid
cynically criticizing popular tourist sites.
But in Geiranger, I somehow couldn't help myself.
I'm in the most popular Norwegian fjord and
at the same time I'm pissed-off the most...
Oh, sorry, upset the most.
It cost me 150 crowns to get here.
I was going to eat my three oranges
to fight sore throat,
but the waitress kicked me out.
Not only that. She said I couldn't eat
my own food on the boat at all.
So I just went on deck and ignored her.
And there's shitloads of
fat seagulls around here.
I'm surprised they can even fly.
None of this would have been said,
had the waitress not
disrupted my inner peace.
As a stinking bum
peeling his three oranges
I probably didn't deserve
a table in a restaurant,
where the price of water was roughly
equivalent to the Czech annual GDP.
I didn't have that kind of
sensibility back then though.
But the rest of the criticism
is surprisingly valid.
Everything here runs on diesel
or god knows what.
It's nothing like electric
paddle-wheelers in my hometown.
It smokes and stinks: simply crap.
But the fjord is nice, I have to admit.
And Geiranger also means
this luxurious heap of metal.
The next day, though, showed Geiranger
in a completely different light.
You have to admit that a view like that
can cure any kind of bad mood.
Still, the lonely pedaling started
to mess with my head after a while
and I missed company more and more.
What's up, dude?
Where are you going?
pedaling inland became
less and less interesting,
but encouraged by the motivational signs
I eventually got to Oslo,
parked the “Red Dragon” and went to
visit a friend living nearby.
This cool old sea dog,
living on an island with no bridges,
introduced me to a few activities
that the seashore offers.
After snorkelling came
the sea kayaking trip.
Stuffing a sleeping bag and clean boxers
into a plastic shell
and hitting the sea
sounded tempting,
so all that was left
was to make it happen.
Splashing water here
in the south of Norway is worth trying.
It's nothing like
the west coast fjords
but you have a good
chance to see the sun
and avoid the rain.
All the rocks sticking out of the water
brought us to another activity.
On TV they call it
“deep water soloing”.
What they don't tell you, though,
is that two bouldering-gym noobs
won't do too well.
Luckily we found an easy climb
and feeling like real climbers,
we could splash
the water a couple times.
Nothing lasts forever, though.
In an hour,
still wet and salty,
I was on a bus to Oslo.
I picked up the “Red Dragon”,
got to the bus stop
and went home, to Czech.
What I did after a year in a country
that sort of smells of prohibition
must be clear to any Czech.
The time to get ready for Kyrgyzstan
went by rather too quickly.
And not only for me.
We could all have used a few
more days for preparation.
The first hours of the trip confirmed this.
We managed to forget the vaccination shots.
The doctor was clearly amused by
us telling her that we chose her clinic
“Because it's close to the bus station”.
She saved the day though.
So here we go:
Watch out, world,
four idiots are going on a trip!
We're in Kyrgyzstan.
The expedition "Goat Milk" starts today.
It's gonna be totally badass expedition.
Now I'm gonna introduce you
to my fellow travelers.
This is Milan
Hello
Milan, show me you nostrils.
Show me your ears.
Nobody is allowed to have dirty ears!
And watch out,
this is my fellow traveler Filip
Mr. Incognito
Filip, show me your nostrils.
Ears.
Mouth.
And this is the expedition leader.
The master traveler Honza.
He's an idol of all the girls
and right now he's hiding from me.
Honza, show me your nostrils.
Show me your ears.
And now, be badass! Be badass!
But we didn't spend
much time in Bishkek.
My mountaineer buddies
were itching to get acclimated
so we set off to the 4000m mountains
towering just a few miles from the capital.
Filip, can you explain to me
why you did that?
Wait, I'm gonna focus on your ear.
You've got an ant in there for real man.
No kidding
Nice!
My domesticated ant.
Is it your pet?
Yeah, it goes in and out.
Nice one.
When it's inside, I'm a bit smarter.
Milan, how do you feel before
the expedition on the hillhock?
I don't feel.
You don't feel?
I better not feel anything.
So, behave yourself!
Yeaaah
And take pictures
Yeaaah
And send me a postcard.
And don't give me annoyed looks
when I'm talking to you!
Operation Goat Teat goes on!
With the rugged mountain climber Filip...
... we're setting off on a trip to...
on a teaching trip.
Ahhh, to the Teacher's Peak
(Peak Uchitel)
And meanwhile our comrades are
scrambling up the technical route
on some bigger mountain.
[Russian accent] Up... up the mountain
Filip is a bit tipsy.
He's not getting enough oxygen here.
Even earlier, he wasn't the brightest one.
Filip, I'll buy you crayons
and you can draw something for us, OK?
Yeah yeah
We all soon got hungry in the fresh air.
Already sick of instant food, it satisfied
neither our appetite, nor our stomachs.
That is why we enthusiastically
attacked the local cuisine.
Unfortunately, it wasn't too tasty,
and after seeing the half-cooked meat,
our expedition doctor Honza
prescribed disinfection of our stomachs.
What kind of disinfection?
Vodka
Could you describe it
from the medicine point of view?
From medicine point of view
it's alcohol, which disinfects
And the fun begins
After a few shots,
we were joined by the local DJ John.
He invited us to
an after-party at his studio.
John
The medicinal vodka was already working
so we could not possibly refuse.
Good, right?
Cool.
Fortunately we all kept the
intoxication within limits
and the next day
we could start towards Lenin.
We're in Osh. We like Osh.
Osh is a nice city.
The final preparations for
the climb were going on.
[Knots and ropes for climbers]
... then the snake comes out...
Whoo
So now you shouldn't hang me, right?
Shall I make it more real?
Foooooo
Open the page, dude!
After the recap of knots
we only had to find a ride.
Travel agencies
seemed quite overpriced.
By coincidence,
we were saved from them
and found our future driver.
A minute of customary haggling...
2 dollars
(for moving 1kg of supplies to base camp)
This is price.
All set and done.
Tomorrow,
we're going to the base camp.
So this is how four Czech idiots found themselves
in the world of high mountains.
The majesty of Pamir surprised us all.
Not only in a good way though.
At camp one, Filip and I found out that
everyone deals with the altitude differently.
While Honza and Milan
went on to the next camp,
we, the whiners, stayed
and tried to get well again.
After a day spent staring at the slope,
we finally saw two familiar faces.
Obviously, we wanted to know
what it was like.
So guys, finally great holiday?
Are you satisfied?
Yeah
It's just begun
Almost puked up there.
What about the head?
Head wasn't a problem, touch wood.
I drank 3.5 liters of water though.
But all good.
What about you Milan?
I've got a headache
What happened to your hands?
I crashed.
Down there I slipped on
the glacier, you know.
Milan, say...
On holiday!
And how was the breathing?
Like this
Enough?
So summiting is possible?
I think it is.
If the weather holds and motivation stays.
Well, thinking about going there
two more times drives me nuts.
But...
But you'll have to, right?
Well, once for sure.
I was thinking that if you go...
Yeah.
It could be only once.
You mean me helping haul stuff?
Oh yeah.
These were the initial impressions,
opinions and assumptions.
Reality is a bitch, thought,
and eventually, everything
turned out quite differently.
Although it wasn't too cold,
I was shivering in my sleeping bag
even with all my clothes on.
My desperate attempt to cover myself
with a backpack woke Filip up.
He gave me bonus insulation - his down jacket.
It helped, and I managed to fall asleep.
The second episode of this
lovely night came at 4 a. m.
A familiar sensation in lower belly
required an immediate mobilization.
Cursing the damn zippers,
I rushed towards the outhouse.
Fortunately, my “run, heels,
run or I'll shit you” style sprint
had a successful ending.
Feeling weak, I made tea,
and gazed at the sunrise.
The dawn came with
a spinning head
and a feeling that
I would puke any minute.
The others chose this day to rest.
They suggested I could go back down
on horseback for 80 bucks.
I hesitated a bit
but then I packed up my bag and
swayed back to the base camp.
Without the will to conquer the summit,
there's no motivation to stay
where you don't feel too well.
Back down I pitched a tent and
finally got some much-needed sleep.
As much as I boasted that
I could cope on my own,
I was glad to see Filip.
The acclimatization difference meant
that he would have to be jumping over
the crevasses either on his own,
or roped up to some stranger,
neither of which sounded particularly tempting
for his mountaineering premiere.
So he decided to come back,
despite feeling good.
12 hours of sleep was enough for
the world to look better again
and we could hit the road again.
In Cholpon-Ata, a town
on the shore of Issyk Kul lake,
we visited a traditional Sunday sports event
featuring various horse riding disciplines.
We're here at a good goatball game.
The teams are not holding back.
it's offensive.
It's up and down.
It's stoked.
For the viewers it's a great goatball and
I think I've never seen a better game.
Maybe the Olympics
in Goat Town in 93'.
Our association is trying to bring
this game to Czech to Goatville.
Just because of the name.
The question is...
Unfortunately in Europe
only artificial goat is allowed
and players complain about that.
Apparently artificial goat can't
compare to the real one.
Dude, we're like the sport commentators!
You bet, What's up!
Greetings to all the viewers.
We're gonna rock your TV.
You would never be able
to comment a goatball game!
The match didn't have a very fair ending.
Well, judge for yourself.
Culturally delighted,
we made our way to Karakol
and went to explore the local mountains.
It's incredibly sad, but Filip
is leaving us tomorrow.
And because this is our
last evening together
we've decided to make it nice.
We're going to
make a cola drink
and on top of that...
... a chocolate!
So, Filip, the last seconds together.
Martin
And behave yourself in Bishkek!
What did I teach you?
How do you blow your nose?
Filip, you use your handkerchief.
How many times do I need to tell you?
So Filip's gone.
What am I gonna do?
I'm gonna cry.
No, I got it.
I'm gonna buy a water melon!
Luckily, it was only one rainy night that I was alone,
eating watermelon and reading.
Already the next day I was chilling
at the beach with a bunch of Frenchies.
The day after I satisfied my
fetish for exploring old factories.
And the next day after I was on my way
to the mountains with a new buddy.
OK, I'm travelling
with a guy from Israel.
His name is Nimrod.
And I've got a great privilege to learn
some of the stuff from the army,
because the guy knows the stuff.
And today I've prepared a workshop
for all of you who
don't know how to put
a backpack on in a proper way.
So, please mister.
Stage #1
Put your backpack
with its back towards you.
Stage #2
Take your hands and put them
on the handles like this.
Yep
Stage #3
Let's go!
OK, let's rock and roll!
Super easy, super simple, super fast!
I'm glad that I know it now.
Yappy yay! OK, let's go.
The end of this trek was almost perfect.
Now we are getting
our reward for hiking
and this is what we got.
Incredible sunset at Issyk-Kul lake.
I can hardly imagine
anything better than
a good swim, beach and
shooting stars in the sky.
The morning sun revealed the only flaw of this place.
It may shatter your idea
of the paradise beach,
but you can get enough
touristic lies in other movies.
Unfortunately this is how the Kyrgyz deal with trash.
On our way back to Karakol
the driver gave us an unexpected gift.
So, we will probably
get some free hashish?
Yeah, I guess so, but...
They do like this, right?
It was quite confusing when he panicked
that that police may see it
and made Nimrod throw the gift away.
He probably just wanted to show off.
In Karakol, we went to an internet café,
accompanied by a very nice lady.
I don't know, do you want to
speak with our new friend?
Yeah!
Since when have you been
drinking today, Anna?
Eh?
Yes.
Where are you from?
Europe
Europe?
No, Israel.
Eh?
Israel, Israel.
Israel?
Yes.
Ah
Boring
Well, give my regards to Jesus Christ.
He was a Jew too.
Honza emailed me,
that while I was in the mountains,
they moved from Lenin to Cholpon-Ata.
My new buddy was leaving for China,
so it was the perfect time
to rejoin my former pack and
and find out how Lenin was.
As the good mood suggests,
the guys managed to conquer the peak.
Thanks to two Spaniards they met,
I can spice their stories with some
videos and photos from the climb.
So, Honza, since I left,
or since I was carried away,
can you summarize it somehow?
I'll be asking some questions.
We had a big celebration.
Unfortunately, it would take
too long to tell everything.
A brief summary
will have to do.
I found it all right. Acclimatization was great.
The only crappy
thing were the feet.
I was constantly thinking:
“Fuck, are they gonna cut'em off afterwards or what?”
You just feel like you're walking on wooden stumps.
You don't feel anything.
Like walking on stumps on ice.
You pass thousands of peaks.
Getting towards one,
thinking it's the summit.
Milan thought so after only
3 hours on the summit day.
For me, I don't know
if it was a hallucination.
I don't think so...
or I don't know.
But before each of the peaks
"We Are The Champions"
was playing in my head.
It seemed so live,
like being at a concert.
And when I've reached the peak
it was like the needle
sliding off the gramophone.
So I enjoyed the summit by myself.
I was incredibly cold.
I took two or three pictures
of me and the mountain.
For a memory.
During that my fingers almost froze up.
On the way back I met Milan with Pablo.
I met Honza as he was coming back and...
well, he wasn't too satisfied
with the shape of the summit.
So...
He rated it flat
and with sort of plain words.
Can you quote?
I'd like you to quote him.
Well, I could quote him.
It was like:
“The summit is total shit.
Ugliest I've ever seen.
I'm freezin', heading down."
However...
Dude, you don't need to say "however".
Speak like you're talking to me.
Don't pretend to be
a good boy, for fuck's sake.
All right, the thoughts in my head were just shit.
There you go!
I was always thinking about going ahead or not.
It was freakin'cold.
My feet were freezing.
Toes and soles.
Same for the fingers.
Even now, the fingers are frozen.
They still feel kind of weird.
So you can't feel them.
Just say that!
Well I'm starting to feel again.
So I waited for Pablo,
who was going behind me.
And...
We scrambled up together.
We hugged each other,
took a couple of pictures
and...
And what?
We just went down.
In summary, if someone asks you:
“How was Lenin?”
Good
No, I mean I liked it.
It was a brand new experience for me.
It wasn't easy,
but it wasn't as hard as...
Check out that mommy!
... as I expected
Well, as a professional, I shouldn't have
turned the camera.
Sorry Milan for interrupting
your touching monolog.
I kind of expected more of it.
More like...
that I'd be more thrilled...
than what I feel.
Maybe I haven't really
digested it yet or something.
I'm happy about it for sure.
I'm proud of myself.
But...
But now you have to listen
to my favourite story
about a Czech moocher on Lenin.
A Czech guy slept
in our Spanish friends' tent.
Bastard!
Beep
Besides sleeping there,
being a true Czech,
he ate all their chocolates.
Not the coco ones,
he doesn't like these.
He used up part of their gas.
Socks were all over the place.
Chocolates eaten,
just a mess everywhere.
And what's more
he lost their thermos lid.
Well and I,
being a proponent of ethical values
For sure
And moral.
And moral values, especially.
Being oxygen deficient
I couldn't stand it.
I lost it and...
... and beat the guy up.
To distance the Czech Republic
from such urchins
that don't belong in the mountains.
So how did it look like when he jumped on him?
Just briefly.
Well it looked like...
After uttering lots of swear words
the guy was lying on the ground.
And I was somehow
emotionally exhausted from it all
Soon we all started to feel
emotionally exhausted.
Even though the guys picked their
second target named Khan Tengri,
the plans were ruined by the costs
and ending of good weather.
The remaining month began
to feel a bit too long to them.
Their thinking out loud made me wonder:
Are two months in this country too much?
Could we use a change?
After hours spent online,
it became clear that
each of us is going to deal with
this crisis in their own way.
So eventually it seems we'll drop
one expedition member.
Milan has decided to fly home.
Milan, are you looking forward to home?
Well...
I'm gonna miss you.
We're gonna miss you too, dude!
One by one it's all falling apart.
First it was Filip in Karakol.
now it's Milan and I reckon...
just a guess...
Five days and Honza will find
a cheap ticket and go home too.
If there's a cheap ticket,
I'm flying too.
Take care man!
Farewell to Kyrgyzstan, Cheers
Say hi in Czech.
Have one beer for us.
Say hi to everyone.
To make things worse,
there were other problems coming.
We've reached a new low.
We've found ourselves at a new low.
We've just found out that your
stay in Kyrgyzstan lasts 62 days
and it is therefore slightly illegal
and as Honza said, it is
therefore slightly illegal
because after 60 days of visa waiver period
we're gonna need a visa.
And that costs money.
So the plan is that we're
going to China or what?
This table demonstrates what's happening.
It's an inclined plane.
I'm gonna illustrate this.
And we're going down.
And we're doing, whooooo
So I should probably say that
we've got a new low, but...
not again.
Just to recap the situation.
Right now we're sitting in a drain.
Because internet is not working.
And it seems that Honza's gonna leave me too, right?
Probably, I'd reckon Istanbul
Eventually, Honza re-booked his ticket and
shortened his remaining month to 2 weeks.
Visa-related bureaucracy and
fees buried our plans
to go to one of the neighbouring countries.
So we came back to the only thing one can do here
and left for the mountains.
Fortunately, good things
began to happen again.
So we've become cowboys and
we got ourselves the laziest horses
in the whole Kyrgyzstan.
As you can see, our riding skills
weren't good enough for these horses,
but the ride raised our spirits anyway.
All the remaining negative thoughts
dissolved during a bath in this hot springs.
We'll have to leave soon.
Otherwise we'll be radioactive!
We've got only half an hour.
I can feel my nails falling off already.
Watch out!
A white whale!
Charged with new radioactive energy
we once again felt like exploring
and went on.
So besides deciding
to leave Karakol,
we've also decided to
try out the local culture.
They're selling these little
cups of vodka for 25 cents
which I'm sure are
absolutely delicious.
And I think it's a perfect
start of a new day.
On the way to the
popular lake Son Kol
We met a family that
offered us accommodation
and a lift all the way
to the trailhead.
We helped them on the field.
Allergy-man says Hi
They showed us the night
view of their village,
also local burning water.
These... scientists...
came from Moscow to investigate this.
But they couldn't figure it out.
The god gave us this.
It's a present from nature.
It simply looked like we finally
came across nice people,
so we didn't even mind them asking
for more money for taking a detour.
After they dropped us, we saw them
loading scrap metal in the van.
Earlier they told us
it was their business.
So there wasn't any detour...
Two days spent around
the lake convinced us
that, beside greedy cheats,
ordinary and honest people also live here.
We decided to leave Son Kol
with this impression.
So behind me you can see
proof of how liberal Kyrgyzstan is.
This horse actually decided to
change its identity into a cow.
It's obvious that the mentality here
is very non-judgmental.
If a horse wants, it can become a cow.
No one cares.
Everyone accepts it
and I find this nice.
To get out of here was
not particularly simple
and we were about to experience
the most bizarre hitchhiking of our lives.
Hitchhiking in Kyrgyzstan.
Nothing around and kids annoying us.
It might look like we have
a dead child on our pack,
but don't worry, it's alive.
It's alive.
After hours of waiting,
a car finally showed up.
We didn't even mind it was
going in the opposite direction.
We hopped in and continued south.
By a nice waterfall, we had a farewell dinner
of melon, and bread with Nutella.
In the morning, we set off
for the city of Naryn.
At the bus station,
we got swarmed by taxi drivers.
Before I found my bearings,
Honza was already sitting in a car to Bishkek.
So, I became an orphan.
Emotionally drained,
in a deserted hostel,
I was trying to find
the strength to carry on.
The weather was underscoring
the gloomy atmosphere.
Staying in Naryn, where nothing was happening
and where I was the only off-season tourist,
didn't make sense.
So I got going, hoping that
Kyrgyzstan would surprise me.
So this is the third day
of shambling alone.
And I've got to say that,
after a month and a half of travelling
with buddies and laughter...
I'm getting quite mindfucked.
And the mood just swings up and down.
I've never been
shambling alone like this
and I've got to say that...
I don't understand people who do this.
I mean, maybe...
If you're a kind of a deep-thinker
you can find peace
to contemplate or whatever.
But...
when there's others around, laughing,
and you can share the moments together...
It's much better.
But to each his own.
Let everyone do what they feel like.
Soon, it was confirmed that
mood really swings up and down.
Only two hours after this rant,
everything was completely different.
So, finally, after almost two months here,
today I'm experiencing
Kyrgyzstan like I was imagining it.
That night I stayed with a family living
in a yurt here in the middle of nowhere.
They were cool people eager to chat
and they even let me ride their
horse for a little while.
And I'm galloping, and I'm galloping.
Smiling from ear to ear
I was reading a book in my tent
enjoying the view of the mountains,
sometimes interrupted
by sincere smile of my hosts' daugther.
Happy as a clam, I realized that this was
exactly what I'd been looking forward to
and that I could consider this year's
travelling season to be complete.
In a shithole named Bokonbayevo
I enjoyed my last sunset over Tian Shan.
Then I started slowly
moving towards the airport.
On the way there I proved to myself that
floating really is easier in salt water.
After a swim in a salt lake I've decided to
have a rest here in the town of BalykChy.
And what a beautiful room I have!
What a nice color and
even with a tiny TV!
Why don't I stay longer
it's so nice and cute!
Nothing but the pink color!
[Czech pop hit from 90's]
At the airport I passed the check despite
being an illegal immigrant for two days.
So all that was left to say was:
"Bye, Kyrgyzstan, I'm goin' home“.
Back home, I was welcomed by a helpful lady
at a corner store with an annoyed:
“WE DON'T SELL BUS TICKETS!”.
With the shaving of my ridiculous beard,
my last summer break officially ended
and the final school year began.
Day by day, our student life
was coming to an end.
As a documentarist I felt obliged
to record even this grim period of time.
Since we all lived our busy lives
and managed to meet up only once in a while,
I passed my camera around to briefly
capture everyone's post-Kyrgyzstan lives.
Filip, the only non-student,
did not count the days until graduation.
His shots suggest he was living
a happy couple life in his home town,
and mainly,
that he hadn't lost his unique sense of humour.
Ann, will you marry me?
No
No?
No then...
What the fuck?
OK?
I'm just entering the cradle of filth,
loathing, gluttony and fornication
AKA the place where
Honza and Milan live.
I'm gonna give Milan the camera
so he can creatively express himself
and capture his recent life.
So you're not gonna tell me anything about this?
I'm not. It used to be different, but...
Milan's motivation
But now it's like it's written over there
So are you following it?
Yes
This was the past.
Milan used to be a sportsman.
Now Milan is an engineer.
Sure, sure
After I left, this is how
Milan recorded his life.
It means:
"I'm working on my thesis and
I don't have time for your filming."
He worked so hard that he even
managed to click a mouse to death.
It was Honza who liked
my filming idea the most.
Ahhhh
So, Martin, this is one of the
three takes I promised you.
And there's not gonna
be a single more!
The shots prove that he really enjoyed
early mornings at his part-time job,
and was as productive as possible.
My shots confirmed that he
remained stoked about mountains,
and that he still tirelessly fights
the speedometer
and stopwatch digits.
I was either fighting with my thesis,
or with movie editing,
and also trying to become a climber.
In June, the anticipated and feared
final exam period began.
Milan was the first who
got successfully through.
He didn't have much
time to celebrate though.
He was leaving to Canada.
Got a job?
No
Accommodation?
No
Simply nothing.
I don't know, we'll just see how it goes.
If nothing, I'll be back in a month.
Honza and I passed the finals a week later.
No euphoria though.
Instead we simply drank
and wondered,
if we were celebrating our success,
or drowning our sorrows.
Fortunately,
these thoughts disappeared when
Chris from Norway came to return my visit.
He was determined to check out every event,
so we partied a lot.
After months of being chained to the desk,
it felt great to be free again.
Finally we had time for simple pleasures.
We could climb a tree and stuff ourselves with cherries,
or cheer for the birds hunting butterflies.
Look! It got the second one! Good!
Wow
Also, It was great to find out
what nice crags we have in the Czech.
Thanks to more skilful Honza,
who was able to lead routes,
I even managed to get to the top.
Each new route proved that
climbing was a really great activity.
A vertical cyclist!
Look at his technique.
So called hang-man.
He's putting the sling
only around his neck.
Unfortunately I don't shit money,
so I had to include
a part-time job in my schedule.
The asphalter might resemble Mr. Peter.
The hero of my previous
movie "Challenge Accepted"
Am I on TV?
So this was the end
of our student life.
Only the formalities were left.
When going to convocation, do it with style!
Master of Science Martin Cermak.
Graduated with honor.
Master of Science Jan Just.
Graduated with honor.
Well, this was our story.
But before the screen turns dark for good,
I have to mention a few things
and maybe get a bit more serious.
Emphasizing that school holidays are
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to make travelling dreams come true
shouldn't be necessary.
I'm not saying it's
the only time to do it,
but at this age you are resilient,
not used to comforts,
and mainly,
have no job obligations.
That's a big pro.
If nothing else, spending a part of your life
travelling is worth it because
it's the perfect way to
broaden one's horizons.
If you fly across oceans not only to
laze on the beach and taste the local food,
but to look around and
think about what you see,
it does broaden your horizons.
Later on, you deal with
everyday problems easily,
and without superficial bias.
In general, I dare say that
the more independent you are,
and the more you're willing to
leave your comfort zone,
the more you get from the journey.
What's more, sacrificing comfort
isn't always a downside.
Realizing that nothing tastes better
than water when really thirsty,
or dry bread when truly hungry,
and that a dry flat-ish spot is
all you need to get a good sleep,
to me, all this seems more valuable than
falling into a routine
and spending on
god-knows-what specialties
stuffed with stardust or whatever,
or buying mattresses with
3D profiles and memory foam.
There will be lots of time
for that in your forties.
If at least one of you feels inspired
to leave the family nest, hit the road,
and go see the world, awesome.
But I should also point out...
that colourful pictures are
often nothing like reality.
Cold, heat, thirst, hunger
and other such pleasures
give a rough edge to everything
that might seem like
heaven on Earth in a photo or video.
Often, though, it is
this very package of
all senses and states of mind that
conjures up an unforgettable moment.
The best way of finding out
if at least some of what I'm saying is true
is to experience it yourself.
While our story was rather ordinary,
something incomparably better can be waiting for you!
And what to say in conclusion?
Perhaps that a journey connects people
but also breaks tenuous relationships.
A journey frees you from routine
and gives you a chance
to change yourself.
A journey fascinates
the inexperienced,
rewards the persistent,
but also punishes.
Both fairly and unfairly.
For excessive audacity and naivety,
lack of awarness,
and inability.
A journey is waiting.
It's waiting quietly,
in the back of your mind,
indistinct, tempting...
... and it's waiting...
maybe even for YOU!
