The Duke of Edinburgh's Award - Chimgan Hike

26 BST students set off for our Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) hike, with bulging rucksacks, lots of excitement and negative Covid tests.

Originally, we were supposed to have the DoE Adventurous Journey back in Year 11 but because of the pandemic, the trip was delayed. On the way to Chimgan, we saw beautiful scenery and went up in the mountains with trees covered in leaves of different colours of autumn. A couple of days before the trip, we watched videos of snow and strong winds in Chimgan, which is why we brought gloves, hats, and warm coats that we expected to put on as soon as we got off the bus. However, it turned out that the  weather was roughly the same as in Tashkent.

On the first day, it was particularly hard to carry all of our heavy bags, although on the next day it became easier when half of the food was gone. Four teams set off following the route cards, we also had an experienced mountain guide with us as a precaution. Our guide was the champion of Uzbekistan for winter sports in 1983 and showed us a memorial for famous alpinists of Uzbekistan with many names and photos. One of them was his son’s. He passed away six years ago in India during a paragliding olympic.

The hike for day one followed a dry river bed and seemed like it kept going upwards forever! Eventually we reached the end point where we ate lunch. Some students still had so much energy that they went on further and were able to touch some snow. 

My favourite part of the journey was the evening that we spent together as a team. We stayed in two large cottages, one for the boys and one for the girls. However, as teams were mixed, we cooked our evening meal together. We cooked pasta, made a lot of mess andcleaned it up together. The atmosphere of the chilly evening in Archazor was amazing. Everyone was spending time together in their groups; some were making a bonfire, telling stories, playing football, cards, pool and table tennis surrounded by the tall grand trees of Chimgan. The balcony in the girl's cottage opened to the majestic scenery of the mountains around us.

On day two , we made breakfast together, cleaned up, packed our bags and set off on the route cards for hike two. As the ground was softer, this was an easier route even though the climb was steeper. However, we were rewarded with some amazing views from the top of the mountain. The skills that we were taught such as map reading and first aid were very useful during the walks, when some team members suffered from scratches and cuts. 

It was very nice to get to know our classmates better, make new acquaintances and discover parts of the Tashkent region that we have never seen. 

Once all four teams were back at the hotel, we loaded all our bags, equipment, 5 teachers and 26 students onto the coaches for the journey back to Tashkent!

For some students, the two day hike was our final activity for the DoE Bronze Award and we look forward to receiving this as soon as The International Duke of Edinburgh’s Head Office has signed them off.

Written by: Dono Abdurakhmanova, Year 13 Student