Meeting with Russian outstanding traveler Evgenii Kovalevsky was held at the Faculty of Geography

The regular lecture of Altai Krai Branch of Russian Geographical Society was held on 24 April. This time it was delivered by first vice-chairman of Tomsk Branch of Russian Geographical Society, Russian outstanding traveler Evgenii A. Kovalevsky. He told the audience about his adventures and geographic discoveries.

The opportunity to visit the event was seized by ASU Faculty of Geography students headed by curator Natalya M. Legacheva. Pupils and teachers of general education institutions, employees of SB RAS Institute for Water and Environmental Problems and other people, who like geography and traveling. The event was conducted in the atmosphere of warmth and friendliness. At first, visitors were fascinated by the traveler’s stories and asked a lot of questions after that.

Here are a few facts about Evgenii Kovalevsky. He was born on 6 May 1957 in Tomsk, which is located in Siberia. He got interested in sport tourism and extreme traveling, when he was a student at Altai Polytechnic Institute. In course of time he became a president at Anitim tourist club, which he represented in different expeditions and championships in hiking, mountaineering, ski and water touring. But, according to the traveler, he has only found his true vocation at the age of 41.

His first major journey took place in early 2000s. That time he crossed the waters of the Indian Ocean within the group of four people. Further, he participated in rafting from North and South sides of Everest down Dudh Koshi and Arun rivers.

In February 2016 he returned from his most recent journey, in the course of which he made an ethnographic expedition to Bhutan. Evgenii Kovalevsky has been gaining insight into the basics of spiritual balance and Buddhist culture. He said that in spite of the fact that Bhutan was considered to be a closed-off and underdeveloped country, its citizens were much closer to overtaking the philosophy of happiness than others.

The meeting with “planet’s traveler”, as Evgenii Kovalevsky likes to call himself, has left an imperishable impression. Such events are essential for novice geographers, as they allow students, who mostly spend their time “traveling” on the Internet, to take a fresh look at their interests and hobbies.