The 18th of July there started the V-th stage of the international project of Krasnodar regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society «The Russian heritage of the Himalayas. Continuation of the road». Geographers have already landed at the airport of Islamabad (Pakistan).
The objective of this scale expedition – it to popularize the heritage of the Russian travelers, artists and researchers of the Himalayan mountain system. And also to carry out comprehensive scientific research, to create the first in the world collection of the paintings of all 14 eight-thousandths of the planet under the name «The bouquet of peaks», to collect ethnographic material. Geographers, geologists, artists and travelers joined the expedition.
The work at the project started in 2015, and it was supported with the grant of the Russian Geographical Society. The geographers have studied the territories of Nepal, Bhutan, India, China (Tibet) for this time. Last year the explorers visited five eight-thousandths. The data in the field of geology, geomorphology, economics were received. The artists have painted over forty paintings of picturesque views of the Himalayas. The Krasnodar branch of the Russian Geographical Society has organized five exhibitions of these canvases in its region.
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The new route of the expedition will continue that has been already begun. It will run along the trails of the northwestern part of the Himalayas, and it will include one of the highest mountain systems in the world - the Karakoram.
«We will go to the northwestern extremity of the Kashmiri Himalayas, to the Nanga Parbat mountain range, with access to the northern Gilgit-Baltistan and the Khunza river valley, where the three highest mountain systems of the world - the Himalayas, Hindukush and Karakorum - converge. We have a number of research tasks here», - professor Yuri Efremov, the project's scientific adviser, the deputy chairman of the Krasnodar regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society says.
The expedition will last more than two weeks. Scientists will conduct a comprehensive study of the terrain – they will study the relief, flora and fauna, will collect the minerals. Also the researchers will ask local residents about their customs.
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«The main goal is to explore the region maximally from various points of view. Geology, geomorphology, physical, economic, recreational geography - and to find out, among other things, the tourist potential of the Himalayas,» - Ivan Chaika, the chairman of the Krasnodar regional branch of the RGS says.
According to the results of the expedition in the beginning of next year, the Krasnodar branch of the RGS will publish a monograph «Geography of the Himalayas». The book, published with the support of the grant of the Society, will be published both in Russian and English and will be supplied with color illustrations.