Beginner travel by car Caucasus. Hiking and traveling in the Caucasus. Bicycle trips in the vicinity of Sochi

The title sounds almost unreal, doesn't it?
Well, for those who dare and plan such trips, we are ready to share our experience.

We love to travel, but due to the addition to the family we had to refrain from doing so for a while. Summer was coming to an end and, like a breath of air, I wanted to get out somewhere, not just for a weekend in the village, but on a trip.

So, we went to Pyatigorsk. On the first day of the journey, I reached Rostov and spent the night in the stunning guest house Southern Express, for 1000 or 1500 rubles. I don’t remember what, the apartment was for 4 people, with a kitchen, shower, and refrigerator. Everything was clean and carpeted, my daughter could crawl as much as she wanted.

The next day we reached Pyatigorsk, the navigator led us around the Mineralnye Vody district in circles, and checked into the Zhit Simply hostel. The hostel does not allow children to stay, but the administration accommodated us. Of course, we agreed in advance. We were even given oilcloth for a mattress for the child! It's funny. But the place is simply amazing, cozy, and the owners are friendly. They talk about the city, where you can go, what to see. And a lot of people live. Someone met the sunrise on Elbrus the day before, shared their impressions, we listened with our mouths open. We again had a room for 4 at our hostel. Kitchen is separate. There is a toilet and shower nearby, shared by two rooms, but no one lived in the next room. Here we spend 2 nights.
So, it’s evening, having settled in, we go for a walk around the city. The first place we rush to is Mount Mashuk. We find the cable car quite quickly. There is a strong wind above, blowing through the open space, the city lights are burning below, the sun is rapidly setting. We have time to take a walk at the top and walk a little along the tourist trail with signs for the city panorama. Elbrus is visible in the distance.

The next day, in the morning, we walk through the mineral water pump rooms and try narzans. Then we move to the famous Proval - a cave with a mineral lake. We get around the city by car, but we are very lazy. Then we bathe in shameless baths. I liked this action the most in Pyatigorsk and was very impressed! Imagine, on the slope of the mountain on which Pyatigorsk is located, a stream of white limestone hot mineral water flows, forming a cascade of baths. The higher the bath, the hotter the water. She is so hot that it is difficult to even put her hand in there. But the lower, the more comfortable. And there are people sitting in the bathtubs. We climbed into one of the spacious recesses, we all settled down there together and lay around and played. It was a lot of fun. Then we went to try the hottest containers. I managed to lie in one of them when my body got used to the degrees. It is very nice.

Mineral lake in Proval

We are going to have lunch at the hostel and after lunch we plan to explore some of the sights of neighboring resort towns.

Essentuki

We examine the Statue of Christ in the Temple complex.

And the Drinking Gallery was closed for a break. But we walked around the sanatorium park.

Kislovodsk

We arrive in the evening and walk around the park. Oh, how big and dark it is, perennial trees, damp evenings on the paths, a lot of people. We also go to the drinking gallery and try different types of water.

And in the evening of the same day, my brother and I decided to wander around Pyatigorsk. In the light of the lanterns, the city is completely different, it is difficult to recognize it and easy to get lost, especially in the resort area, where there are many parks and paths. But the city seems very cozy and inviting. The paths are lined with lanterns, but not the mountains around or the buildings; it’s difficult to imagine the whole picture surrounding you. We wandered somewhere with a crazy view of the city. And when you looked up you saw the rotunda in the evening illumination.

Now I’m wondering how it was possible to visit and see all this in one day, and even with a 10-month-old baby?
Yes, we need to tell you that traveling with a child is a difficult choice, not everyone will decide to make it. But we are a traveling family, we are used to doing everything clearly and smoothly regarding trips. I looked a lot for information about traveling with kids, but everyone has their own tricks. We are now looking at photos from this trip with her, and she is very happy to see herself in dark glasses on the slopes of Elbrus. And we are all proud that we were able, decided and went all the way together.

The next day in the morning, after the second night in Pyatigorsk, we visited the shameless baths again, they were too good! Next, according to the plan, is a daring journey, first to the Chegem waterfalls, and then along the “not very drawn” road on the maps to arrive straight to Terskol. We learned about the road from the forums during preparation; it leads along mountain passes, and not along the highway, and at the same time allows you to save about an hour of travel and is passable for cars. But the main thing is that you can see the beauty of the mountains. We weren’t driving along it alone, some family with two children was walking ahead, we saw them on the Chegemskiye, and now they were traveling along our route, just like us, to Elbrus.
Cheremsky waterfalls, despite their popularity and pop appeal, impressed us. So much water is pouring from above, it splashes you, the river is seething below, two steps away. You can also go up to the observation deck.

The seething river Chegem

Chegem Gorge. The walls fit very close to each other.

Mountain road.

Elbrus

By the time the cable car opens, we are already ready at the first line of cabins. Let's go up. I'm scared! Unusual, high! The booths are still closed, protected from ultraviolet radiation, so there’s nothing to be afraid of yet, but it’s still scary. And the scale of the mountains is impressive. Having reached the station, when the chairlifts begin, we dress in jackets and dress our daughter in a snowsuit. We are all already wearing black glasses, including our daughter. The glasses were secured under her hat, she didn’t even try to take them off, she smiled at us. And the worst thing is ahead - a single chairlift. At first I thought of staying downstairs. But the cable car workers said that everything was fine. Yes, everyone around said there was nothing to be afraid of. The child was secured in our carrier very securely, I myself sewed the shoulder straps at home with an additional strap, just to make sure everything was secure. Let's go. Mountain wind, you can feel the height, the heaviness of your body, your breathing. It's an unreal feeling at the top. We climbed to an altitude of about 4800-5000 m.

In the evening we return to Kislovodsk.
Our journey through the North Caucasus is like the sun with rays. The center is the KVM, and there are many rays - branches: Elbrus, Dombay, Arkhyz, Djily-su, you always need to return to the center to go somewhere else.
In Kislovodsk we again have two nights in a guest house.

Let's go to Djily-su

This phrase means warm water. Mineral springs, including healing ones, at the northern foot of Elbrus. Crowds of locals and tourists come here, a large tent camp has been set up. In recent years, the difficult-to-pass dirt road has been turned into asphalt; for entering the territory they charge 100 rubles per car and 50 rubles per person. The road is difficult in terms of serpentines, ascents and descents. You get tired more than you enjoy.

Here he is gray-headed Elbrus

We stop to rest and pose

Here are the difficult sections of the road

On a picnic, relaxing

When we arrived, we had a picnic, fried chicken with pasta, ate watermelon and went... And there is plenty of walking here... We went to the silver spring, which flows only a few weeks a year in August, the water is considered healing. It cannot be said that the path was long, it was very long, it led through ups and downs, we crossed the river, climbed to the pass. We gazed at the shine of Elbrus. We thought we were almost there, but the scale of the valley that opened did not fit into the usual calculations on flat terrain. But overall it was amazing. This place is far from civilization; there is nothing here except trails. There is a special smell of grass, water, delicious air, indescribable sky and mountains around. Here gophers run underfoot and bask in the sun.

We ford the river.

That same spring flows down there. The UAZ of the medical service fills 5-liter bottles with water; they probably have 50 bottles.

People swim in the Silver Spring, the water is icy.

We return to the main camp.

There is a scary bridge ahead, this time we did not take a shortcut, we followed the well-known path.

I couldn’t walk across the bridge standing, it was scary.

Sultan Waterfall.

Returning from the silver spring to the tent camp, we still walked to the largest waterfall here, it was located in the abyss. Then we went back to Kislovodsk.

Dombay, Teberda

We leave for Dombay.
Climbing Mussa-Achitara. And our mistake was that we arrived late, when the cable car was closed. We only walked for about 10 minutes at the very top.
We could put it off until the morning. But in the morning an even more daring journey awaited us. On foot. To the Alibek waterfall.
I remember and am actually amazed at how and with what strength we overcame all this, but I so wanted to go and move forward, not to sit idle for a minute!
We need to tell you about the place where we stayed in Teberda. Ski hotel Rostovchanka. In summer it is deserted here, we were the only guests. But it’s a very pleasant atmosphere. In winter, it’s probably very soulful here among fellow skiers.

The next day there was trekking. It was, of course, physically difficult, but actually very cool and interesting. We were even stopped by border guards in the border zone. But we issued passes from the forester at the start of the route. Don't forget your passports, gentlemen!

This is the view from the ski lift. The landscapes are very different from the Elbrus region. There were steppes, and here there were dense forests.

And we climbed Mussa-Achitara.

The baby is tightly strapped to me.

The next day we went to Alibek waterfall.

Against the backdrop of a waterfall.

Valley of the Alibek River.

After spending the second night in Rostovchanka, we headed towards Tuapse, along the way we saw a couple of sights along the highway route. The Shaonin temple was very impressive.

And the Shaumyan Pass, white with dust, on which the Sword stands. The Inch of the Earth monument also evokes a storm of emotions. Each capsule contains a piece of Russian land, on which Soviet soldiers stood to the death, defending our land from the Nazis and not allowing the enemy to reach the Black Sea.

An inch of the Earth.

Shaumyan pass.

Tuapse

At every step there is a reminder that fierce battles were once fought here and heroic places are everywhere.
Well, in general, if we had known in advance, we would have stayed in Dombay, there are so many paths untrodden by us. But the sea is boring and there are a lot of people.

We spent three nights here, one in Tuapse and two in the village of Lermontovo, instead of the four planned, and went home, arriving unexpectedly quickly, without even getting up for the night. At 6 we left Lermontovo near Dzhubga, at 23-30 we were home.
Yes, I was impressed by the fogging of the glass outside on the way! When we emerged from behind the hills separating the Black Sea from the plain, and the sun shone on us, the air temperature changed in a split second, the glass fogged up instantly until visibility completely disappeared. But the wipers coped with it. At first, out of habit, it seemed that the glass was sweating from the inside.

Separately, it is necessary to say about traveling with a baby. For many, it is difficult to even imagine a multi-hour trip, let alone imagine multi-day trips.
Therefore, not much information and useful tips were found during preparation.
The main thing is that we had planned overnight stays, where we could calmly cook food, wash ourselves, relax, and wash things. Secondly, we had all the food with us, we didn’t waste time on shopping, well, of course we went, but much less often than we could have. We had plenty of drinking water with us. There are also medications for any occasion, but, thank God, they were not needed. Also, each member of the expedition did his job clearly. It was very good that my brother was with us, he helped a lot. Either you need to run to the car to get something, or you need to look after the baby. Also, ergonomically stowed luggage is a big plus. Snacks, water, children's things and a children's snack were in the cabin, and the rest of the things were in boxes and containers in the trunk in their places.
The route was also clearly worked out, the approximate travel time, getting to the objects, the inspection time was calculated in advance, thought out several times, laid out - in general, the trip plan was drawn up long and meticulously, thanks to which we received a lot of pleasant impressions and memories.

One of the most vivid memories of my childhood is a simple car trip to the mountains of the Southern Urals. I remember how my father put the whole family in the car, and we drove, knowing only the direction; no obligatory places to visit, just moving forward - towards beautiful places and pleasant sensations. Since then, I have had a dream - to grow up, get into my car and head to new places. And in 2014, a real opportunity arose to fulfill a childhood wish. As always, I wanted to see the mountains more, and Anyuta wanted to enjoy the sunsets by the sea, so we decided - we’re going to a place where there is both - to the Caucasus. We accidentally found on the Internet a wonderful travel blog by Dmitry Kovinov, in which he talks a lot about hiking around Krasnaya Polyana. After reading his reports, we were very inspired, we are going to Sochi!

First day: we get up in the dark, from Ufa we want to get as close as possible to Volgograd. We drove about 1200 km. We were very tired, and in the evening we spent a long time looking for a place to stay. We planned to spend the night in a tent on the Volgograd reservoir, but after an unsuccessful attempt to drive to the shore, we spent the night in the most inexpensive motel. But even while wandering around the field, we received our share of positive emotions: the expanses of the Volgograd steppes were illuminated for us by a huge red moon, and when we went out to look around, we saw some insect unknown to us, similar to a scorpion.

We drive further, the nature around us resembles a desert - huge and, it seems, lifeless steppes and the scorching sun. We see a reservoir - we immediately stop for lunch, and then hit the road again, heading towards the mountains and the sea from this wild heat.

We drive past Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, and stop at a roadside cafe to drink a cup of coffee. We ask the cashier about the building that can be seen from the highway in the middle of the city, and we find out that this is the largest Buddhist temple in Europe! We are surprised at our illiteracy, and we understand that in the bustle of working days, again, we were absolutely not prepared for the trip. But, however, we were very pleased with such a surprise - we turned to the city for an excursion.Not only the temple with a huge Buddha statue inside, but the whole of Elista evokes an unusually pleasant feeling. On the main square we spin a large prayer wheel and, not counting the time, we walk around this wonderful city. On this day we no longer have time to reach the mountains, but we received a large portion of impressions. It’s already dark when we stop at a motel near Armavir.

The third day turned out to be difficult: yesterday we traveled less than planned and we are approaching Tuapse in the heat of the day. We find ourselves in a big traffic jam, it starts in the city and continues along the sea along the serpentine road. At the entrance to Sochi the traffic jam is even worse. We were tired, we could barely move, and we were constantly going uphill. On a serpentine road, for the first time I feel a lack of power steering. You need to cheer up so as not to fall asleep. At some point a thought arises in your head: “Have we ever been stuck in a traffic jam overlooking the sea?” - this idea again brings back the feeling of the ongoing journey. Anyuta prepares delicious coffee right in the back seat, using a jetboil. It became more fun, we crawled further to Krasnaya Polyana.

By evening we finally arrived at this resort town. First of all, everyone imagines Krasnaya Polyana as a ski center, but we ended up here in July and therefore there are very few tourists here. In addition, after the Sochi Olympics there are a great many hotels here, most of them are empty. In one of these they gave us a good discount on accommodation in exchange for a promise to return after a hike in the mountains.

On the fourth day, according to the plan, we wanted to go straight to the mountains, however, today we decide to rest after the road and finally swim in the sea. And just yesterday we didn’t have time to figure out where to get a pass to the Caucasus Biosphere Reserve - without it in the mountains they could be fined and removed from the route. From Krasnaya Polyana to Sochi we travel on the ultra-modern Lastochka train. The infrastructure of post-Olympic Sochi is generally amazing in scale: many kilometers of tunnels, huge highways and incredible interchanges... but as soon as you go beyond these wonders, you immediately find yourself in a traffic jam. In search of Olympic stadiums, we first come to the center of Sochi, and already there we find out that the town with sports facilities is located in Adler - again our unpreparedness shows. Again we take the train, which takes us along the sea towards Adler. The stadiums, of course, are beautiful, but they are not allowed inside, and around them there is construction of an F1 track. Right at the Adler station we swim in the sea and take the last train back to Polyana.

Day five, finally up! We issue the pass not far from the Gazprom cable car, in the open-air cage complex. There, right by the road, we leave our car and, throwing our backpacks on our shoulders, go to the cable car. A quick takeoff, and here we are, through a very beautiful forest, rising higher on our own two feet.

The climb does not take much time, and it seems slightly tense only because of the muscles that have been sitting too long after the journey. Already halfway to the Bzerpinskie cornices, we notice that the reserve is well landscaped: there are benches and tables on the observation platforms, useful and beautiful information stands have been installed, the trail on sharp climbs generally resembles a staircase. The first “Legal” stop on the route is the Bzerpinskie cornices, here you can pitch a tent or spend the night in houses. The houses are not closed, no one guards them, but they are clean and tidy. You can’t make fires here, and there’s nothing to use. We cook lunch on the ledges, bathe in the stream and move on.

We are going towards the Pseashkho pass, with plans to stop at the Pslukh River. Of course, you can only stop in the reserve in strictly designated places, and you can only walk along certain routes, but we want to climb Mount Sugar Pseashkho. We justify to ourselves that we respect the reserve, we are not going to make fires, and certainly we will not touch wild animals and rare plants, and besides, we are not lazy to collect candy wrappers and other garbage when we walk along the trail. We successfully do not notice the path to Pslukh and pass a little further than the pass. At a rest stop we meet a group that at first scares us with stories about how evil the rangers are here, and then, when they started talking, they tell us that they themselves descended from Saharny today and say that we missed the path. Of course, we ourselves already realized that we had gone further than necessary, and were simply thinking of changing the route plan, however, after talking with the guys, we understand that it is better to leave the permitted path on a weekday, when park rangers go much less often. Today is Thursday, after some thought we run back to the river to climb tomorrow. It’s already getting dark, we’re a little alarmed by the stories about strict rules…. but then we see that a small group is already pitching their bright tents on the river. We approach the instructor and ask in surprise if he is not afraid of fines, to which he quite calmly replies that the rangers definitely don’t go out in the evening and don’t like to get up in the morning, and in general he describes the whole situation with the rangers. We calm down and stand not far from them. Buckwheat for dinner, and the murmur of the river for bed.

We get up as soon as the sky begins to lighten, pack up camp and hide our backpacks not far from the trail, in the bushes. The path ahead is considerable: first we need to overcome two tributaries of the Pslukh River, then rising, then diving into the valley again, and only then will we begin the ascent to our goal. The trail is clearly visible, only in rocky areas you can lose it. Having strayed a little from the main path, we climb up a small rock, cross the second tributary of the river - and here we are at the foot. Now only up!

The climb up the mountain is extremely picturesque, because most of the way we climb straight along the ridge. On one side there is a cliff and the valley of the Pslukha tributary with snowfields, on the other there are hundreds of kilometers of mountain range. Here it is, the Caucasus, an old dream coming true right now! The peak is already visible, we sat down to rest, and in our backpack we hear the sound of an incoming SMS. Taking this opportunity, we also send several messages to our relatives, and also write a thank you to Dmitry Kovinov for the inspiration and several travel tips received before leaving. We gather our strength for the last push, and then the treasured height appears behind the next boulder!

At the top there is that same great feeling of achieving a goal. It is not so important that this height has already been conquered by many, and in general there are a lot of higher and more difficult peaks. The main thing here is the embodiment of what you have long and very much desired. After a long immersion in ourselves and a series of photographs, we notice that the clouds from the lowland are gradually climbing up, there are more and more of them, and it seems that we will soon be covered - it’s time to go down.

And it really did. But apart from even more stunning scenery and pleasant coolness, the clouds did not cause us any inconvenience. The important point here was that we well remembered Dmitry’s advice that in poor visibility it is not easy to find the right path from the mountain here. Passing important places, such as, for example, the traverse from the western ridge to the southwestern one, we stopped and memorized the landmarks well, so even in a continuous cloud we found the right road. On the descent near the snowfield, several roe deer are frolicking right below us. The cloud periodically turns into rain. We stop at the edge where the snow melts and forms the very beginning of the stream. An amazing place - before us is water in all its glory in all states: snow crystals, a flowing stream and a cloud of molecules of the same liquid! The way back goes almost unnoticed, the head is occupied only with the awareness of what has been covered today.

We reached our backpacks, they were untouched, everything was in order. From the place where they were hidden, you still have to walk a little further to the permitted path. Remembering that it’s already Friday and the rangers might notice us, we practically run back to the legal route. That’s it, now we definitely won’t be fined, we calmly go to the Kholodny camp, having a nice lunch by the stream.

To be honest, the parking lot in Kholodnoye did not impress us much. The camp is located in the forest, the view of the mountains opens only if you go out into the clearing, although the forest itself is quite beautiful. But the impression was spoiled most of all by the fact that this place, in comparison with the entire route, was very dirty. There is scattered garbage in the forest, a broken door near one of the houses, the only source of water (a small spring near the parking lot) is so dirty that you don’t want to drink from it at all. But rangers are there very often. Okay, hopefully this isn't always the case here. We cleaned up a little where we pitched our tent and went to visit the guys we met yesterday at the pass. We drink tea together for a long time and tell each other about our adventures. It was an amazing day with a lot of impressions! We thank our new friends again for the tips about Sugar Pseashkho and for the pleasant company. Quite tired, we go to bed.

We wake up to the sound of rain, lie in the tent for a long time - today we can have a blast. We crawl out under the canopy, have breakfast and decide to move back to the parking lot on the Bzerpinskie cornices. Neighbors tell us that a bear was hanging around the camp at night, no wonder - at the edge of the campsite there is a huge pit with garbage, full of food remains. We went out to the path and, indeed, there was a fresh trace of a bear, which was walking right along the tracks where we had walked yesterday. Anyuta has a fastex with a whistle on her backpack - it turns out to be a useful thing! In general, even though there are gray clouds above us, lightning is sparkling and rain is pouring - we go tipsy: we whistle, clap our hands and sing songs. We reached an equipped rest stop with a canopy. We wait a bit for the rain and the clouds part, revealing a blue sky.

We reached a parking lot on the ledges and set up a tent. Our kopeck piece fits perfectly on a special platform. Today we walked quite a bit. We realize that now there is no desire to move, there is a desire to see how everything around moves. From below, from the valleys, clouds continually envelop us. Absolute silence reigns. It seems that we are in some kind of arthouse movie, where everything is very leisurely, and where every sound and movement has some kind of deep meaning. I don’t know what the point is, and it doesn’t matter. I brew my favorite mate, spend the whole evening cuddling with Anyuta and watching this movie.

The morning of the fourth day in the mountains and the eighth day of the entire journey. Today we decide to go down: there are a lot of impressions from the mountains, but it’s time to go for new ones, after all, this time we are going on a road trip. The drop in altitude is quick, one stop and we are already descending in the cable car cabin. A couple of unusual kilometers on asphalt to our car. The car is standing where it was left - that's nice. We are going to a hotel we already love. We spend the evening drinking wine bought from an incredibly charismatic local resident.

Ninth day. Let's go to Abkhazia! We heard many stories about this small state, read many reviews. The opinions of people who have visited this southern country are radically different, so you definitely need to go there to form your own opinion. It’s not difficult to cross the border, but it takes a long time - we, as always, didn’t think about it and crossed it in the middle of the day. A couple of hours of waiting and hurray, we are in Abkhazia! The roads are good and not congested, but we were warned that it is better to strictly follow the rules. And what's the rush? Nature becomes like the tropics, there are palm trees, sea and mountains all around, beauty! We are going to the resort town of Pitsunda, renting accommodation there for three nights. Having quickly settled in, we run to the sea.

The tenth day in a row, today it is raining. We put off sunbathing until tomorrow and go to see Abkhazia.The first excursion to New Athos - another resort town. We went there to see the New Athos Cave, which we learned about from a good tourist map bought at the market.The cave really impressed us, it’s just huge! Previously, to get into the cave, people descended into a deep crevice. And already during the times of the Soviet Union, a tunnel was dug to the cave itself and trolleys, reminiscent of a subway, were launched towards it. In the cave itself, huge bridges were erected, paths were laid and the most interesting objects were illuminated. In general, if you are in Abkhazia, be sure to visit the New Athos Cave, because it is difficult to describe in words this amazing creation of nature, you must see it for yourself!After the cave we go up to the ancient Anakopia fortress. She is also interesting, but not that much. The fortress is not in very good condition; only the main tower is maintained in order. Everything else is heavily littered and mutilated by our contemporaries. It is not entirely clear why they collect 150 rubles on the approach to the ruins.On the whole, satisfied, we return to Pitsunda, walk around the local shops, and buy a couple of souvenirs. In the evening we try to find good wine, but are unsuccessful. We will never be able to find real Abkhazian wine, maybe it just doesn’t exist?

We spend almost the entire eleventh day on the beach in Pitsunda. We lie on what is considered free (although no one will take money for access to the main beach if you walk along the shore). Our piece of the coast is not in a resort area, there are much fewer people here. In the evening we see off the sun with a glass of wine right on the seashore. The grape drink, of course, didn’t impress me this time either, and to hell with it, the main thing is the atmosphere.

On the twelfth day we go to look at Lake Ritsa, visiting a dozen more attractions along the way. In the photo above is one of them, called “Colored Spring”, I want to warn you and, looking ahead, tell you that we got poisoned by drinking water in it! They collected it not where Anyuta is standing in the photo, but in a special fountain, which is slightly visible in the photo on the left, behind the car. Be careful!

Overall, the road trip to Lake Ritsa is quite exciting. Of course, at the height of the season there are a lot of people here, so we mostly go to those attractions that are further away from the road. The lake itself is also pleasing to the eye, here you can rent a boat and ride on the water surface. We wanted more to go to Stalin’s dacha, which is located on the other side. For a reasonable fee, they give you a tour here and tell you about this strictly classified place during Soviet times. Quite interesting, and besides, the dacha is located in an extremely picturesque corner. We drive back along the same road, but this is even a plus - there are canyons and serpentines on the sides, you can look at them forever! Today we will spend the night in Gagra, the most famous resort of its time. Tomorrow we’ll go see why the people of the USSR dreamed of visiting this city.

A new day, we arrange another seal day for ourselves: we bask in the sun and swim in the sea so that for the year ahead. The beach has medium pebbles, is pleasant and clean, the sea water is clear and warm. Let's go to bed early, hoping to wake up in the dark and drive across the border quickly, tomorrow to our homeland. Abkhazia is a very interesting country, first of all, for its incredible natural wonders. The people of Abkhazia as a whole are also friendly, but, probably, this is due to the general poverty of the state - everyone is trying to make money from you, they collect money for everything: for walking along the path to the waterfall, for taking photographs, is it cold in the cave? - jacket 50 rubles. Of course, there is nothing terrible in this, but sometimes the situation reaches the point of absurdity, and you are treated like an inanimate wallet. Cafes are opened in ancient buildings, objects of history can be used mercilessly... I am afraid that with such treatment, the Abkhazians may soon lose all this wealth. Okay, in general Abkhazia brings a huge amount of positive emotions. We especially remember the last evening: the lights went out all over Gagra, and this was a real gift for us! Pop music, loudly screaming from all the eateries, suddenly died down, the restaurant owners lit candles and lanterns for those who were still having dinner. Walking along the dark streets, we also went into a cafe where there were candles and had a farewell dinner, it was very cozy and romantic.

We are spending the fourteenth day on the road: although we got up early, there was already a traffic jam at the border - apparently, we need to drive through at night. To think about where to spend the remaining days, we stop at fast food. We thought for a long time and decided that since we were going on a road trip, we should look at Russian auto campsites, and we’ll postpone mountain hikes in the Caucasus for the future. According to information on the Internet, the most campsites are in the Gelendzhik area, so let's go there, our goal is the Parus rock. Cheerful and inspired, we go out to the car, but it’s not there! We panicked for half a second, then we asked passers-by, they said a tow truck was working. It's good that they didn't steal it! We ask the taxi driver where to go - the young guy treats us with understanding and takes us to the parking lot for an inexpensive price. The fine is small, but the cost of evacuation is as much as three and a half thousand. In the evening we stop at a campsite not far from Dzhubga; there are really a lot of parking lots for cars and tents on this coast, and all of them look good from the outside. How could it be otherwise, because there are mountains behind us and the sea ahead! I brew myself mate using the same water from the Abkhazian spring, Anyuta also drinks tea, and we prepare food. The night was almost sleepless because of the crowd that came to celebrate something, screaming and singing all night, the owners of the campsite were unable to calm them down. But that's not so bad... the next morning doesn't start well at all.

The fifteenth morning, we feel simply terrible, we understand that we have been poisoned. The reason is clearly the water from that same spring, and the night before I drank almost two liters of it while brewing mate! With great difficulty we pack up and drive towards Gelendzhik, it’s good that it’s not so far away. Both Anyuta and I have a high fever, body aches and all other symptoms inherent in poisoning. Somehow we made it to the campsite not far from the Parus rock, but we didn’t have the strength to drive, much less walk, to it. The whole next day we lay flat, unable to go or drive anywhere. We drink a lot of water (we bought five-liter bottles at the store). They almost stopped taking photographs. We more or less came to our senses in the evening, having taken several cold showers. You have to go down a steep slope to the sea; only Anyuta decided to do this.

But the evening at this campsite still gave us a portion of positive impressions. It so happened that a group of bikers and musicians (as we later found out, the Pandora group) was located not far from us. The guys installed very high-quality equipment and turned on the most pleasant music. It was the first time I heard loud music in nature that was so pleasant! It feels like they chose it especially for us. After the introductory tracks, the guys threw a party, also selecting only pleasant compositions. It’s a pity that Anyuta and I couldn’t dance yet, but lying on a rock with the same view of the sea, we watched the sunset during this feast for the ears. That's it, the journey ends, tomorrow we go home.

The return journey also took almost three days, we were not driving fast, and the illness was still taking its toll. The first night we stayed in Elista, walking a little around the city at night. The next day, driving through Volgograd, we stop to visit Mamayev Kurgan, a place that endlessly gives me goosebumps. All the sculptures and monuments of the complex are made surprisingly realistically; taking a lot of photographs and jumping from monument to monument, it seems to me, is completely disrespectful. We silently walk around all the buildings with only one thing in our thoughts, eternal glory to these people, they saved their country for us. Now we can travel across these endless expanses completely freely, which is what we have just done. One more night in a motel near Samara, and now we are already enjoying our native Ural expanses; home is still good too!

1. In the capital of Kalmykia - beautiful Elista- located the largest in Russia and Europe Buddhist temple or, otherwise, khurul “Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni”. At the base of the temple stands the White Elder - the Kalmyk pagan god, patron of the area. We witnessed a newlywed couple approach him and bow, apparently coming for a blessing
2. Installed inside the temple Shakyamuni Buddha sculpture, 9 meters high. The statue is covered with gold leaf, and inside it are objects sacred to Buddhists - mantras, prayers, incense and earth from all over Kalmykia
3. The temple contains full monastic robe of the 14th Dalai Lama
4. In the center of the main square of Elista there is another attraction associated with Buddhism - Rotunda "Seven Days Pagoda"- by the number of tiers. A large prayer drum is fixed here, in which 30 million religious mantras are hidden (our photos with the drum were taken there)
5. In the territory Caucasian Biosphere Reserve passed some of the most popular routes of the USSR - the famous "thirty". And more than a thousand years ago, this was one of the directions of the Great Silk Road from Europe to Asia, including through the Pseashkho pass
6. On the shore Ritsa one of 20 is located (according to open data) Stalin's dachas. A very interesting place, definitely worth a visit. It was at the entrance to this dacha that Beria staged an attack on Stalin, after which he became close to power. When he advised the leader to transfer to the security car, and Stalin’s car was blown up on the bridge closest to the dacha. In the leader's residence there are several bedrooms, one in one, similar to each other, which was done because Stalin moved at night from one room to another, fearing the threat of death. The decoration of the house's rooms is done mainly in green tones, because it was the owner's favorite color. There is no office in the house - Stalin never worked here - he only came to rest. The dacha was carefully guarded under the supervision of 3,000 guards. After Stalin’s death, Khrushchev erected another building almost right next to this dacha, and Brezhnev then only united them with a common corridor
7. New Athos Cave- one of the largest caves in the world, in size it competes with the largest dungeons in the world, such as the Škocjan Cave in Slovenia and the Carlsbad Cave in the USA. The cave was opened in 1961. The pioneer of the cave was Givi Smyr, who has been the head of the New Athos caves complex since 2001. In 1975, the New Athos Cave was opened to visitors. The route inside the cave passes through 8 halls, with a length of about 2 km.
8. Gagra resort founded by the Prince of Oldenburg, a relative of Tsar Nicholas II, who wanted to turn this place into a “Russian Monte Carlo”. In 1903, the grand opening of this resort took place in the Gagripsh restaurant - perhaps the main attraction of this city. This wooden building was made in Norway and delivered in parts to Abkhazia

Below you will find a very voluminous story, deliciously flavored with gorgeous photos, about a tourist trip through the Caucasus, to be precise, through Dagestan. Maybe someone will decide to go there on vacation after watching...

Dmitry Chistoprudov writes from Moscow: A standard telephone conversation with friends and acquaintances sounded something like this:
- Where where? In Dagestan? What are you doing? Crazy?
- Yes, everything is wonderful here. Hospitable people, mountains, sea, beauty! The only danger is that they can feed you to death.

Without a doubt, this was the most intense and rich in impressions road trip of this year. Crazy mountain landscapes, ancient villages with traditional artisans, hospitable and open residents, endlessly delicious food, tea parties and long intimate conversations in their native language. We traveled through a concentration of beauty, moving from one incredible place to another, always being late somewhere, constantly moving meetings and breaking the travel schedule. There was no other way.

1. This trip was a double trip in every sense. According to the plan, we were going to visit Dagestan in April, and go to the Elbrus region in May. In order not to waste time on long hauls, we decided to combine two trips into one double trip. From Dagestan we went straight to Chechnya, and on the first of May we made a short climb to the Terskol peak - to the observatory on the slope of Elbrus.

We had two cars. The brands are the same, but in fact completely different: Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Niva.

In addition to our standard crew of me, Kolya nikolapic and his wife Yana ya_yankel , we were joined by the famous metrophotographer Sasha on social networks russos and my classmate Anton, completely unknown on social networks, with whom I studied side by side for five years at MSTU “MAMI”. We'll tell you more about Anton, but for now we'll just note that this man is an excellent engineer who kept an eye on the Niva throughout the trip, looked after it, and all the time tweaked, pumped, and topped things up.

Even in the very first photograph of the trip, during a stop in the Tambov region, when everyone is drinking tea and pie, and Anton is poking around in the Niva.

2. On April 18, early in the morning we left Moscow and moved south through Tambov, Volgograd and Elista without an overnight stay. At dawn the next day we entered the Republic of Dagestan. Until that time, we had never been stopped by traffic cops.

3. 99% of the photos on the way to Derbent are endless Dagestan gas stations. There will be a separate report about this.

4. We passed through the steppe part of the republic. Our goal was to get to Derbent in the evening.

5. Anton, an engineer, like a true patriot and owner of a Lada Kalina, drove along the roads of Dagestan and was sincerely happy, contemplating the endless number of Russian-made cars. Dagestan is a paradise for connoisseurs of AvtoVAZ products.

6. Towards evening we entered the southernmost city of Russia - Derbent. We were met by our future friend and brother Magomed Khan-Magomedov, who suggested a good and inexpensive hotel on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Only 500 rubles per person without breakfast. We checked in, drank tea with Magomed and passed out.

The modern architecture of Dagestan is not much different from the architecture of other cities in the country - all the same Chinese ventilation facades, foam blocks and plastic windows. Therefore, in my report you will not find photographs of modern Derbent. Rather, it will be views of old neighborhoods or sketches like this.

7. After two days of travel, I planned to have a fasting day. We had to get a good night's sleep, relax and spend the day leisurely walking through the streets of the old city.

At the beginning everything went according to plan. We wandered around the old mahals and took pictures. Magomed gave us a whole tour of the city and told us many interesting stories. The locals were friendly and hospitable. There was no hint of any danger or discomfort. No one was in a hurry to steal or kill us, but on the contrary, the residents of Derbent constantly invited us to visit us for tea, asked us about our trip and were sincerely happy that we were traveling around Dagestan. They drink tea here always and everywhere. Even during the overhaul of the KAMAZ engine.

8. The Kamaz driver said that he also recently arrived from Moscow. He brought goods 20 tons more than the permissible load, and now he is rebuilding the engine as a preventative measure.

9. One of the main attractions of the city is the Derbent fortress complex. This is an outstanding architectural monument, which includes the Naryn-Kala fortress and two long city walls, which completely blocked the narrow passage between the sea and the Caucasus mountains and went into the sea, forming a port.

10. A passer-by was walking in front of the gates of the city wall and humming “Figaro” with his soul. Noticing us, he came up to greet the guests and introduce himself. His name was Samir and he turned 76 that day. A very positive guy.

During our walk, we shook so many hands that you could shake hands in Moscow for a whole month. The smile never left my face and we spent the whole day like that.

11. Before the collapse of the Union, the city seriously monitored the preservation of the historical appearance of attractions and allowed construction only in a certain style. In the nineties, architectural anarchy came and people began to arrange their homes as best they could.

12. We were allowed to go through a private courtyard and climb onto a fragment of the old city wall. Imagine that in your garden there is a piece of a defensive wall that is more than 1500 years old)

14. Grandfathers on the bench.

Of course, we didn’t immediately get used to the fact that no one prohibited photography anywhere. People treated the photographer with interest and kind curiosity. The only exceptions were schoolgirls - at the sight of a camera they scattered.

18. Old women's bathhouse. Just recently she was working. Now it has been closed and the complex has been turned into a museum.

21. Juma Mosque is the oldest mosque in Russia. A former temple, captured a long time ago by the Arabs and converted into a mosque. Therefore, the entrance to the building is located from the south, and not from the north, as mosques should be (as it is written on Wikipedia, although, as it seemed to me, we entered from the north).

22. Young fashionistas.

23. Urban pastoral and the Naryn-Kala fortress towering above Derbent.

25. Radish seller.

26. The name Derbent translated from Persian means “narrow gate”. Derbent was located in the most strategically vulnerable place of the Caspian Passage, where the Greater Caucasus mountains come closest to the sea, leaving only a narrow three-kilometer strip of plain.

Derbent is considered one of the oldest “living” cities in the world. The first settlements arose here in the Early Bronze Age - at the end of the 4th millennium BC. The Derbent fortress is part of a grandiose defensive system that protected the peoples of Transcaucasia and Western Asia from invasions of nomads from the north. The system included city walls, a citadel, sea walls and the Dag Bara mountain wall. The complex was used for defensive purposes by the Persians, Arabs and Mongols for 15 centuries.

27. View through the defensive fortifications.

28. The total length of the wall was 3600 meters. The southern and northern walls ran parallel to each other at a distance of 300-400 meters. The once grandiose structure has survived only in fragments. The sea part of the wall extended 500 meters into the sea, blocking the entrance to the harbor. The most ancient part of Derbent is located between these two walls. The southern wall, like the later one, was largely demolished in the 19th century, while the northern one largely retains its original appearance.

31. Derbent.

34. School excursion from Untsukul district.

35. Dagestan cat.

36. The fortress offers a good view of the city and the Caspian Sea.

40. The director of the fortress, when he learned that guests from Moscow had arrived, quickly organized a table right on the territory of the complex and began to treat us to tea from the samovar. It was April 20, Easter Day, so there was Easter cake in the center of the table)

41. Obligatory bow in burka and papakha.

42. Well, after tea our plans changed a little. Magomed called his friends (and he has friends all over Dagestan), and we went to the Tabasaran district to a carpet factory. This is a different story)

Dagestan, Tabasaran. Journey for the carpet.

It is known that tea is made in India, cars are made in Germany, and magnificent woolen carpets are made in Tabasaran. I mean real, hand-woven pile carpets, the colorful patterns of which were invented many centuries ago. We went to Dagestan to learn as much as possible about this region - the country of mountains - and of course we could not help but stop by the place that is famous throughout the world for its carpet production - the Tabasaran region. By the way, the Tabasarans are the only people of Russia who continue to engage in the traditional form of national art - carpet weaving.

The well-known skepticism about “photography against the background of a carpet” has given rise to an unfair attitude towards it as an unnecessary, long-outdated thing. In addition, our apartments, in which everyone strives to express their individuality, are becoming less and less like the homes of our ancestors - and are often filled with meaningless things. But life flies by very quickly, and over the years you begin to understand the value of those things that were invented many generations ago. Yanka and I long ago realized that a carpet in the house is a useful thing, so we began to think about where to get it. The trip to Dagestan turned out to be just in time, becoming for us a kind of pilgrimage for the carpet.

Tabasaran greeted us with magnificent mountain scenery. The rich colors of the green valleys, illuminated by the slanting rays of the sun, looked especially solemn against the backdrop of approaching lead clouds. We were on our way to visit one of the many houses where carpets are made, and this one was just finishing work that had begun six months ago. The owners agreed to wait for us so that we could see with our own eyes the completion of many months of work by several craftswomen. Of course we were in a hurry. On the way, Mohammed, our Derbent friend who organized this trip, told the story of Tabasaran and, in particular, the history of carpet weaving.
Once upon a time, carpets were not as elegant as they are now, and did not serve to decorate the room at all. The nomadic peoples who inhabited the countries of the East began to make them for their homes, primarily as a functional thing that would help keep the house warm, could be easily transported from one campsite to another, and would serve for many years. Over time, carpets began to be covered with patterns that became more and more complex and elegant, and by their decoration one could judge the welfare of the owner. Carpets became a luxury item, without losing their original qualities, and migrated from poor huts to the palaces of eastern rulers and influential rich people.
Today, every Dagestan home must have carpets: poorer families have sumac - lint-free rugs, and in wealthy houses the floors are covered with simply magnificent specimens - thick, with high pile and very pleasant to the touch. When we visited someone, we usually didn’t pay much attention to them until we arrived in Tabasaran and learned about how much time and labor one such masterpiece costs.

We were met by Umganat Suleymanova, a local resident, poetess and just a good person. Carpets are made here in almost every home - if not for sale, then just for yourself. Umganat is no exception: he says that when he weaves a carpet, he rests his soul.

We went to the next house, where five craftswomen were finishing weaving a large carpet. Work on it took more than six months!

Having taken off our shoes in front of the porch, as usual, we squeezed into a small room, half of which was occupied by a machine. A very beautiful, almost finished carpet was stretched over it, and women were sitting on a low bench in front of it. It is simply impossible to understand anything in the complex interweaving of various threads and auxiliary sticks. The purpose of some tools is not at all clear. The women smile, seeing our confusion - they can knit their complex knots without looking, simultaneously telling us about their work and showing us by example the intricacies of the craft.

To make a carpet, first prepare the base: dense cotton threads are pulled tightly and tightly onto the frame parallel to each other. Then several women sit down at the machine - and the main work begins. Using a special hook, they tie a special knot of colored yarn around each thread. The speed with which the hands of the craftswomen move is fantastic - so it is impossible to catch exactly how they tie the knot. When the row is completed, it is pressed with a special heavy comb, and the uneven ends are cut off with large scissors. In this way, a pile of a certain depth is formed. In order not to make a mistake with the pattern, women check the diagram using a cheat sheet, and the most experienced carpet weavers know the pattern from memory.

In carpet making, special attention is paid to yarn. The most valuable is considered to be a carpet made from wool dyed with natural dyes. How to get this or that color has been known since ancient times - after all, there were no artificial colors before. A wide variety of colors can be obtained from plants and minerals, as well as from some insects. For example, the red color traditional for Dagestan carpets is extracted from the root of the madder plant. Many people are also familiar with the natural dye henna, which produces a beautiful orange color. These days, synthetic dyes are more commonly used. This makes the carpet a little cheaper, since a lot of labor is not spent on collecting and processing the components of natural dyes, but this does not reduce the quality of the carpet.

After the story, the women finished their work. One of them cut the warp threads - and the beautiful carpet was solemnly transferred to the yard for its first photograph. Now it must go to its owner, who will serve for at least 300 years - it is not difficult to imagine how many future generations will see this carpet.

When we came to visit Migdet Gadzhievich, we already realized that we would not be able to leave Tabasaran without a carpet - this was exactly the only place where we needed to make such purchases. Migde, a former director of a local school, and today a man who, together with his family, is trying to preserve carpet production in the area, also told us a lot of interesting things.
Since ancient times, Tabasarans have been engaged in carpet weaving, and carpets were woven here in every home - both for themselves and for sale. Skill was passed on from the elders to the younger: girls from early childhood watched their mothers work, and as young women they already became experienced craftswomen. In Tabasaran families, women were the main breadwinners of the family, as they earned much more than men. During the Soviet years, organized carpet production was established in Tabasaran. They began to weave not at home, but in one large carpet workshop, where almost all the women of the villages came to work. These days, this workshop is still operating, but is far from being at full capacity, and most of the carpet weavers have returned to working at home.

Carpet workshop

While we were listening to Migdet Gadzhievich, his mother Aminat, a ninety-year-old woman who was considered the best carpet maker in the village, came out to us.
“The children still force me to work,” Aminat complains playfully, pointing to his knitting. The children laugh as they translate their mother’s words to us from the complex Tabasaran language.
Finally, the carpets that were made by the women of this family were brought out into the yard. We squint at the bright colors, enhanced by the sun, and, exchanging glances with Yanka, we understand that our carpet has finally found us and is now lying in front of us. A few minutes later, in the trunk of our car there was already a neat package that we were going to unwrap in Moscow, in our apartment.
We spent the rest of the evening visiting Gadzhimurat, the head of the Tabasaran district, where we raised more than one toast to the guests and hosts, to the children and parents, to Dagestan and Russia as a whole, and many, many other things that are now difficult to remember. Now, when I am writing this post at home, I am pleased to once again say thank you to all the Tabasarans who showed us so much sincere hospitality, as well as to those who helped us come to Tabasaran.

High mountain villages of Dagestan

Where is Antokha? - I switched the alarm clock for another fifteen minutes, I really wanted to sleep.
“He’s fixing the Niva,” Sasha answered in a sleepy voice and turned over to the other side. It’s funny, but this simple dialogue began almost every morning of our trip)

The light sound of the surf could be heard from the street. I instantly fell asleep, but the alarm clock, the infection, came to life again. Anton came in and said that Niva was ready and that he had found out everything and agreed on everything. On this day we had a long journey ahead to the high mountain villages of the Samur Valley.

1. I took the camera and went to find out what Anton agreed on and what happened to Niva.

While we were sleeping, Anton managed to go to auto parts and buy oil and some things. Then he made friends with the men in the garages and drove the car into a ditch. His eyes sparkled - tinkering with a car for Anton is the same thrill as for me, at four in the morning, watching the sunrise on the spire of a skyscraper.

In the steppes of Kalmykia, the Niva “flowed.” The transfer case was covered in oil. Anton checked the level and said that it was too early to add more. If anything, he bought some kind of syringe, and he already tightened the weakened handbrake.

2. While Anton was repairing the Niva, he managed to make friends with the men and discuss our travel plans. It turned out that one of them has a friend of an acquaintance, who is the head of the village of Tsakhur, where we actually gathered.
“Everything will be fine now,” said our new friend, called somewhere, and now they were waiting for us for dinner somewhere far away in the mountains on the border with Azerbaijan at an altitude of almost 2000 meters. It remained to understand whether we could get there... We had to check.

3. Meet Zeinudin, an honored taxi driver of Dagestan. 18 years of experience!

A small digression. Many people believe that in Dagestan it is good to be someone’s guest accompanied and dangerous to be on your own. What happened in our case:
- Nobody accompanied us, the riot police did not follow us. There was no air support either.
- Friends from the Ministry of Tourism of Dagestan helped with choosing interesting places and planning the route. They provided contacts of local residents who are well versed in the history of their area and know what to show.
- We went wherever we wanted, when we wanted and changed plans on the go.

In the case of the trip described in this report, the story was special. Initially, I didn’t know anything at all about the village of Tsakhur and the gorges of the Samur River. On the recommendation of Magomed Khan-Magomedov from Derbent, we decided to try to “break through” to the high-mountain village, but no one could say for sure whether they would let us into the border zone, and if so, where. One thing was known - the area around the village of Tsakhur is very beautiful, and you should definitely go there.

Where is the best place for us to spend the night? We don’t know which village we can climb to...
- Yes, in any village, go to the first house you come across and spend the night there. Everywhere you will be greeted with joy, fed, and even the neighbors will fight for the right to receive a guest, you will see, Magomed said with a smile.
- It’s not convenient to collapse without warning. There are so many of us.
- There are never many guests. The guest is a holiday!

4. Anton kicked Niva out and thanked the men with a bottle of Stolichnaya, a box of which we grabbed from Moscow just in case. We hit the road - towards the border.

The photo shows the valley of the Samur River in the Magaramkent region. On one bank is Russia, on the other is Azerbaijan.

6. The higher the mountains, the lower the Priora octane number of gasoline. Surprisingly, gas station operators are honest people:
“There is no risk of refueling such cars here,” said the operator, pointing in the direction of the Chevrolet Trailblazer, “and the Niva is no problem.”

7. Walking a herd of sheep against a beautiful backdrop.

10. Gradually, the Samur riverbed narrowed, and the valley turned into a gorge.

Driving through the last large settlement - the administrative center of the Rutulsky district, Sasha Popov suggested trying to look at the head of the district - to get acquainted, find out about the border guards and ask about the village of Tsakhur. What if he accepts? To do this, we talked to the language:
- Hello! Where can we find the head of the district?
- He should be in the administration, that’s where it is, the white building.
- What is his name?
- His name is Amayevich.
- Is this a first or last name?
- I don’t know, everyone calls him Amayevich.

In fact, it turned out that it was already four days since Amaevich was replaced by Dzhabrailovich. We were told about this by a corpulent security guard in the administration building, who escorted us to the second floor to the chief’s office.

11. On the way out of Rutul, we treated the local boys to Alenka chocolates.

12. Closer to Tsakhur they began to climb up. The village itself is located at an altitude of 1800 meters directly under the passing clouds.

13. Samur River and village.

15. The village turned out to be surprisingly small and compact, huddled on the steep northern slope of the Main Caucasus Range. There are no street names in it, but the postman remembers all the residents by name.

17. Not a single city, not a single settlement in Dagestan in ancient times had such an arrangement of outbuildings as in Tsakhur; they were located separately from residential areas.

19. Tsakhur cat or whoever he is.

20. While I was walking, Kolya told me on the radio that they had met the head of the village and were waiting for us for tea)

21. Tsakhur, translated from Tsakhur - fire. This village is located in a tricky location on a hill. And at dawn, the sun, rising above the gorge, illuminates it with its first rays. And at sunset the village is illuminated longer than all its neighbors.

22. There are no dogs in Tsakhur, so it is especially quiet here.

23. According to our plans, which later changed several times, we thought of staying in Tsakhur only for one night. But it turned out to be so nice and friendly here that we decided to stay longer. We were received by the head of the village, Vagif Aliyev, a most interesting person. We talked with him and his family for a long time on completely different topics, not noticing the time and the amount of tea, delicious cheese and khinkal we drank.

25. In the morning the weather was not pleasant. Clouds arrived from the direction of Azerbaijan. We went for a walk and first of all we went to the ancient madrasah to see Imam Jalalutdin Haji. He showed us ancient books that were over 400 years old.

27. Kolya takes a portrait of the imam.

29. Antokha picks up chicks.

35. Shepherd with an umbrella.

36. The weather was getting worse. It rained several times.

37. Anton in the clouds.

38. Around this point Kolya decided to drop his Canon 5D Mark III along with the 70-200 2.8 IS on the rocks. The camera fell with an unusual and sad crunch. As a result, everything was skewed, crumpled, and at the very beginning of a long journey, Kolya was left without a camera.

39. At this sad moment we decided that it was time to go down. Silently in mourning, we walked around the village on the right side, gradually descending downwards, only the occasional rain knocking on our raincoats.

43. Cellular station. Vagif told us that it was built by the entire village. Every week there were cleanup days and people came to help - not only to the construction site itself, but also to simply help drag the equipment up the 3,000-meter-high mountain. Today this is the highest Beeline cell tower in Russia.

44. Now the village has cellular communications and the Internet, but before that local residents stood in line at the only payphone in the entire village.

45. The morning in the Samur Valley is beautiful!

50. In Tsakhur, as probably throughout Dagestan, there are no fences. Fences are only needed for cattle enclosures and monuments.

51. And people, even the smallest ones who have just learned to walk, live carefree and without fences. Kids run along the roofs of buildings, along narrow streets with steep cliffs, along fortress walls - and nothing, no one falls.

53. Local residents. On the left is Vagif - the head of Tsakhur, who sheltered us for a couple of days, fed and watered us, and held conversations. For which many thanks to him and his family!

56. Pampered by the Moscow asphalt, like a city dog ​​that was taken to the dacha, our Niva in the mountains of Dagestan burst into its native element! Niva is a pearl, if I may say so. She quickly rolled around in the mud and looked happy. If Niva had a tail, she would constantly wag it)

57. The weak engine, which had a hard time on the track during long climbs, seemed to come to life. It spun and buzzed, not paying attention to the thin air. The Niva rumbled along the rocky serpentine road and asked - come on, come on higher, let's go into the snow!

58. Traiblazer drove silently, swallowed bumps and tossed rear passengers over large potholes.

60. On a high slope at the very source of Samur, the walls of an abandoned village have been preserved. Once upon a time life was in full swing here. People walked to Azerbaijan and traded livestock. But then the border was closed.

61. Great places!

Guide to Dagestan gas stations

This is the peculiarity of the Dagestanis, Magomed explained to me. - Let’s imagine, Dima, that you took some land and built a gas station on it. You somehow take oil from the Novorossiysk-Baku pipeline and cook your gasoline somewhere in the basement on a samovar. In short, I established the process, got the hang of serving clients, and within two weeks I bought myself a Mercedes. Then his wife will come up to Magomed and say - Dima has a Mercedes over there, and you are lying on the sofa. Go and build a gas station too. This is why gas stations appear like mushrooms. The quality of fuel is approximately the same everywhere, that is, poor.

During my trip to the Republic of Dagestan, I was on alert all the time. I kept a camera with a 70-200 on my lap and was constantly “shooting” the next masterpieces of creativity and plagiarism. Currently, there are more than 200 different names of gas stations in Dagesten. Here you will find LuxOil, RusNeft, gas stations Kuwait, Yukos, Iskra, Bens, DagPetrol, 777, 888, 999 and many others...

I present to your attention my modest collection of gas brands from Dagestan:

1. Many wealthy officials have entire networks of their own gas stations - Magomed continued his story. - Huge amounts of money are coming from Russia, but officials are in no hurry to invest the stolen money in serious enterprises. More likely, another wedding salon, banquet hall, store or gas station will appear. Investments also go into the sphere of prestigious consumption: the production of giant gates, paving slabs, stairs, and so on. This is the peculiarity of the Dagestanis.

2. Local residents only refuel at trusted places. If you see that they fill up a Bentley somewhere, you can safely use this gas station)

3. We must pay tribute to the honesty of gas station operators. Instead of fighting for every client, they honestly admitted to us that their gasoline was not very dangerous for our cars.
- Now you’ll go up the mountain and won’t get there. You will come back to me and say that I recommended gasoline to you. So it's better not to refuel here.

4. It’s not necessary once in a while. This is a kind of lottery. For example, in Akhty we filled the Niva with who knows what. At some point, Anton even said: “It looks like that’s it, Khan Niva.” But nothing, Niva hesitated and drove on. On the contrary, we found an excellent gas station near the border with Azerbaijan - after which the Niva fluttered like a Swallow for a couple of days.

And one more moment. In Dagestan, everything is built on trust. That is, at all gas stations they take money only after filling the fuel. They can even fill up to a full tank and all without prepayment. We only have this at BP!

The highest quality and cleanest gasoline for refueling cars of any model, both domestic and imported, can be purchased at the Rosbenzin gas station, located in the city of Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan. Those who know a lot about gasoline fill up at Rosbenzin!

Life high in the mountains

The road to the high mountain village was rocky and unimportant; we had to crawl at a snail's pace. I wanted to sleep, but only a professional could fall asleep on such potholes. The Niva roared and moved strainedly, mostly in first gear; second gear was no longer enough. Apparently the leftover 92nd gasoline, which we filled up in Akhty, was having an effect. Anton turned it down. He gazed ahead intently and maneuvered between scattered rocks and hummocks, continually shifting gears up and down, as if churning butter in a churn. It was drizzling. Sasha reported that the oil temperature in the box had increased in the Trailblazer. Now both cars switched to lower gears and crawled further along the winding Caucasian serpentine road.

We drove into the clouds and it quickly became dark. Visibility dropped to 10 meters, it became noticeably cooler, and the Trailblazer began to cool down. The only navigator who still understood where we were reported that there were only 20 kilometers left to the village. It's about an hour and a half walk. We didn’t meet a single oncoming car during the entire climb.

The village was already asleep when two dirty cars, making a loud noise with their engine cooling fans, like out of breath travelers, climbed up to the first houses of Kurush - at the same time the highest mountainous settlement in the Caucasus and all of Europe, as well as the southernmost settlement in the Russian Federation. The village is located on the border with Azerbaijan on the southeastern slope of Mount Shalbuzdag, in the valley of the Usukhchaina River at an altitude of about 2600 meters.

1. The village is more than 2000 years old, although no one knows exactly when exactly the first inhabitants appeared here. But it is known that the first road to the village appeared in the 60s. Until this time, the main means of transport were only one's own legs and horses. Today you can get “down” by minibus, which runs every two days in winter and every day in summer. A ticket to Derbent costs 300 rubles. Travel time is three hours.

2. The harsh climate does not allow farming, despite the fact that the land in these parts is fertile. The maximum that can be achieved is to collect a small harvest of potatoes during the warm summer, and then only for oneself, not for sale. Therefore, everyone lives only by livestock farming and completely provides for themselves. Everything goes into use: milk, meat, wool, even dung.

3. On almost every site, huge haystacks stand like frozen mammoths. Winters are long here...
Sometimes, in the cold winter, the water coming through pipes from Mount Shalbuzdag freezes and then you have to wait until spring. Run all winter with buckets to the spring.

4. Life in mountain villages is a paradise for asthmatics. The purest rarefied mountain air with light notes of burnt dung. What could be better?

5. You can wake up in the morning in the fog and see nothing, or vice versa, in sunny weather you can admire the kilometer-long wall of Mount Erydag. During the Soviet Union, Kurush was very popular among tourists and climbers. Now there are much fewer visitors.

6. Due to the fact that livestock are kept in the village, the streets are a bit dirty. It’s better not to go out without boots after the rain. In general, everything is like in an ordinary Ryazan village, only with four-thousanders in the background.

7. In the center of the frame is Mount Bazardyuzyu - the highest mountain in Dagestan and Azerbaijan (4466 meters). The state border runs along its ridge.

Translated from Turkic, Bazarduzu means “market square”, more precisely as a specific landmark - “turn to the market, bazaar”. The fact is that in ancient times and the Middle Ages, in the Shahnabad valley, located east of this peak, annual large fairs were held, where traders and buyers from many countries came. From a distance, on the way to the fairs, the main landmark of the “market square”, the “turn to the market” - Bazardyuzyu - was striking.

A dialogue from the Middle Ages was presented.
- Excuse me, but how to get to the market?
- Up to the mountain, and to the left.

There are a lot of relatives left on the other side of the pass. They are also Lezgins, but they live in Azerbaijan. To go visit - the journey takes the whole day. Nowadays it’s just that few people go. Only for a big holiday, wedding or funeral. To cross the border you need a passport. And at the border itself you can spend up to 8 hours standing in queues.

8. When talking about life in the mountains, one cannot help but talk about food. It’s not for nothing that they say that the most dangerous thing that can happen in Dagestan is being fed to death. Oh, this trip was pure food terrorism! We've never eaten so much. Look at the delicious and always different (depending on the area) Khinkal!

Khinkal should not be confused with Georgian khinkali, which is a significantly different type of dish. Digastan khinkal is pieces of dough boiled in meat broth (actually “khinkalina”), served with broth, boiled meat and sauce.

9. And this is Chudu, a dish for a large ceremonial feast, also the national dish of the peoples of Dagestan. This is a kind of thin pie, which is made from unleavened dough with a variety of fillings. The dough is rolled out as thin as possible. The main taste is created by the filling; it can be meat, potato, cheese and herbs, or just vegetable. After baking, the miracles must be greased with oil, so they become more aromatic and tender.

10. And this is the school “flatbread”. In one of the mountain villages we went to a local school, where children in the dining room prepare their own bread. You can't take him out of town every day.

13. In many mountain villages there is no concept of streets, lanes or driveways. Moreover, there are no avenues or highways there. Sometimes even houses do not have their own numbers. The postman and the local police officer know all the residents by first and last name.

14. “Our ancestors rose so high that no one would touch them. The Dagestan mountains are harsh. Not everyone will wear them. So they moved away from endless wars and devastation.” - says Bashirov Tagi Aslanovich, head of the village of Kurush.

18. Sometimes the neighboring village speaks its own language and communication with neighbors occurs only in Russian. Just as the universal English language is in Europe, so is the Russian language in Dagestan.

21. Dung cakes on the wall of the house. This is both fuel and insulation at the same time.

27. Young girls are afraid of photographers like hell.

28. Guys, on the contrary, pose with pleasure.

29. Math class.

31. School director.
“Almost all the young people are leaving. Many go to Derbent and Makhachkala, some go to Russia. Many are sent to serve under a contract, it is profitable. Young people are just bored here.”

33. Series of photographs “Sasha is coming.”

36. It's almost like Tibet, but only Russia. And they speak Russian here.

40. Once again I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who received us in distant villages, fed and watered us, took us to interesting places and told us about the difficult life of the mountaineers!

The Last of the Mohicans

“I am the last of the Mohicans,” the only resident of the village said, smiling, and quickly put the kettle on the gas burner to boil.
His name was Abduljalil. For more than nine years now, he has been living alone in an abandoned village high in the mountains of Dagestan. Abduljalil was in a hurry to tell us his stories and thoughts that had accumulated in his head during the time spent alone. Therefore, stories poured out from the old man with incredible speed, mixing and jumping from topic to topic. There was little that could be understood, but this was not so important, the main thing was that Abduljalil was glowing with joy, receiving rare guests in his home. He fussed and kept looking at each of us, as if he was afraid that we might suddenly disappear...

All doors in the village of Gamsutl, as many years ago, according to the law of the mountains, are open to every traveler. Having climbed almost half a kilometer up a narrow walking path to the ledge of Mount Gamsutlmeer, bounded on three sides by inaccessible cliffs, it is unlikely that anyone will meet the out of breath traveler and invite him to tea. Many years ago there was a large Avar settlement here, carved out of the rocks, self-sufficient and invulnerable to conquerors. In the village there was a kindergarten, a school, a clinic and even a maternity hospital. Today, finding the house of the only resident of this village is not so easy. In the remaining buildings of Gamsutl, time has long stopped, and instead of a roof overhead there is only blue sky.

1. The ghost village of Gamsutl, like an ancient fairy tale, living somewhere high in the mountains of Dagestan. Without a hint, a traveler will never notice a small abandoned village on the slope of the Caucasus Mountains.

2. Even with the help of Murtuzali, our guide in the Gunib region, seeing the crumbling walls of Gamsutl’s houses turned out to be not an easy task.

4. We descended from the pass and left the cars below by the river. The village could only be reached on foot.

5. The evening sun promised to disappear behind the neighboring hill. I drove as hard as I could. Wet and out of breath, I lost the path and climbed straight up the mountain. Tired, but managed)

7. On one of the houses it is written in large letters: “Lead your herds higher along the paths, do not enter the village, it is dangerous.”

8. Incredibly beautiful place.

10. Our whole team is assembled. Except for Anton, who stayed downstairs to repair the Niva. On the right side of the frame, the village of Chokh, closest to the village, is noticeable.

11. The sun disappeared, and we descended into an abandoned village - an open-air museum.

16. And here is Abduljalil, the hero of our report. Nine years have passed since the last inhabitants of the village left, and Abduljalil was left completely alone.

17. Abduljalil only has to talk to bees and an old radio. There are eight bee families on his farm. In addition to beekeeping, Abduljalil works in his own garden, where he grows vegetables. They last him for a whole year. Once a month he goes to the neighboring village of Chokh to replenish provisions, borrow new books from the library and receive a pension.

18. The house, built at the end of the 18th century, can rightfully be called a family nest. Abduljalil's ancestors lived here. He himself was born in this house.

20. On rare days when travelers go up to an abandoned village and meet Abduljalil, he gladly receives them in his house, gives them tea with honey and gives them a tour of the village. He is like a guide here - he can tell the story of each house and its inhabitants.

21. Abduljalil spends his free time reading books, and in the corner of his living room there is an old radio on which Abduljalil listens to concerts upon request and even sometimes calls and orders music himself.

22. - Do tourists often come to you?
- Yes, all the time! Every year, two or three times, someone comes.

23. The darkest room is the bedroom. You can hear the rustling of a potbelly stove in the corner. There is no hood, or the pipe is clogged. In the smoke from the burning dung you can see two beds, a table with newspapers, and some utensils. There is a bottle of water on a stool, with which Abduljalil goes to the mountain stream every three days. I stepped on something - something rattled and rolled under the bed. My eyes watered from the smoke and I, coughing, hurried out into the street.

24. Being far from people and civilization, Abduljalil considers himself a happy person. There is no Internet or television in the village. Cell phone reception only on the windowsill.

25. We drank tea and talked. More precisely, mostly only Abduljalil spoke, and we listened to him eagerly and laughed at his jokes and anecdotes. The evening flew by unnoticed. It was time to go back so as not to go down the mountain path in the dark. Abduljalil went to accompany us through the village, continuing to tell us something all the time. So he went down with us to the river.

27. The lights turned on in Gunib. A hotel, bathhouse and dinner were waiting for us there. We said goodbye to Abduljalil, thanked him for his hospitality, and he silently walked back up the mountain. In the darkness, his short silhouette floated like a ghost. Only the bottle of beer in his hand gave him away)

Many thanks to Abduljalil, Murtuzali and everyone who took part in organizing our trip. Special thanks to the Ministry of Press and Information of the Republic of Dagestan, as well as the City Tourism Center!

Dagstyle

On the roads of our vast homeland, more and more often you can see parked cars with minimal ground clearance. “The higher the mountains, the lower the Priors,” eyewitnesses who are not immersed in the topic of lowering tuning like to repeat. Initially, this fashion came from Mexico and gradually spread to the USA. Today, lowriders can be found all over the world, but the maximum concentration of grace and splendor is certainly found on the roads of the Caucasian republics.

And you shouldn’t immediately attack with angry comments when you see such beauty. Try, first, to feel and understand this style, this status! Go?

1. There are several options for underestimation. A budget option is when you don’t mind the car. In this case, several coils of springs are cut off and shortened suspension struts are installed. It turns out cheap and cheerful - all the bumps are yours. In addition to the low cost of this tuning option, there is another significant advantage - before the winter season, you can put back the standard springs and return the suspension to its original state. This operation is also useful in pre-sale preparation, since a lowered car is more difficult to sell. Especially if it concerns a foreign car. With VAZs, things are simpler - almost all the youth of the mountainous republics begin their acquaintance with the automotive world through the domestic auto industry. And not only the mountain republics. Me and many of my friends started driving eights and nines.

2. The second option, expensive and at the same time universal, is to install an air suspension. In this case, the cost of tuning may approach the original cost of the car. Especially when it comes to Kalinas and Prioras - these are the models that have gained popularity among Caucasian drivers. Instead of the usual springs and shock absorbers, pneumatic cushions come into play, the pressure in which is controlled by a separate compressor. In Europe, buses are common that at stops “sit down” on the right side a couple of decimeters to make it more convenient for passengers to get off. When the doors close, the bus returns to its reverse position. The same system is used in lowriders - the car's ground clearance changes in a couple of seconds and is adjusted by pressing one button.

3. Pravda Street in Moscow. Unfortunately, the car was parked without a driver, and I only took an Instagram photo.

4. Polarnikov Street in Grozny. Kind and open guys drove up to our hotel with a deafening tut-tut. They stopped and their raven-black Priora sat on her belly with a puffy sound. I took my camera and went to get acquainted.

5. Zhenya, the loving owner of his Priora, began the tour from the showroom. It was very unusual to get into a car that was lying on the ground. All you had to do was step over the turf opening and literally sit down on the asphalt. The seat height can be estimated from the Toyota standing next to it.

6. There is no such thing as too much music.

8. There is no free space in the trunk, everything is occupied by the amplifier. A sack of potatoes can be placed at the feet of the rear passengers, but it is better to leave the baby stroller at home.

9. After a major change in the car’s suspension, fans of such tuning have to use optimal routes for moving around the city. And the main criteria are not distances and traffic jams, but bad roads and speed bumps. In the case of air suspension, the ground clearance can be increased in front of an obstacle. But if we are talking about cut springs, then boards are used - an integral attribute of a lowrider.

10. The suspension control unit is hidden under the radio. The car rises and falls in a couple of seconds. The cost of this tuning amounted to 250,000 rubles for the owner.

11. Previously, I was skeptical about lowered cars and did not understand this direction. But after repeated trips to the Caucasus, I changed my mind. This is a certain style, a whole era. We enjoy looking at photographs of Pakistani trucks that look like Christmas trees. The same applies to lowriders. Another question, you say, is that Pakistani trucks do not drive along the Moscow Ring Road at breakneck speeds. Yes it is. But that's a completely different conversation.

Thanks to Zhenya and his friends for a nice conversation and a short excursion into the world of lowride. Peace to everyone on the roads!

Petroglyphs and dolmens are scattered at the top of the ridge, and you need to walk for several hours to get to them. In the village there is a camp site with all amenities where you can stay overnight. Food is prepared upon request. There are no shops or gas stations.

After spending the night we went to Arkhyz. Among the attractions on the way to Arkhyz is the miraculous face of Christ, found on a rock and which has become a massive place of pilgrimage for tourists. A metal staircase of 500 steps was laid upstairs, and a chapel, a souvenir market and barbecue were installed below.

A little further from this place there is a turn to the BTA (Large Alt-Azimuth Telescope) - the largest telescope in Eurasia with a main mirror diameter of 6 m. It was the largest telescope in the world from 1975 to 1993, when a ten-meter telescope began working in the USA. However, the BTA remained the world's largest monolithic mirror telescope until 1998.

A seventeen-kilometer serpentine asphalt road leads to the observatory, at the very top of the ridge. The observatory is open to the public on weekends. They let us through at an irregular time, having learned that it was from afar. The checkpoint meets you before the start of the serpentine road.

In Arkhyz itself there is nothing to do except find excursions to Sofia Glade, rafting, horses, overnight accommodation with amenities, a souvenir market and shops.

Despite the large number of tourists, there is no gas station here, but there is the well-known Arkhyz water plant.

I pass the village and leave the road to the Sofia glade, 10-15 km. I ask how to get to the waterfalls, the main local attraction, not counting the hiking routes along the glaciers. The road is only for UAZ-Niv-Kruzak cars. There is a section where the road runs straight along the river.

I leave the motorcycle at the barbecue place under a canopy and go to the waterfalls. It takes about an hour and a half to climb. The waterfalls offer stunning views of the Sofia glade and the entire gorge.

This completes our acquaintance with Karachay-Cherkessia. I’m moving to Kislovodsk to Narzan and mountain routes. The first place we went with Pyatigorsk motorcyclists and a friend who had arrived from Stavropol was to the Bermamyt plateau, the place that is to blame for the fact that I wanted the Caucasus after seeing photographs from Mount Bermamyt on the Internet.

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It’s better to go to Bermamyt with local endurists; there are several roads here and you can make a beautiful circle through the mountains if you know all the routes. The changeable weather does not always allow us to enjoy the beauty, but it was kind to us, and despite some difficulties with my universal tires and Lekhina’s large, not yet run-in, orange endura, we succeeded.

The next day we went to the Djily-su springs. Under the northern side of Elbrus.

And since Lekha and I are still alone, we decide to explore the road from the springs to the Baksan Gorge through the pass. We ask the locals about the condition of the road and, having heard that a quad was passing by, but the cars had not driven yet, we decided to take a look.

Height 3000 m and not a single soul. At the end there is a long serpentine, descending from the once prosperous mines to Tyrnyauz.

We say goodbye to Lekha, he is going home to Stavropol, and I am near Elbrus to reconnoiter the situation with the ascent.

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After going to Cheget, I drive through the pass to the Chegem Gorge. Green Mountains and Chegem Waterfalls are local attractions.

According to the plan, there was another pass to the Bezengi Gorge, but part of the mountain road was washed away, and we had to take a detour along the asphalt. Blue Lakes are one of the main tourist attractions in Kabarda. We were not impressed, as is often the case with popular places. It’s about the same with the Chegem waterfalls, although the narrowness of the gorge with a narrow road makes the situation worse.

The most beautiful thing is the passes between the gorges.

All the sights are yet to come: the Dzheirakhsky district in Ingushetia with tower complexes, the high-mountain lake Kazenoy-Am in Chechnya, the Naryn Kala fortress in Dagestan.

After Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia is next in line.

Here I am interested in the road between the Feagdon and Karmadon gorges, where you can see the city of the dead in Dargavs, the Midagrabin waterfalls of 600-700 meters and the notorious Karmadon gorge, where a glacier collapsed in 2002. The road there has not been restored to this day. You can get to Karmadon from the Feagdon Gorge. Between these gorges, a little to the side, in the border zone, there are the highest Midagrabin waterfalls in Europe. In fact, there were no problems with the visit. You need to have your passport with you.

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There are several loaves with tourists on site. If the motorcycle is light, you can drive almost under the waterfalls, along the dry river bed. The place is beautiful, two ridges converge here, forming a dead end with water falling on the sides.

I return to the main dirt road and pass the City of the Dead - ancient burial grounds. They charge some kind of entrance fee. I took some photos from the road and went to Karmadon.

There are no problems with gasoline in the Caucasus; there are quite a lot of gas stations. The price of gasoline is approximately the same as in the middle zone. Accommodation prices are lower. There are camp sites in mountainous areas and inexpensive hotels in civilization.

But the most interesting thing about Caucasian service is, of course, the food. It's cheap, there's a lot of it and it's very tasty. If, leaving the Caucasus, you catch yourself thinking - again barbecue, again khychin, then the food mission is accomplished, it will not be easy to get enough of it.

I'm going to spend the night in Vladikavkaz. In the morning I go up the Ossetian Military Road and go to Ingushetia, to the village of Dzheirakh. In the mountainous part of this small republic there are tower complexes, the most interesting both on this side of the Caucasus ridge and on the other.

All tourists travel past, to Georgia, and few people will think that such unique places are located here. However, it is safe here. Towers are everywhere, on every hill. There are combat and residential towers. The largest complexes can be seen by crossing the pass from Dzheirakh to Guli. The oldest Christian temple in the Russian Federation, Thaba-Erdy, is also located here. In the Dzheirakh region there is a large sanatorium with a ski resort where you can stay.

I leave the border zone and drive through the republic down to the plain. For the first time, passport data was written off at the checkpoint. I don’t encounter any police lawlessness, and there won’t be any along the way. Except, perhaps, for one attempt at extortion on the border of the Stavropol Territory and Kalmykia of our law enforcement officer.

In Ingushetia they produce a lot of honey, the whole road is in apiaries. As in other republics, everyone speaks two languages: local and Russian. There are stricter traditions here, people seem more closed.

There are no eateries on the road, but there are many small shops. And everywhere there are signs about renting dishes and tables for weddings and other traditional public holidays. There is no noticeable poverty or devastation, there are many fresh houses, all the villages are made of red brick. The road along the Assa River from the mountainous part of the republic to the plain is quick and in good condition.

Next is the Chechen Republic. Having left the Caucasus highway, I called the Wild Division club, they are already waiting there. By lunchtime I’m entering Grozny. The city does not leave you indifferent. Wide central avenue, good roads and no signs of war.

It is customary to say that at our expense. Let's look at your region. In Tver they can’t even make a central station square. There is money in all the regional capitals, but nowhere, like in Grozny, are they building for themselves.

For this, Ramzan is loved and respected here. I don’t go into politics or military-clan history. When you are free from this, you are free from unnecessary prejudices and fears. I like what's happening here now. Those who think that not wearing shorts or not drinking is stupid will probably not like it here.

A family from Yalta has been visiting the Wild Division for a couple of days now. I won’t describe what local hospitality is. I will only say that it is proud and described by traditions.

Motorcyclists in Chechnya, as in Dagestan, are for the most part relatively wealthy people. And according to the rule of the Caucasus, show-off is more expensive than money; people here only ride hot Caucasian sports motorcycles.

The next day I went to the high-mountain lake Kazenoy-Am in the Vedeno region on the border with mountainous Dagestan, one of the most beautiful lakes I have seen.

In this part of the republic the mountains are green, wide and open. After seeing the blue lake and snacking on cheese flatbreads, I head to other Chechen mountains. Those that compress the road into a high narrow gorge. In the Argun Gorge, Itum-Kalinsky district.

For lovers of horror stories. A bit of an incident happened when I took photos of the towers here. It's a border region and there are a lot of military people here. Having passed, I decided to take a photo of this place on the way back, there were a couple of cars and several people with machine guns, I raised my hand and said hello, and so did they. After 15 minutes I drive back and stop. There is an Audi Q7 and a black Camry. I see that people were tensed by my stop. Who is being killed in the Caucasus? Police officers. What is the most dangerous position? Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. That's where he ended up.

So, I stop next to the Camry, get off the motorcycle, open the fuel bag, and that’s when I realized that something was wrong. The machine gunners were already seriously tense; when they approached me, I took out my camera, and only then did I feel general relief. As is customary, I was invited to spend the night and eat, I photographed the towers, politely declined and went to Grozny.

After spending the night at the Grozny hotel in the center for 1000 rubles, I’m going to Dagestan, which promises to be the most unpredictable. There are the most fears about this republic, and often unfounded ones. But the fact that Dagestan cannot be driven unaccompanied is a clear exaggeration.

How terrible Dagestan met me

At the entrance to Makhachkala I stop at a large gas station and call the guys from the Black Eagles club. The majority of motorcyclists were on the road outside the republic, but I was ordered to stay where I was.

I refueled, ate ice cream, and waited. The car is being refueled. The man from her goes to the store. He comes out, hands me a bag of fruit and says:
- Welcome.
He gets into the car and drives away.

I stand there, smiling. Kamil arrives and we go to the city. We bought oil and changed it at Kamil’s house. We found a hotel in Derbent. Kamil fed him and let him go. Middle of the day, hot. I'm driving along the Caspian Sea to Derbent.

In Derbent there is the only UNESCO monument in the Caucasus - the Naryn-Kala fortress. The fortress stands on a hill and goes down to the ocean. The locals weave their buildings into the fortress using the walls. The city itself is quite colorful, with low buildings.

It stands on the shores of the Caspian Sea and is the second largest city in Dagestan. The fortress is large and interesting. Since ancient times, different religions have coexisted within the walls of the fortress. There is the oldest mosque in the CIS and one of the oldest Christian churches.

I spend several days in Derbent, taking advantage of the hospitality of local motorcyclists, hot weather and the sea.

The farthest point of this journey is Mount Shalbuzdag, which is on the very border with Azerbaijan. 120 km south from Derbent and then 30 km of beautiful off-road serpentine up to an altitude of 3000 m. The mountain is sacred to the locals and in late July-August it is full of pilgrims. It's June, there's no one here. I leave the motorcycle, change clothes, pack my backpack and go up to an altitude of 3700 m.

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Travel to the Caucasus

“If you go to the Caucasus, the sun shines directly in...”. We were unable to verify the proverb - when we arrived on Caucasian soil, the sun was not shining anywhere. It was 2 am. In general, getting from Crimea to the Caucasus is not difficult at all. We got into the car and drove along the powerful Kuban River to its sources. Somewhere ahead the eternal Caucasian mountains were waiting. The four-hour drive passed almost unnoticed in conversations with the driver of our car. His name was Islam, the most common name among the mountain Karachais. The driver, with the accent, facial expressions and gestures typical of eastern peoples (for which he often let go of the steering wheel), explained to us how kind, hospitable and fair the mountaineers are. Only occasionally our conversation was interrupted by meetings with local traffic police at checkpoints. Our driver got out, hugged the traffic cops, and we drove on. “Our traffic police are sincere,” Islam justified his brothers, “they take money with a smile and politeness. Yes, I’ll give them cigarettes myself. He respects me - I respect him, why do we both need to draw up a protocol?”

We entered the village of Dombay with the first rays of the autumn sun. The beautiful Mount Belalakaya hanging over the village was already covered with the first snow. In Crimea, the “velvet season” is still in full swing, but here they are already gradually preparing for winter. Winter in Dombay is a breadwinner, a long-awaited time of year. Dombay is one of the most famous Russian ski resorts. The season here starts from mid-December until March.

Fans of skiing and snowboarding come in thousands and leave their money here, taking in return a portion of health, impressions of the beauty of the mountains, the taste of local food and national hospitality. There are almost no residential buildings left in the village - there are mountain hotels and inns everywhere. There are inexpensive recreation centers with a minimum of amenities, and there are also luxury hotels such as the three-star Crocus or the famous wooden tower Sunny Valley. It was here that the headquarters of the SS Edelweiss division was located during the war. For a fee you can stay in the real 5-room general's quarters. All hotels are being remodeled according to the needs of the modern tourist - there is Internet, bowling alleys, and swimming pools. And in the courtyard of one of the hotels we saw... an old armored personnel carrier adapted for household needs. Well, this is the specificity of the region - the recent military past works for a peaceful future.

These lines from Vysotsky’s song were spinning in my head as soon as the next day arrived. Today we planned a hike to the Alibek glacier. The weather was pleasant - clear skies with clearly defined snow-capped peaks. Our instructor, a Karachai mountaineer of about forty years old named Islam (what else!) had a tolerable command of the necessary knowledge of a guide - local legends, jokes, toponymy, basic knowledge of geology. And we behaved like exemplary tourists - we opened our mouths in admiration and asked questions. True, sometimes they are too smart for a mountaineer. The trail to the glacier begins a few kilometers from the village of Dombay at the Russian border guards checkpoint. Checkpoints are not uncommon here: literally ten kilometers away in the mountains, along the line of ridges, there is the border with Abkhazia, and there are already Georgia and other “restless” Russian neighbors. Border guards regularly conduct raids and monitor the passes, and also count tourists entering and exiting the border zone. Tourists are admitted upon presentation of a pass, which is issued in the village.

About 20 minutes of walking along a winding path running past birch trees fallen by winter avalanches (they now grow only on a slope) and we come out to a solid waterfall. Yes, this is not the Crimean Jur-Jur... A powerful wall of roaring water breaks off a ledge 50 meters high and gives rise to a winding river flowing through the valley. Sometimes the waterfall, according to Islam, “throws stones” - as if the hand of the spirit of the local mountains grabs a stone from a mountain stream and throws it down the slope. God forbid you end up under his flight at this time! And where the source breaks off the ledge, a rainbow shimmers with sparkling splashes against the background of a bright blue sky. The rainbow is perfect - it has a beginning and an end, let's stretch out our hands and touch this miracle. I manage to take a photo under a rainbow - the celestial arc clearly frames me.

Turning back, we freeze in surprise and gasp - in front of us is a huge, powerful glacier. Like in films, like in pictures in encyclopedias, like we were taught at school and university! A thickness of ice has spread out over a circus-shaped mountain basin and has been slowly, centimeter by centimeter, grinding away the surrounding rocks for hundreds of years, going deeper into its bed. Along the edges of the glacier, elongated hills rise from a pile of rock fragments - these are real moraines! And where the glacier has cut through granite rocks with its belly, you can see ragged deep stripes and smoothed semicircular stones - they are called “ram’s foreheads”. A huge blinding mass of snow is sandwiched between the peaks of Ertsog and Sulahat. Everything sparkles under the hot rays of the spring sun, but a cold wind blows from the glacier - the difference in pressure between the glacier and the warm rocks is very significant here. The lower part or “glacier tongue” turned into dirty ice with fragments of stones, cut by deep cracks. And from the deepest and closest crack to us, a stream of water bursts out, from which the waterfall and river we passed will soon be born. Here it is - the source of the glacial river. Having lowered our hands into the stream, we understand what truly “ice water” is. There is no colder water in the world. Unable to resist, let’s taste this miracle. The taste of melted snow, but snow that is a million years old.

We look around with glee. Pointed peaks with ice caps, silently protecting the glacier slowly devouring and destroying them from the rays of the sun. Heaps of granite rocks and loose moraines are like ideal settings for science fiction films about lifeless mysterious planets. Again you remember the words of Vysotsky: “Blessed are the eternal ridges!” Suddenly our thoughts stop - in front of us, in a deep basin fed by a dozen streams from a glacier, lies a small mountain lake. An almost perfect round shape, deep greenish-blue color, with reflective icy peaks - like the eye of the Caucasian Earth.

The way back is easy, we run downhill. Along the way, Islam shows the remains of a drag lift, with the help of which the Nazis during the war raised guns and ammunition to the passes for defense against our troops. But “these are our mountains - they will help us,” and the Nazis were thrown off the passes. To the left of the path we notice a pile of stones, tin, bricks, the remains of a burnt roof - there was some kind of building here. It turns out that these are the ruins of the most famous tourist shelter throughout the USSR - the Alibek Hut. Thousands of climbers and tourists passed through its comfort; Yuri Vizbor loved to be here. They say that here he wrote his famous “My dear, forest sun” and much more. A year ago, the hut burned down due to the negligence of unfortunate tourists. In the ruins I find a burnt metal window handle and take it with me as a souvenir. Perhaps Vizbor once held on to her.

Upon returning to the village, the soul demands barbecue and killer Caucasian songs. But the kebab is not ready yet and we are offered to drink tea from the leaves of the mountain rhododendron flower. We note with surprise that our tea is made in a real pre-revolutionary Tula samovar with all the required brands and coats of arms on its golden belly. Sweet tea from an ancient Tula samovar in the very center of the Caucasus Mountains is a good conclusion to a hard day. We can’t go anywhere because we’re tired and fall asleep in the hotel room. Tomorrow we have a long road ahead to Arkhyz...

Shrines of ancient Alanya

Arkhyz is an area in the upper reaches of the Bolshoi Zelenchuk River, whose valley is located parallel to the Teberda valley, at the source of which is the beloved Dombay. Between the two villages - Dombay and Arkhyz, there are about thirty kilometers in a straight line through mountain passes, and about two hundred kilometers in a detour along the roads. I can talk about adventures along the way for a long time. We went from Dombay to Arkhyz by extreme hitchhiking. At first, we were driven around in a collapsing official “kopek” by a Dombay policeman-philosopher, who all the way explained to us his views on geopolitical processes in the world. Then we rode on a school bus, collecting children from mountain villages to school in Karachayevsk - here we were not left with a feeling akin to Indiana Jones on his trips to South America. The whole bus, speaking a foreign dialect, looked at us, Europeans with backpacks, with curiosity. Then there were several more buses, rideshares and taxis.

And now we are entering the center of the scientific life of the republic - the academic town of the Special Astrophysical Observatory. Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a research institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. SAO was founded in 1966 and is currently the largest Russian astronomical center for ground-based observations of objects in the Universe. The telescopes are installed on the slopes of Pastukhov at an altitude of 2100 meters above sea level, at the foot of the mountain there is an academic town where astronomers and engineers live, about 400 people in total. It has the largest number of candidates of science per square meter in the Caucasus, the most prestigious school - it recently won a grant from the President of the Russian Federation - 1 million rubles. The local leadership elite from the surrounding villages and villages tries to send their children here.

They were already waiting for us in the town. A couple of weeks before the trip, we accidentally met Irina Glushkova, a local businesswoman, on the Internet. Irina is not just a sweet and very smart woman, but also an excellent expert on her region. Realizing that she couldn’t feed two children while studying distant planets, she opened a travel agency in this remote corner. I read specialized literature, learned the theory of tourism, and mastered the computer and the Internet to perfection. And now it successfully welcomes tourists to its region who want to experience the beauty of the Arkhyz mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and mysterious historical monuments. And there is something to see here.

2 kilometers from the village of Northern Administrative Okrug is the Nizhnearkhyz Historical and Archaeological Reserve. It is believed that in the period from the 9th to the 13th centuries the capital of the Alanian state, the legendary city of Meuse, was located here. It was the cultural, commercial and religious center of the Alans. Alans are a people genetically related to the Sarmatian tribes. Having settled in the mountains of the Central Caucasus at the beginning of our era, the Alan tribes subjugated the local population. By the way, Alan tribes also lived in Crimea and participated in the formation of the Crimean unique culture. From the end of the 9th century. Byzantine influence on the Alans increases. The turbulent nomadic life of the Alans gradually subsides, they accept Christianity and settle in the Kuban. To this day, on the territory of the ancient Alanian capital, three unique ancient temples, standing above a raging mountain river, have been preserved in perfect condition. These churches were built in the 10th century and are the oldest Christian churches in Russia! One of them was the cathedral and residence of the Bishop of Alanya. It was here that Christianity was adopted - in 916. Now this place is one of the most famous pilgrimage routes in Russia. It is interesting that the Alans, having adopted Christianity, were very tolerant of the pagan faith of their ancestors. They did not have cruel destruction of idols, like the Slavs. Until now, in the immediate vicinity of the temples there are several pagan menhirs - free-standing vertical anthropomorphic stones.

Having reached its heyday after taking control of the trade route from Byzantium to Khazaria, the Alan state was unable to resist in the 13th century a wave of wild Tatar-Mongol hordes that wiped out the city but failed to destroy the temples. According to local legend, some priests escaped and somewhere in the surrounding mountains, in a cave, they safely hid the treasures of the diocese and the most priceless of them - the handwritten correspondence of Byzantium and Alania.

The architecture of the temples is somewhat reminiscent of the religious buildings of our Crimean monastery of Surb Khach. The hills surrounding the Arkhyz temples are very similar to the mountains near Old Crimea. In general, the local nature very much reminded us of our native land - after all, the Crimea and the Caucasus have the same geological history and, accordingly, the formation of the relief took place under approximately the same natural conditions. Therefore, with surprise and delight, we recognized in the surrounding mountains our Bakhchisarai cuestas, the Boyka massif near Ai-Petri, the Quarantine Beam of Sevastopol, or the Chufut-Kale grottoes. And only the white bulk of the handsome Elbrus looming on the horizon reminded us that home was a thousand kilometers away...

Literally a kilometer from the Arkhyz temples, on the opposite bank of the Zelenchuk River, there is one of the newest shrines of the Christian world. In May 1999, an ancient image of the face of Christ was accidentally discovered by two local residents on a steep rocky slope of a mountain. This find was named “The Face of Arkhyz” and excited both the scientific and religious worlds. The face, measuring 140 by 80 cm, is painted with three main colors (white, brown, dark red) on a flat sandstone outcrop, and is clearly oriented facing east - towards the temples. The icon has such iconographic features as the absence of a halo above the head of Christ and his unforked beard. Such techniques in icon painting were characteristic of early images, until the 10th century. Actually, the age of this hidden miracle is determined by the 9th century AD.