Baba Yaga behind enemy lines
“Every person has a rest in Sochi at least once in his life” (c)
Note that "resting" is not in the past tense. Although in this very past tense in those very Sochi, probably everyone had a rest. But not me : (( In order to restore the balance of the world, I decided that I simply had to rest there in the present time, since it didn’t work out before.
In Sochi, we were not going to sunbathe at all, but to ski, which, however, does not exclude sunbathing. Getting to the Caucasus is now more difficult than complicated. But, as you know, hunting is worse than bondage. If earlier we got straight through Rostov to Dombai or Elbrus region in some 14 hours, in the worst case, now we have to go through the very . opu of the world along the line of demarcation towards Kharkov. And then return back to Rostov. From there already - free will, said - step.
We found a carrier. Not Jason Statham, but also quite wow. But about him later. In his Mercedes, Vito had to take 8 seats. We began to collect the company. Vadik and I are 2, Verkin's husband, Oleg is 3. Mishan is 4. This is our crew, which we went to Dombai. Those who read may remember.
The upcoming trip was timed to coincide with Oleg's birthday. And, in fact, started by me. But where to get 4 more people? Our other friends are very specific people (however, like everyone else), after our previous joint trips to Andorra harbored some resentment towards me. And although Sochi is Nastya's blue dream, they refused to go with us on the proposed dates. Say, they do not want us to throw them again, preferring Oleg to them. Kindergarten on straps!
And the blue dream was to have two pleasures at once - skiing and sunbathing on the sea at the same time. This suited me the best. I can also swim! But, damn it, where to get more people? There are a lot of familiar skiers, but some have already gone, others have already booked something. By the way, one company offered us a good option to fly to Kayseri for some ridiculous money, about a piece of bucks for two for a week, including absolutely everything, up to ski passes. And Vadik and I even decided to agree, however, the crazy skier Oleg rejected this resort, citing the fact that the tracks there are rather weak for him.
"No? We will look for "(c)
But I didn't have to search. At regular gatherings with friends (who were offended by me), we found out that they also really want to be in Sochi, only now they took a vacation a little with a shift. And they wanted to take some crazy route: first, by bus, which runs twice a week, to Rossosh, and from there, by train, which runs every other day, to Adler. Still, it was not difficult to convince them to go with us, because with the amount of junk that they are usually used to taking, plus ski boots, making transfers is somehow not right. But we also had to sacrifice something. Not something, but someone. Oleg, of course. In this scenario, he would have to meet his 60 years on the road. And what? His wife, Verka, met did you meet your DD on the plane?
And Nastya and her husband also had friends who also wanted to go. In total, the company was recruited. Oleg was informed. He understood and accepted our terms. We calmed down and forgot about the trip for a while. I didn't prepare for it. I was already rather tired of the fact that the preparation always lay on my frail shoulders. Oleg, however, periodically bothered me with offers to look somewhere there for housing prices in Krasnaya Polyana (KP). I invariably waved it off. Nastya and her husband were there just before the war and rented a cheap room in Adler. Contacts are saved. What else to look for? We did not want to live at the KP. Skiing skis, but other pleasures are not alien to us. In addition, those two friends of Nastya (mother and son) had nothing to do with skiing and went purely for a walk.
Nothing foretold. A week before the departure, we call Oleg to agree on some details of the trip and run into a uniform tantrum. And the days of skiing are not enough for him, and the DR is on the way - how do we imagine it? And generally speaking! Although everything has already been agreed upon. And there were no options, as it were.
I'm in shock! This had not been seen before. Climax, right? Last year's history was exactly the opposite. Then Nastya was hysterical, but at least she didn’t scream. She was mildly offended. How dear to me! Vadik said that Oleg would not go to the Crimea with us anymore. Faith is questionable. Together we are much more interesting.
But hysteria is hysteria, and there is nowhere to retreat and jump late. Let's sit down let's all go!
The carrier's name was Petya. Initially, we agreed that he would begin to collect us around the city in the early morning. But life has made its own adjustments. The day before, he had to take his family to relatives in Soledar, where he damaged the undercarriage on the purely Japanese road "Toyama-Tokanawa", characteristic of many regions of Nenko, especially front-line regions. Therefore, he had to urgently repair something there. We left at about 10 am. Vito's backside was filled to capacity with our junk, skis, boots and food and drink for the road. And there were plenty of both. Anniversary! And we just decided not to take food. Vadik and I were at NG in Yalta and were puzzled. The cost of food there was already lower than in Mariupol! It's a shame, it's a shame, but it's a fact. Therefore, we assumed that prices in Adler should not be higher than those in Yalta and it makes no sense to drag products across the border.
We took Oleg last. They demanded from Verka, who was seeing off her husband, a bottle of champagne, and immediately drank it. Leaving Verka to enjoy his single life, they rushed towards a heady cocktail of tropical sun and snow-capped mountains. On the way, we took several other cocktails, no less intoxicating. We rushed - this, of course, is said loudly. In the absence of normal roads, racing is more expensive for yourself. A few days earlier, there had been heavy rain in Marika, which turned into heavy snowfall, then rain again. But at the time of departure, the roads were already dry. Well, anyway! But in the mountains, according to rumors, snow piled up to the most do not indulge, which could not but rejoice. My children, who traveled to the Carpathians in the second half of January, did not manage to ride because of its (snow) almost complete absence.
I, as usual, sat next to the driver. We knew him a little from long trips to the Elbrus region, but he did not represent anything outstanding for me - a womanizer and a drunkard. An ordinary man, in a word. From Oleg, who knew him well, I heard that he stopped drinking. Thought it was screwed up. But, having talked during the trip, I found out the most interesting facts. Our Statham Petya, it turns out, has been fascinated by a raw food diet for some time now. Blimey! Even for me, accustomed to keeping my stomach in check, it seemed a bit too much. I looked at Petya with completely different eyes. We found many common topics for endless conversations, which seriously brightened up my 27-hour journey, including a sleepless night. During all this time, Petya ate only a few bananas and drank water. But I sharpened almost without a break. If I don't sleep, I need to eat. Vadik saw some kind of broadcast where they said that scientists (or maybe young naturalists) found somewhere a very small mouse, which invariably died in the laboratory during the night, until they guessed to leave food for it at night. Its metabolism turned out to be such that the mouse had to constantly eat something in order not to die. Here I am about the same, if you do not let me sleep.
I will not describe the road in detail, I did it in the story about Dombai. Therefore, I will tell you briefly. Over the past period (2 years), the condition of roads in Donetsk and Lugansk regions has not changed significantly. There were no roads, and no. However, in some places where the previously beloved artist, and now the unloved president, set foot, fresh asphalt was urgently laid, which, however, began to collapse no less urgently. But there are no fewer pheasants.
It was already dark when we arrived at the border. We passed the border and customs control on our part, and were about to move on, when Nastya began frantically rummaging through her pockets in search of a phone. And no! They started calling her number. The horns come and go. Potilyalya! Gadgeted to the fullest, Nastya took out a tablet and tracked the location of the phone. He pointed to a place a couple of kilometers from the border where we stopped to pee. And, of course, she wanted to come back for him. Petya refused to go. Sure, not a problem! She will walk! Two kilometers there, two back, and with her snail's pace, this is an hour at least. In absolute darkness. And how to go if the border has already been passed? The entire crew was outraged. To which the hysterical Nastya said that to hell with him, with the phone, but she would go home by train immediately upon arrival in Adler. But then the border guard intervened in our dispute. He was imbued with the situation and said that "we will solve it. " Nastya and her husband went into the darkness. And we were left to wait. They waited not so long. Not more than an hour. They got out safely, found a taxi that miraculously cuckooed there, went to the place for 200 hryvnias and - oh, a miracle! - found a phone lying on the side of the road. We were afraid that they would not be allowed back, but there is some kind of periodicity in crossing the border, well, or money will be torn off. But nothing of the sort happened. They were let through without sound.
At the Russian customs, we were forced to remove all things from the trunk. The previous two times we skipped without this procedure. They brought a dog and commanded it, for some reason, in Ukrainian: "Shukay! ". The dog scoffed conscientiously, but did not find anything interesting. Neither fat nor meat interested her. It seemed to me that the customs officers were disappointed.
Be that as it may, crossing the border took us no more than two hours, and the declaration for the export of the vehicle had to be rewritten twice.
From pleasant. The M4 highway was completely empty! On our previous trip there was simply not overcrowded from long vehicles. We have witnessed several serious accidents and participants in numerous traffic jams. And now a beauty. Empty and dry.
The closer to the coast, the funnier the names of settlements and rivers. I even took out a pen and paper to take notes. Otherwise, you won't remember in a minute. Here are just a few of them (not in geographical order): Upper Buu, Detlyazhka, Ponezhukai, Nechepsukho, Council-kwadzhe. And this name just plunged me into a hysterical laugh - Tlustenhabl! It won't fit on your head! The driver Petya laughed along with me, and I did not have time to write it down. A minute later, neither I nor he could reproduce this ridiculous combination of letters. We didn’t come up with any associations, so we didn’t remember. This I already on the way back vigilantly peered at the signs to write down.
The names of the rivers were also impressive - the Spider River, the Ira River (namesake), the Stavok River and, for a snack, the Herota River. After a sleepless night, neighing is the best way to tone up.
We stopped to have a bite near the sea. It was hard to find a place to park. All sorts of fences. There was also a chain-link fence, but with a hole. Decayed on an ugly dilapidated concrete parapet. Directly below us, a dude with a metal detector walked along the beach, and a couple of “divers” dangled in the water like drowned people. Golden, you see, ishshut.
Having refreshed ourselves, we drove on. Petya said that such a dirty car might not be allowed in Sochi, so we drove to the car wash. And not in vain. At the stationary checkpoint, we were stopped and even our passports were taken away for verification. But everything went without fines and bribes. Let's go further. Serpentine was creepy! In Crimea, of course, there are also enough of them, but I have never seen such a long one!
But everything comes to an end, and this ill-fated serpentine has also ended.
We arrived in Adler. Hell hell! Babel! The address of our future housing was entered into the navigator: Democratic 50/4. My aunt said to turn right and then left. We did just that. With difficulty we squeezed between the cars, barely fitting into the right turn, but we could no longer turn left - we ran into the territory of some hotel, blocked by a chain. They tried to go the other way, but in vain. It was the very center of the city, and it was not possible to drive, let alone park anywhere. With difficulty finding a place in the courtyard of some five-story building, we went out and went to look for the address. Nastya and her husband were spinning on the spot, not recognizing the area. I had to call the owner. Somehow found. I had to take the owner to our car so that he sat next to the driver and showed me the way. On foot to go there one minute, and by car they traveled much longer! Kapets! Who builds like this?
The hotel was quite dodgy. I don't even know if this is a hotel. In the very center, overlooking the Plaza shopping center.
View from our yard
There is a sign about an angry dog on the gate. In fact, no dog is even close. To enter the territory, you need to attach the key fob to the sensor. In the courtyard there is a large swimming pool, but without water. Large kitchen-dining room, master's house and building with numbers.
Master's house, followed by "numbers"
I hurried to take the first one on the first floor. As it turned out later, in vain. All the other rooms were triples, sheathed in natural wood and more spacious than our double. Yes, even with mini-refrigerators. And everything cost a thousand rubles per night for two. I was indignant, why is it so unfair? But the imperturbable host Volodya, with a strong Caucasian accent, said that he could provide us with a similar room as the rest, only we needed to clean up there. Aha! I dropped everything and went to clean up. Then he relented and offered another option - on the fourth floor. I didn't want to. But Volodya turned out to be not as nasty as it seemed to me at first, and said that in a couple of days a triple room on the ground floor would be vacant, and we could move there. Well, okay!
Although we were insanely tired, we didn’t fall asleep, but went looking, where is the sea? I had to walk fifteen minutes at a snail's pace.
The sun was setting. Beauty!
But it's time for supper and goodbye. Ski tomorrow!
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