Magical Abkhazia
My impressions of a trip by car to Abkhazia (09.04. 2011. -09.16. 2011. ).
I am 30. I was in Abkhazia for the first time and dreamed about it for a long time. I myself am from Kazan, this was our starting point. It all started with long-term persuasion by my man, who considered this trip a complete adventure, but in the end he nevertheless agreed, and so we, having read stories on the Internet, began to gather ....
We went together, both drivers, Suzuki SX4 car (2 years old). What they took: most of the trunk was occupied by a flask and a funnel for gasoline, which they took to stock up on gasoline before entering Abkhazia. But, as it turned out, it was superfluous. Now in Abkhazia there are many gas stations with quite acceptable quality of gasoline. So, those who are going to go, you can not worry about it. But without the radar detector, I would not advise you to go. And then a trip to Abkhazia, you threaten to become equal in price to a trip to Cuba))) In addition, there were personal items in the car, food for 2 days of travel, 2 thermoses with hot tea, water, chocolate.
Of course, a jack, a spare tire, a pump, a cable, and other things necessary for the car (which, fortunately, we did not need).
We left home at 6:00. morning, reset the counter, and set off towards Ulyanovsk, then to Saransk, Saratov and Volgograd. In Volgograd, they planned to spend the night, rent a hotel or an apartment.
The first few days of our trip, the strongest impressions were from the valiant PIDD employees (or whatever you want to call them, we had the strongest statements about them! ). Although I am a calm person and have always been loyal to the work of the traffic police: these are their duties and they fulfill them. But this trip has completely changed my mind. On this track they do not work, they earn! . They stand and "milk" unfortunate motorists who go to a piece of happiness and sun. Entire strategies have been developed to catch the intruder, in most cases completely unfounded.
Saratov and the Saratov region especially stood out (be careful! ). Their favorite places to catch them are roadworks, despite the fact that there is no repair equipment on the road and the repair itself has already been completed, all temporary signs must be observed and dragged at a speed of 40 km / h along a new and even road, and in no case overtake in such areas. In general, they don’t exchange small things there, if you are stopped, be sure, this is a 100% right decision! Before Saratov there is a clever denouement, where a new person will definitely get confused and go not along the bypass, but into the city. After a while, the driver realizes that he is going the wrong way and needs to turn around, but from the left there is an endless double solid line. Here, the majority, having not waited for the end of the double solid, turn around, leave from under the interchange and straight into the paws of the traffic cop.
They see non-local numbers and where the car is coming from, stop and start telling a fairy tale about the camera that filmed the violation (this is a show-off! ). The first figure was declared 1.000 rubles. ...then they reduced it to 5000 rubles ....Then, thanks to the other driver…he was also stopped…. he took the camera and began to photograph the numbers of the patrol car, the road, the traffic cops themselves ....We said we won’t give money, write out a temporary hut. And then, after some thought, we are thrown out the rights and we go further with money and rights. At the next meetings with the traffic police, the reception with a camera and the demand for a temporary shelter worked several more times. After a day of travel and the loss of 3.500 rubles from the budget, it was decided not to stop in Volgograd and go at night, because the traffic cops sleep at night! We were in Volgograd in the evening around 19.00, we got a little lost, we were looking for an exit from the city for an hour and a half (here we need a navigator). Driving at night is a pleasure, there are few cars, the “hungry beast” is sleeping.
By morning we were approaching Krasnodar and at 9 am we were already in Dzhubga. Happiness was immeasurable, because we thought to get here at best in the evening. That is, 1800 km, we drove in a day with a little ....and then the famous Sochi serpentine began, 200 km of turns, inversions, inversions, traffic jams and beauty! These unfortunate 300 km from the entrance to the serpentine to Abkhazia itself took the whole day! Taking into account the passage of the border and one stop for lunch in a cafe (20 minutes), we were there at 19:00. That is, the total travel time is about 35 hours. The border crossing took 2 hours. But this is thanks to the impudence of my man, we climbed into the smallest cracks, never hitting anyone or scratching our beauty! At customs, one driver remains in the car, it would be better if it was the owner of the car. The rest of the passengers go in a separate queue. It's hot, there are a lot of people, the crush, the process is unpleasant, but tolerable.
In general, the road was not stressful, I was even interested, I had never driven such distances behind the wheel, and it was a kind of test for me and for our relationship with my fellow traveler. By the time we stopped for the night, our mileage showed about 2300 km, taking into account the fact that several times we turned the wrong way and wound up about 200 km extra. It's inevitable when you go for the first time.
The first emotions at the entrance to Abkhazia … WOW!! ! ...a sharp difference from the Russian Black Sea coast. Living, real and admiring beauty, beauties! We passed Gagra with open mouths and furious, admiring, sleepy eyes. Despite being tired, we were satisfied and happy! We didn't have an exact place to stop. We stopped at Pitsunda, it seemed to us a remote village, and drove on. We decided to stay in New Athos.
We wanted to rent a room in a private house for 2-3 days to rest, move away from the road, look around and, if necessary, move to another home ...we stopped at a couple of places . . the hotel seemed expensive to us. 2-bed room is about 2000 rubles. per night, no meals. We stopped at a couple of private houses. The latter had a cold shower outside and the owner of the house took us to his parents, where we stayed until the end of the holiday. An elderly couple, comrades Roza and d. Ashot, Armenians by nationality, both retired, rent out rooms to vacationers for 250-300 rubles a day. We were very happy with them, we felt at home, as if we had come to visit our parents. We had a kitchen, a warm shower, a separate bedroom with a large bed, the sea across the road. The first few days we were alone vacationers, then the people increased. We were allowed to eat grapes and figs (it was just ripe) from the owners' garden.
Several times they cooked barbecue, pilaf together and arranged evening friendly feasts.
The sea was across the road. The beach is clean, local residents clean it on a voluntary basis. There are pebbles everywhere, the water is warm 23-24 C. It was hot during the day, fresh in the morning and evening. There was also a small cafe on the beach. When it was too lazy to cook, we ate there (about 500 rubles for two, lunch or dinner, without alcohol). We went to the center of Athos for food, the hostess of the house showed us the market and shops where you can buy goods. Food prices are like in Russia, not cheaper, and in some cases more expensive! For example, potatoes cost 30 rubles / kg, we had 8 rubles at that time! Suluguni 300 rub/kg. Very tasty, try also smoked, similar to our pigtail for beer. We were provided with wine, chachai, they were sold to us by the village of Ashot, of his own production, without yeast and sugar, only grapes, time and his skill. Everything is very tasty and natural. Wine was sold to us for 150 rubles. For 1.5l.
, chacha (or as they call it cognac, because it still insists on what I don’t remember) - 200 rubles. /0.5l.
Where did you go….
Sukhum is the capital of Abkhazia, about 50 km from Athos through the mountains, nothing special, a city with echoes of the war, with broken houses, traces of bullets. Were in the botanical garden and the monkey nursery. Botanical Garden 120 rubles entrance, nothing special, big beautiful trees, all this can be seen in Abkhazia at every step, there is a bamboo grove there, large water lilies in the pond. Entrance to the monkeys is also about 100 rubles, three types of monkeys, funny of course, but also not impressed. We were told that during the war they were partially released from their cages, since there was no one to take care of them, and then those that remained were collected.
The trip to Lake Ritsa was very impressive. We left at 8 am. We climbed the mountains, there is a post on the road and collects money for entry of 250 rubles. per person and 20 rubles. from the car.
On the way there is a turn to the Geksky waterfall, there is a difficult road, solid stones and only sightseeing UAZs on large wheels pass, but we decided. Worrying about our baby and holding our breath, we listened to the grinding of protection against stones. The UAZ people looked at us as if we were crazy, there was a question in their eyes: “Where are you going in your car? ! ". But we managed and fortunately without loss! The waterfall is really beautiful! Further past about. Ritsa went to the source of mineral water AUTHARA, the water flows from the ground with minerals and is immediately carbonated, they say it is very useful. Then there were “alpine” meadows (unimpressed), behind them there should be a second lake Ritsa, but we didn’t go there, returned to the main lake, were on an excursion to Stalin’s dacha (100 rubles per person). Then we swam in the lake and drove back. We returned around 7 pm, very tired and very satisfied.
The remaining days we walked in Athos: a cave, an Iberian mountain with a fortress, a monastery, the grotto of Simon Canonite, everything is interesting and the spirit of history is everywhere.
Wherever you spit everywhere is beautiful!