Snowy Gagra is a disaster for residents
We went on New Year's holidays from Novorossiysk to a 3-day tour of Abkhazia from the travel agency Edem.
Pros:
- snow in Abkhazia in Gagra in such quantity - a rarity, palm trees, tangerines, persimmons in the snow - an unforgettable sight;
- double-decker bus;
- experienced drivers and accompanying person (not a single accident on ice and no long waits at customs).
Cons:
- confusion with time, because of which they waited an hour for the bus (with minus in the evening);
- the bus constantly leaked in different places, some of the seats were broken;
- rare stops with a fairly large number of elderly people;
- because of the snow, longer journeys, because of which they gave little time everywhere;
- an absolutely cold hotel: no radiators, no heated towel rails, air conditioning did not save at all with constant power outages;
- a terrible Abkhaz guide (Miron): he only talked about what he was going to tell about this and that, but he never got to the story itself;
- the Abkhaz feast was absolutely not worth the wait (a lot of chacha, little food, learned little about customs).
Summary: apparently, because of the off-season, everyone was extremely relaxed and did not try. The most superficial acquaintance. I do not recommend driving.