Baba Yaga behind enemy lines. Part 4
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Despite the fact that the departure for the tour was at 7, we managed to have breakfast. We paid 200 rubles to the stall, the rest of the money was said to be given abroad. The bass followed us. I asked to sit forward. In addition to our company, there were about the same number of light brown tourists. At the border we were met by a very colorful lady, painted in a radical orange color, who introduced herself as Tatyana - our guide. She warned that our migration cards would be taken away here, but on the way back they would be given new, printed ones. We were a little nervous about this, but then forgot.
There were quite a lot of people at passport control. Tatyana, horrified, shoved us through to a new window that opened immediately. When it was my turn, they asked me if I had already been to Abkhazia? Was not. What is the purpose of my visit? Excursion. The rest were asked in the same way. Except for my mother's son. He was taken for interrogation and held for 10 minutes. When he left, he said that they asked where he was in 2014?
It's time to tell about him. His father was also a tourist. In one of the campaigns, he stumbled on an icy path and drove down the snow, quickly picking up speed. When he thought to roll over on his stomach and try to cling to the slope, it was already too late. He stumbled on the stones with his feet and flew head over heels down. Having flown several hundred meters, already unconscious, I got stuck in a crevice with a backpack and hung on the straps. Then he survived, escaping with only severely cut skin on his head and a minor concussion. He died twenty years later - he climbed to fix the television antenna, but broke and fell only from the second floor, killing himself to death. Here is your fate! And his son fell ill with leukemia at an early age. Doctors predicted him a few months, maximum. But the parents did not give up, dragging him around the cities and villages. The boy survived and reached the age of Christ. But, of course, he was a white ticket.
Thus, we got to Abkhazia in full. By the way, we didn’t pass any control from that side and didn’t get out of the car. Tatyana, seated next to me, started her song. She told it like it was written. It's like a record player has been turned on in her head. When I tried to ask her something, she did not stop, but answered my question only after finishing her monologue.
The film "The Adventures of Prince Florizel" was filmed in this restaurant
We were brought to some sanatorium canteen for breakfast. We were not hungry and went to the beach.
There were aunts selling wine and all sorts of other local delicacies. It was absolutely impossible to pass by. I bought from one of them a bottle of dry red wine "Chegem" in a factory bottle for 200 r, but my aunt managed to get me a chacha and a half with a sprig of feijoa inside for 500 r. and a bag of dried tea leaves as a gift. I was indignant that chacha was so expensive, to which she told me that it was very cheap. If our guide finds out, she'll faint. She also gave homemade wines to try, including Khvanchkara. Not impressed. I don't know how the atets of peoples could love her. Semi-sweet godota. A neighbor aunt was very offended that we did not buy anything from her. I had to take for 100 r. a bottle of tkemali.
Let's move on. Although I was sitting next to Tatyana, I didn’t remember much from her stories. It went in one ear and out the other. I looked around. By type of perception, I am a visual person. I only remember that if traffic cops stop you in Abkhazia and force you to blow into a pipe, and God forbid it shows that you are sober, traffic cops will certainly pour you. No, well, it's not about us! The eggplant went in circles.
Our path lay in the mountains, on Lake Ritsa. Tatyana said that we were extremely lucky. A couple of days ago they didn’t take them there - the road was littered with snow. Yes, we are generally lucky rare!
And on the way, as usual, probably everywhere, we were brought to a mountain apiary.
I am indifferent to honey, and I eat it very rarely. But the guy spoke so beautifully that even I wanted to buy their products. I learned the following: honey should not be stored in glass containers. In the light, he loses all his useful qualities. It will be just delicious, and nothing more. You can not eat honey with a metal spoon - the effect is the same. Moisture must not be allowed to enter the container. And it is unacceptable for honey to become supercooled.
The local honey was collected from highland flowers and was absolutely hypoallergenic. Their bees live in wooden logs. When pumping out metal is not used. Their finished product was in clay pots, like those of Winnie the Pooh, sealed with sealing wax. Had supplements of royal jelly, propolis and something else. It was called "Apitonus". Recommended for use in a teaspoon on an empty stomach for a course of 10 days. It cost a lot of money, but I still bought it, despite the fact that I had seen enough of these divorces in Egypt-Turkey-Sri Lanka, and I am greedy, too much. I don't know what got into me. What if not a divorce?
There was also a very tasty mead, but I didn’t take it anymore. Fatit!
And finally, we are going to Lake Ritsa. An idiot's dream came true!
At first the road was clear, but the higher the mountains, the more snow along the roadside. The driver Akop was quite a professional. But still managed to get stuck. I had to push the whole bus.
Let's move on. And there is beauty all around! Rocks with ivy hanging from them, trees dressed in moss like green velvet coats, a river of absolutely amazing blue color. Crimea is not so beautiful in winter. Here, however, the climate is more tropical. We haven't seen snow here for a long time.
And here it is, the lake! The guys have already seen him, but always in summer or autumn. And then it appeared half frozen. Beautiful, of course, but I would prefer to see it in the summer. “Probably in the next life... ” (c)
Oddly enough, but here the toilet was quite civil. Only now there was no water there - neither in the tanks, nor in the faucet. Frozen in the pipes, apparently. There were eggplants with water for flushing and washing hands.
Having captured the miracle of nature, we drove back. We made a couple of stops along the way. The first was the Wishing Stone. Tatyana said that Paul Robeson had been here and thought of something there by touching the stone, and his wish came true. Since then, all tourists perform a similar ritual here. Well, what are we worse?
They began to leave the parking lot, and then oncoming cars! And there was only one track in this place. But somehow we managed to disperse, we didn’t have to push anymore. Tatyana was indignant: supposedly the guides had an agreement to go up at the same time, and then leave all together, too, so that there was no oncoming traffic. But there were not only tourist buses.
The next stop is Blue Lake (or Lake of Youth). I would love to swim here, but there was no such opportunity. I had to rejuvenate only face. I liked it here even more than on Lake Ritsa.
Then there was an optional excursion to the ancient capital of Abkhazia, for which we paid an additional 100 rubles. We were brought to some old church, and from afar we were shown the ruins of the prince's palace.
I wonder if we didn't want to, where would we be left? Near the church, we were allowed to have lunch in a cafe.
For fried trout, a portion of barbecue, one kharcho soup and a boat with cheese, we paid 1000 rubles. It's probably not cheap at all. Only there was no toilet in the cafe. I had to go across the road. On the toilet was written 15 rubles, which I did not have. But there was no one to take them from me either. They will manage.
Then there was New Athos.
Those who wish could for 500 rubles. visit the cave. But there were only three of them. The rest were left in the monastery. In the Cathedral of St. Panteleimon, the half hour allotted to us somehow ended very quickly. Vadik and I sat down on a bench (as in Catholic churches) and took a breath. A prayer sounded from the speakers. Vadik even switched off for a minute. But Nastya's husband came and brought us out of the catharsis by pointing to the clock.
While the trinity wandered around the cave, we were dropped off in the city center and given 40 minutes to plunder. I took Vadik in an armful and dragged him to an artificial waterfall, without waiting for Mishan, who was barely crawling. We won't be able to do anything with him!
On the football field, a balloon tried to take off, but it didn’t work, it was held tightly by the ropes.
The hotels here were quite fresh.
The waterfall, although artificial, was quite beautiful and powerful.
Above it was a pond overgrown with aquatic plants and a railway station, very original. Only my batteries ran out and I couldn't capture it. That's how it's always been for me! Spare I did not take.
There was still a little time, and we drove to the pier. An aunt stood on its edge and sang something esoteric, making passes with her hands.
The sun was setting and, apparently, it was a mantra for the sunset. And I sat down on a bench in order to take a picture against the backdrop of the mountains. Aunt got nervous and began to look back at me every second, without interrupting her chants - I sat down next to her backpack. Having quickly taken a picture, so as not to irritate the woman, we left. Across the road from the embankment was a toilet for 10 rubles. and also with the missing toilet worker. But if I would have paid for the previous one, if I had a change, then I wouldn’t give a broken penny for this one, it was so terrible. But the park was good! But there was no time to walk. Having quickly bought New Athos Cahors in the store for 300 rubles, and on the tray a net with tangerines (3 kg per hundred), a circle of goat cheese (also for a hundred) and 4 churchkhelas (also 100 rubles for 4 pieces), plunged into the bus and let's go pick up the cavemen.
The apogee of the tour was a tasting of local wines. It cost 50 rubles. Nobody refused. We were poured to try several varieties of wine, chacha and cognac. And everything is homemade. I didn't like anything at all. Similar wines were given to us to try in the morning on the beach. Only here they cost much more. I really wanted plain water. Lunch was too rich. At my request, I was poured into an eggplant from a tap. What was that water! I immediately drank 300 grams.
It was already late evening. Our tour ended. Tatyana was dropped off in Gagra. At parting, she said that our driver is 99 years old. And he looks so good because all the sightseers kiss him goodbye. I chuckled to myself. Ladies after the tasting - that's it! "I'll kiss you. . . later. . . if you want! " (c).
There was another hitch at the border. This time something was wrong with Nastya's passport. It turned out that in the morning they entered his data into the computer incorrectly, and now they suspected that Nastya was entering with some other passport. But everything turned out. They asked me what my name is and how old I am. Although I was after the tasting, I answered clearly, because after licking the wine, I poured it out to Vadik or Mishana. How the others coped with such difficult questions, I do not know. We were given new immigration cards. And the date was today. Tatyana said that many people use it. If the period of stay expires, people simply leave for a day in Abkhazia and return, thus extending their stay for another month.
It was already 21:00 (time to go to bed) when we were dropped off at the bus stop. "Shall we kiss? " I asked Akop. He smiled shyly. "But what about the coronavirus? " To which he passionately replied that they had no virus! Well! You asked for it. I kissed him on the cheek.
We left a lot of money to the Abkhazians. Vadik and I spent a little more than 9 thousand re on the excursion itself, lunch and purchases. You could ride these grandmas for two days! However, we enjoyed it very much. And we will ride too, but tomorrow.
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