From the Caucasus to the Crimean mountains. Part 2
Hello! Finally, there was a free half an hour and the strength to continue my story, because everything cannot stop at Arkhyz. At the request of some people, I post photos of the Arkhyz camp site, where we managed to stay.
Let me remind you that five of my friends and I went on a modest budget trip through the Caucasus Mountains. On the morning of the third day of our trip, the devil pulled us to go to Mineralnye Vody, to heal after a very stormy night, we definitely wouldn’t hurt)
However, it would be an unaffordable luxury for us to simply take and go to Pyatigorsk, so we decided to drop by the Alan settlement. Among the mountains, overgrown with slender pines, several amazing Christian churches are hidden, striking in their beauty and forcing you to ask yourself the same question again and again: "How could such buildings appear in the Caucasus? And how did they manage to survive to this day? ". After all, there have been so many wars, but they still stand and stand. As one local resident explained to us, the highlanders had a rule "What is not built by us, it will not be destroyed by us. " This is truly a golden rule, it would be good for us and other people to remember it more often.
By the way, these temples are very reminiscent of the Church of John the Baptist in Kerch, by the way, from now on, the oldest temple in the Russian Federation. Prior to this, the old church, located just in the same valley, was considered the oldest.
A little closer to the road and the river with the cheerful name Undermining, near this very church, there is a shop selling jams. From what only in the Caucasus do not cook jam! From mint, young cones (I advise, very unusual and tasty), green walnut, carrot, rose petals, tarragon and God knows what else. And most importantly, you can try it all)
However, be careful, in June-July all the way to the temples you will be expected by a feisty enemy - cow parsnip. You will immediately recognize it by its huge leaves and giant white umbrella flowers. If you don’t want to take a souvenir from the Caucasus that will stay with you for life, don’t touch it. True, when I told this to a friend, he (the fool) took and sniffed the leaf. Thank God it didn't burn his nose.
Eating jam and drinking delicious tea, we went to the glorious city of Pyatigorsk. All the way we were accompanied by wonderful landscapes of undulating green hills, which were sometimes buried in low-lying clouds. Pyatigorsk greeted us with inhospitable torrential rain. . . As it turned out later, this was not the harbinger of the best part of our trip, but our hotel was to blame for everything. . . more precisely, its owners.
We immediately fell for a nice price, but we didn't know that the hotel had only been open for a month, and its owners were gentlemen keepers of the weeds. The result - we could only walk around the city until 11, then the doors of the hotel were closed, and at our request to open the gates to get the already ordered pizza (they fed us not so hot), we were told that there was nothing to eat at night, we need to lose weight. But the hotel also has its advantages: clean rooms that still smell like renovations and the location is very close to the center. Yes, according to the rules of mathematics, a minus by a plus gives a minus, but still this minus is already clearly smoothed out. If anything, the hotel is called "Pyatigorye Flower Garden", and whether you stay in it or not, it's up to you to decide.
After playing the guitar for a while, we went to bed after the hostess warned us about the call for the outfit. Such a friendly Pyatigorsk turned out to be, but they were clearly afraid of our seething blood)
The next day, cheerful and rested, we set off on our journey around Pyatigorsk. What can I say about this city in a few words: flower beds, sanatoriums, priors and smell.
I'll start to decipher) The entire city center is dotted with neat flower arrangements, which is very surprising and leaves a very pleasant impression, setting you up for aesthetic relaxation. Sanatoriums: I myself am from the Crimea and have already got used to our light Soviet deputies in the exterior, but Pyatigorsk turned out to be much more pompous. All sanatoriums are renovated, neat, modernized, moving into them probably does not feel horror from your premonition)
Priors: the higher the mountains, the lower the priors) The men in Pyatigorsk are very bearded, they like to listen to loud music, and they also have very mobile necks, because when passing by us, they could easily turn them, but probably already trained, like owls. And I also know how to determine who is a tourist in Pyatigorsk. If a girl wears a skirt above the knee, it means that she is definitely a tourist) the locals do not indulge themselves in such a way.
And finally, the smell. Oh, this hydrogen sulfide... ) We took it inside with mineral water, and inhaled it while just walking the streets... By the way, the city has its own local public baths - shameless baths. This is a thermal hydrogen sulfide source, in which everyone can swim for free. Very relaxing, relieves fatigue instantly.
In addition to shameless baths in the city, we managed to visit a local celebrity - Mount Mashuk, where we climbed by cable car.
The tickets we came across were such that we had to leave them as a keepsake "Adult excursion (round trip)". That's how I heard that accent))
From Mashuk, a beautiful panorama of the city and another mountain opens, somewhat reminiscent of a lying dragon. In general, the trip is worth the money, but in which case you can do without it.
We managed to see the underground lake Proval, the water in which glows blue from the inside, we saw the Aeolian Arch, it’s a pity that the wind no longer plays its favorite music in it, but if you have a fantasy. . . Another famous attraction turned out to be sculpture of the Eagle, but to get to it, you should prepare for the smell of rotten eggs that has become your favorite) By the way, I can also recommend the fountain of grandfathers. In Pyatigorsk, you should just walk around the center, where there are many cute cafes.
And in Pyatigorsk, you simply have to try the local Pyatigorsk ice cream! This is something, my best ice cream for ridiculous money.
By the way, in pharmacies or in special shops you can find face masks made from Tambuka mud, I bought one for myself, I can’t get enough of it. In addition, the same mud can be used 7 times, it does not lose its properties - it's profitable!
My main impressions of the city: beautiful, neat, atmospheric, cheap, but dangerous in the evenings. Still, it is probably worth heeding the advice of the hostess of the hotel and not going out in the evening.
The next day, after saying goodbye to our lovely hosts and paying for the suddenly broken toilet lids for everyone, we set off to conquer new heights. . . Dombay! But on the way we decided to stop by Kislovodsk, which left an even more pleasant impression than Pyatigorsk. The city turned out to be even neater, even more puppet-like. We especially enjoyed walking along the paths of Kislovodsk Park
And we drank the famous narzan again where its prey originated, in the holy of holies. . . such a thing
After exploring Kislovodsk, we jumped on Mount Koltso, although we were advised not to stand under the ring itself, a couple of years ago the stone fell off the arch and fell right on the tourist, but it was still nice that we at least just saw this perforated celebrity.
Then, almost until the evening, in the rain and fog, we got to the famous Caucasian ski resort Dombay. All the way we admired lakes, mountains, waterfalls and dense forests, the road itself seemed to us the peak of Caucasian splendor, but we did not suspect what was waiting for us in Dombai... For in the evening, when we finally got to our hotel, everything was in the area was wrapped in thick clouds, and given that our hotel was at an altitude of 1600 m, we were in the clouds...
