The Guam Gorge is the uniqueness and grandeur of mother nature.
In November, there was a long weekend, they are also holidays. Tickets were bought on Thursday evening, on Saturday morning we were at the airport, the flight took about 2 hours and we were in the Krasnodar Territory.
The next morning we went to the Guam Gorge, which is located in the Western Caucasus in the Apsheron region of the Krasnodar Territory between the Guama and Lagonaksky ridges, in the valley of the Kurdzhips River.
The village of Guamka is not big, with beautiful unkempt streets. It has not yet been spoiled by the flow of tourists. The gorge itself has also been kept clean; the “culture” of unorganized tourism, which is destructive for nature, has not yet reached here.
A number of historical events are associated with the Guam Gorge. Here in 1717 the Circassians defeated a large detachment of Turkish conquerors, the entrance and exit from the gorge were closed, the army remained trapped.
Enemy soldiers fell off the steep high bank of the river, and below they were met by an angry Kurdzhips.
At the upper end of the Guam Gorge, near the bridge over the Dry Beam, a memorial plaque was fixed on a rock with the inscription: “Here on September 12.1942, a group of partisans of the Apsheron detachment under the command of Stakanov V. 3. at the moment when the train with the Nazis entered the bridge, produced its explosion, as a result of which more than 50 Nazis were destroyed.
By the decision of the Absheron Regional Executive Committee, the Guam Gorge was declared a natural monument.
The length of the gorge is about 5 km, and the depth is about 400 m, in some places it narrows to 2 meters. The gorge begins in the village of Guamka, and here begins the narrow-gauge railway, laid back in the 1930s, 8 km long, which connects Guamka with the village of Mezmay. On the repaired section of the road (1.7 km) there is a three-car pleasure train carrying tourists.
We sit in a small old passenger car, which is pulled by a small diesel trolley. In the car for heating there is a potbelly stove, there is a supply of firewood, wooden benches and narrow windows. In puffs of diesel smoke, clinging to the windows, we peer into the creations of nature. We arrived, then only on foot. And yet, the sensations from driving through the Guam Gorge are not as sharp as from walking it.
Here are the first waterfalls of the gorge. They fall from the upper tiers to the bottom of the gorge. The Kurdzhips River fills everything around with a rumble. Bushes of a relic boxwood tree appear, it is becoming more and more in the gorge. Some trees have a very solid age - they are over a thousand years old.
The gorge rarely receives the rays of the sun. The rocky platform on which the railroad runs is high above the water. Deep below Kurdzhips roars and foams. Each meter of the gorge is a unique sight. Standing on the edge of the abyss, holding our breath, we peer into the roaring stream for a long time. Humidity, shading, high and bizarre rocks give the gorge majesty and some mystery, and the journey - romance and fabulousness. Here you can enjoy the unique landscapes, feel the sharpness of fear on the edge of the abyss, look into the mysterious crevices and grottoes, see the uniqueness and grandeur of the great creator of beauty - mother nature.
