Arabat Strelka 2014. Rest alone with nature
...Who would have thought that in 2013 an innocent article about the salt lakes of the village of Shchaslivtsevo, Kherson region, would attract my attention so much that I would like to visit these places someday.
Who would have thought in 2013 that the world would be the way it is now.
Who would have thought that, based on a combination of a large number of factors, the choice of summer holidays will no longer fall on European seas and resorts, but on that same village in the Kherson region . . But first things first.
Summer in Kyiv turned out to be strange. First rainy, then windy, and only in the end - fiery hot. Soul and body asked, already even begged for vacations, rest, and not cognitive-traveling-adventure, but simple, sincere and calm. The decision was made in favor of the native seas. After much deliberation, searching for information, the choice fell on the Arabat Spit.
To say that there is no information about this place on the Internet is to say nothing (I don’t want to offend anyone). A couple of sites, a couple of old reviews - that's all that we managed to scrape together. But since there was no question of transport (only by car), it was decided to go anyway and not worry, because if this place disappoints us, we can always find ourselves in a familiar and well-known Odessa-mother in a couple of hours.
To diversify the trip, the route was laid through Zaporozhye and Melitopol. The road turned out to be picturesque and quite tolerable, although in some places, of course, there were “50 shades of gray”. The main goal was a quick inspection of the cradle of the Cossacks - the island of Khortytsya. At 10 am we gladly parked in the parking lot and went for a walk. The Museum of Cossacks is wonderful - laconic (so as not to get bored), interesting (such exhibits! ), original. A beautiful panorama of the hydroelectric power station and the Dnieper opens from the Big Mound near the museum.
Although the historical and cultural complex was built from scratch for the filming of the film (let me be corrected if I'm wrong), it's still interesting. The performances that the Cossacks put on can surprise even seasoned tourists - the skill is at the proper level - and riding a horse, and shooting, and so on. In 3 hours, we saw the main attractions in our opinion at a fairly calm pace, leaving a number of sights of the island for the next trips. Hello Cossacks!
Another hour and a half on the road and we ended up in a small village near Melitopol - Mirny. On its territory is located "Stone Grave" http://ua. stonegrave. org/hystory In a nutshell, there was a sea on this place many millions of years ago, after the water left, leaving an amazing stone hill, built of an incalculable number of stone blocks. The place is special.
In all ages, all the peoples who lived in this territory, as well as those who came with raids to "visit", it was revered as sacred. They say that this is the so-called. "place of power", "intersection of worlds" and so on. The temperature in the shade was about +39, in the sun it was close to +50, so the inspection was very quick, but we still climbed to the top ...
In the evening we arrived at the village of Schastlivtsevo on the Arabat Spit. It was chosen because of its proximity to unique salt lakes, as well as remoteness from noisy cities. The thought that we were not mistaken came almost immediately after leaving Genichesk to the arrow. The air became saturated-salty, heavy from the aroma of steppe grasses. The sea was very close, and on the other side of the route - the bays of Sivash.
There are 4 villages on the Arabat Spit - the first is Genicheskaya Gorka, the second is Priozernoe (more on it later, but it is not located on the coast), the third is Schastlivtsevo, and the fourth is Strelkovoe (the latter is located almost on the newly emerged border, since half of the arrow belongs to the Crimea). Schastlivtsevo is a tiny village, consisting of four parallel streets, very calm and quiet. Here everywhere is either close, or very close to the sea, or completely on the shore. There is a small market (greetings from the 90s), on the beach near the recreation center there are slides, trampolines, stalls, but they are very localized, so the coast as a whole is free from these “charms” and is pristine. On the beach, sand is mixed with beautiful shells and shell crumbs. Due to the fact that the beach is very long even on weekends (when vacationers from Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk and other cities came in large numbers), it was quite free. i. e.
at a distance of 5-10 meters from you - no one)) The sea is clean, gentle, warm (it warms up quickly) and shallow, while at a distance of a couple of meters from the shore you can already safely swim, and somewhere after 50-100 meters it’s completely deep (did not swim further). Therefore, the sea is also comfortable and no one interferes with anyone. Huge gulls calmly walk along the shore, feeding them is a special pleasure.
When choosing a place to stay, we traveled half the village. In general, housing is divided into 3 categories: the USSR for 50 UAH / person, private hotels with all amenities and recreation centers of various types (from USSR-style houses to new good boarding houses). We were lucky to live in a good private hotel with a beautiful courtyard and log houses, a separate equipped kitchen with everything you need, a two-story gazebo with a brick barbecue, a playground and parking for cars. To the sea - 150-200 meters through the lake, which is home to shrimps and gobies.
The hostess offers complex meals, but we are spoiled and lazy young people, not used to the schedule on vacation, so on the very first day we found a Tatar restaurant very close to the hotel (although how not to find it - is it alone there? ) Tatar restaurant. Everything, as once in ancient Crimean memories - the same surroundings, the same trestle tables, the same music. But on the other hand, you can always order food to go on a call and enjoy a delicious lunch / dinner on the veranda of your own room. I’ll keep silent about how delicious barbecue, fish, lagman and other dishes, the names of which I never managed to remember, because I was already hungry even while writing this text? . By the way, this is perhaps the only institution in which it was not scary to order food. The rest of the few small cafes caused not only distrust, but rather disgust, sorry. In general, the infrastructure in Schastlivtsevo stopped somewhere in the 90s. i. e.
if you are lucky and you have found a good hotel, everything will be fine and beautiful, your entire holiday will be focused on the pleasure of the sea, you will not worry about anything, as the owners will fully provide you with everything you need, from food to excursions. If not, then you will have to wander for food, most likely to Genichesk, worry about quality and cook. Therefore, in this case, everyone decides for himself.
On the third day of rest it started to rain. Having bought in a storm, it was decided to explore the surroundings. We have heard about the salt lake with pink salt. It is located a couple of kilometers in the village of Priozernoe (see above). Previously, a salt processing plant worked in the village, now it is closed, and salt is collected by local craftsmen in a handicraft way. So what we saw. At the entrance to the village (consisting of one street), the road ends and leads to the steppe.
On one side of the primer - the bays of Sivash, a flock of white graceful swans lives near the coast. On the other hand, the same lake begins. It's hard to tell what it is, so look at the photos. At first we were just in a stupor from what we saw, then, when we managed to go down to the lake itself - a children's loud delight! The landscapes are simply cosmic… the air is saturated with the aromas of herbs and salt… there is silence and boundless space around, only the songs of birds are heard in the distance… I want to say that in my humble opinion, Sivash and the Arabat Spit must be declared a protected area. Natural beauties, amazing bays and numerous salt lakes, therapeutic mud and radon springs - all this requires a special reverent attitude! After we discovered several more small similar lakes, but the salt in them is already white. At the exit from Schastlivtsevo, a hydropathic facility was built.
Next to it - 2 salt lakes, where you can and should swim (feelings - like in the Dead Sea). Quite often in the evenings, when the heat subsided, we went for a swim in this surprisingly salty, slightly oily water from a high salt concentration (p. s. at a time - no more than 15 minutes, then you need to take a break). Medicinal mud and clay are also sold on the shore. You can, of course, collect it on your own 200 meters in the Sivash Bay, or you can buy it cleaned. The price is very acceptable. Mud cures many diseases (but it is important to consult a doctor beforehand) and is generally beneficial even if you are 100% healthy. Also nearby there are 2 radon springs with water temperature +65C. The first is right next to the Hydropathic. The spectacle is not for the faint of heart: a large puddle that fills with water spouting from a pipe in the water, like pigs or seals - grandparents, uncles, aunts - like herrings in a jar.
Nevertheless, this place is very popular, and all vacationers try to visit it regularly. They say it helps against many diseases...But you can still swim in radon water in more civilized conditions. To do this, you need to make a road of average pleasantness, or rather its absence, to the neighboring village of Strelkovoe. There is another source at his exit. The essence is the same, but everything is neat: a large pool is dug in the ground; the descent is equipped with wooden stairs, there are changing rooms and benches for rest, there are almost no tourists. It is very pleasant to swim in radon water, the skin becomes especially velvety afterwards.
What do you want to say in the end. The Arabat arrow is an amazing place.
It combines endless steppes and the gentle sea, the bays are both salty and fresh, there are countless species of birds, and sunsets and sunrises are impossible to forget. Here you can ride horses, collect shells, windsurf, try on mud and salt, and then splash in the warm waters of the Sea of Azov. You can relax and not think about anything, merge with nature, but exactly as much as you want, because the benefits of civilized recreation are available to everyone. You can savor dried fish, enjoy Tatar cuisine, gain vitamins from local vegetables and fruits. And you can scold the lack of infrastructure, restaurants and bars, complain about the shallow sea and boredom. Everyone chooses for himself - to enjoy life or ...however, you yourself know.
