THREE EYES, AMERICAN CROSS AND RED FLAG

Crimea, Southern coast, Ai-Petri ridge, a kilometer closer to the sun. You are at cloud level. Clouds above, below, nearby. Clouds in the distance. Below is a strip of greenery, behind it there is a lot of sea.

The sea rises into the clouds. The clouds shimmer into the sea. The world is a ball, and you are inside it. A world without a horizon. And if a dark cloud hangs in front of you, and somewhere far above the sea the sun shines, then black will be at the top and blue will be at the bottom. The world is upside down.

Just half an hour ago it was hot, and the sea was splashing nearby, now it’s cool, even cold. Height. In half an hour, the cable car, with the longest unsupported rope in Europe, takes you up a kilometer. The mountain from the sea side rises as a continuous rock wall. The rope will be stretched from the wall to the coast. It is suspended so high that it feels like you are flying in a helicopter. A rock wall is gradually approaching you. In the last seconds it seems that you are about to crash into it. But the cabin slows down and, almost vertically, drives into the receiver of the upper station. From below, the mountain looks like a sharp ridge. You leave the station and are surprised to see a rolling plain ahead of you. Wonderful are your works, Lord!

The plateau is only covered in places with forest. Forbs, heady smell. The air is drunk like ale. If it makes you dizzy, try this “drink” with kebabs, which the local “cooks” will prepare for you right there.

From the top station, through a beech forest, the trail will take you to the top of Mount Ai-Petri, height - 1238m. The summit is a small sloping plateau covered with grass and sparse bushes. The highest point is located just a meter from the cliff. The view is magnificent. Almost the entire southern coast is visible; the city of Yalta, the towns of Miskhor, Alupka, Simeiz are visible; you can see the famous “Swallow’s Nest” - a small “castle” on the edge of a cliff hanging over the sea; Mount Cat and Mount Bear are visible (the famous Ayudag, near which the once all-Union pioneer camp Artek basks in the rays of the southern sun).

At the top you are greeted with open arms by grandmothers with pies and photographers. Grandmothers will feed you, and photographers will make your impressions unforgettable. For artistic reasons, you will be placed on the edge of a 500-meter cliff and asked to smile. Remember, a gentleman should not put himself in the hands of a local photographer if he has not yet made a will. It is not known what your relatives will receive first: a photograph or a funeral.

Near the top, on the sea side, like a giant’s pointing finger, a rock sticks out. There is a huge wooden cross installed on it, which is visible for many kilometers in the area. They say that a beautiful girl climber died while climbing this rock, and her ice-axe comrades erected a cross to perpetuate her memory. Kidding. Let's leave this nonsense for sentimental lovers. The reality is even more interesting: the Americans filmed a western here, brought real Indians here and installed this cross. They apparently decided that Crimea is more similar to the Cordillera than the Cordillera itself. Fairy tale! But here it’s no wonder: Crimea is a fabulous place!

To the north of the peak lies a large hilly plateau. Not far from the upper station of the cable car there is a shallow basin, in some places overgrown with trees and bushes. A red flag flies proudly on one of the trees in the middle of the basin. People are scurrying from the flag to the cable car. Underground regional committee? An emerging guerrilla movement? - No! This is how the entrance to the cave is marked. The cave is a system of three vertical wells and is therefore called Three-Eyes. A steep staircase, packed with tourists like a clip of cartridges, will drop you a hundred or two meters below the plateau level. There, with a pleasant surprise, you will discover snow and ice, which the sun has not been able to reach for many millennia, and you will also learn that shorts and sandals are not the most comfortable clothes in conditions of temperatures close to zero.

Three eyes, an American cross and a red flag! Everything in one place! I saw it! What about you?

A. Rashta