Like in summer

Review of the tour "The Lost World" November 2-4, 2008

Morning... someone is sleeping, and someone has already lit a fire and taken a swim. For those who like to sleep, I will inform you that there was no getting up at 7 am and 30 minutes to get ready - we slept for a long time. But what a dream, when there is such beauty around! The sun came out from behind the mountain and it became warm, even hot, and it started snowing in Moscow (a friend sent an SMS). We rejoice, swim, eat, pack our tents and sleeping bags and hit the road again!

Having received a decent discount and being morally inspired, I decided to publish a review. I’m not sure how original it will be, but let me not write about how well our guide met us, how he told us about our future plans, divided the food and we went to the stop. Hmm.. although I'm sorry, I already told you :)

First impressions.

So, the first point on our program is the city of Balaklava, not that it’s a big city, we rather remember it as a bay with boats and an abundance of fat cats, elegantly posing for the not so large mass of tourists at this time of year..

Here is the first climb - a couple of thousand steps, and we already imagine ourselves as ancient Genoese in the towers of the same name... you feel that two dozen enemy ships will soon sail. However, this did not happen, and we move on, again with steps and asphalt under our feet... Well, finally! The benefits of civilization end and we wander up the hill...

We got up. Of course, then we were still green tourists and did not even suspect what Seregino meant: “yes, here, nearby, 300 meters”, apparently avid tourists have their own idea of ​​​​distances. For us, these three hundred meters became two kilometers! Well, okay, without effort the peaks don’t seem so beautiful! So, the first stop is a date, tea and sandwiches with pate. While we were climbing, we saw the emptying vineyards, our eyes lit up, and now we were already rushing downhill! Grape! Free and amazingly delicious. In Moscow there are 3 varieties of grapes - white, blue and raisin... here I tried at least 5 in 5 minutes =) Seryoga the guide said on the radio that it was time to hit the road - we were heading back.

Indiana Jones, Jr.

While rising we noticed a stream of smoke from the fire. Our youngest tourist, Timofey (10 years old), has already found matches somewhere and lit a fire. In about 5 years he will become the second Indiana Jones, no doubt! Seryoga decided to portray a pioneer over the fire, and the rest, quietly cursing the mountain, moved on. It is impossible to ignore the fact that the mother of the future Indiana had 2 backpacks and two children the entire trip! A very strong-willed woman. When trying to help, she showed such superior speed with these backpacks that no mountain leopard could catch up with her.. :)

Here we are, the next point is Barrel. Ancient times, when Russia was ruled by tsars, that is, the beginning of the last century. Communications, catacombs and a piece of iron in the shape of a barrel, something like an observation cabin, we looked and climbed, we move on, now on the agenda is to get water and set up camp.

It was a long walk to the stream, 600 meters by Seryoga’s standards! We got some water, washed ourselves and turned on the lights. It got dark early, it became especially cool - you are in Crimea, with friends, looking for a place to camp, and only 6 hours have passed since leaving the train.. Meanwhile, it was getting darker, or as in the proverb: “the Ukrainian night is quiet, but you need to hide the lard.” Having hidden the lard, we walked down to the sea.

Illuminated sea.

We go down to the sea, all 9 people got there, and didn’t lose anyone. Black Sea! God himself ordered us to swim, which we did. This is perhaps one of the most vivid impressions from this trip - I have never swam in the sea with a backlight. You swim underwater, and it’s as if someone has thrown LEDs around – the plankton is glowing! Having hung socks and pants on the lines to dry, we sit around the fire, pour tea into mugs and eat. Everything was delicious, Vova cooked, the chef took it with us from Moscow! =) we cooked porridge using only pine needles, it turned out something like a gas stove - with adjustable flame, very convenient!

Morning... someone is sleeping, and someone has already lit a fire and taken a swim. For those who like to sleep, I’ll tell you that there was no getting up at 7 am and 30 minutes to get ready, we slept for a long time, although what a dream when there is such beauty around! The sun came out from behind the mountain and it became warm, even hot, and it started snowing in Moscow - a friend sent a text message. We rejoice, swim, eat, pack our tents and sleeping bags and hit the road again!

The ascent was faster than the descent, or someone was in a hurry somewhere, let’s not point fingers. We wash ourselves at the spring and wash the dishes. We get a date each (!) and “Forward and upward! Let the mountains help us!” We walk like a snake, we stretch out for 50 meters... we wait for those lagging behind, we cling to the trees, but still we go... we came, rested and moved on... we take a height of 580 meters, we walk along the ditch from the cable - the work of local miners, at first the clouds were above us, but 7 minutes later they were already under... very happy about this, we finally reached 580 meters above sea level. We met a parallel group with a white dog, Lucky. They fed the dog biscuits, they themselves fed on dates and tea - they boiled it right there on the burner. Seryoga showed off his knowledge of the local flora and treated everyone to thyme, tasty and healthy!

The Hobbit Lands Begin!

This is my title. Seryoga liked it better – the killer trail of flash drives and batteries, it’s so beautiful here that there aren’t enough electronic resources to capture everything.

We walk, lemmings and little people scurry around under our feet, Gandalf’s white beard looms somewhere between the trees, and we all walk and.. oops! Thorn bush! Rose hip! We received an order from the elder to collect all the fruits and then cook compote; soon they found apples. “To the compote,” Seryoga commanded! We go, we go, and the flash drives are still alive - all because of the milky fog that enveloped the rocks. Although in my opinion it’s even more beautiful with this fog than without! Nature is too picturesque to talk about it; it’s easier to come here and feel everything! So, having descended a little, we walk along a huge cliff, taking precautions - no one jumps on one leg so as not to fall.. on the left are rocks, on the right is the sea,..

Jedi Sword.

We reached a fork in the road, left the women and children to look after things, and went off to look for water, and they found it! With a small weak stream running from the same small hole in the ground, we collected about 10 liters and moved to the parking lot! Dressed in a miner's costume, we walked along a dirt road to the place where our parallel group greeted us with fairy tales and poems about a tiger and a roofing felt woman, drank the coveted compote and ate Vova, that is, Vova's porridge, we went to bed.

Not everyone went to bed, as they were puzzled by the starry sky, and then it turned out that Seryoga was also an astronomer! Taking out a Jedi sword (laser pointer) from his bag, he conducted a short educational program on the constellations and why you shouldn’t shine this sword in your eyes. Having understood everything the first time, we said goodbye and went home - he to the sleeping bag, we to the tents. In the morning a big surprise awaited us, about 400 meters away - it turns out we slept over a huge abyss with a completely steep cliff, everyone took a lot of photos when the sun cleared the clouds a little...

Like summer!

My soul is sad - the last day. We went for water, sunbathed in the sun and went... plains, hills, paths, red forest, yellow forest, again little people under our feet and here we are standing at the Temple of Elijah. All that remains of it is the base and a sign that was hung not so long ago, a well, a cross... scantly, but still interesting... the foot of the mountains is getting closer, we walk on the asphalt, the walk is easy and relaxed - along the way we chew hawthorn and blackberries, great! Like summer!

The last stop, memorable photos, and now the Sevastopol-Yalta highway is visible, we turn off the asphalt and cut down through the forest... stumbling and bumping into branches we reach the highway. With tears in our eyes we say goodbye to the guide - he’s a good guy, I tell you! We give a couple of cans of canned food as a souvenir and shake hands.

These 3 unforgettable days are over. Thank you Seryoga, thank you Kirill! Well, then we still have a couple of days before the train – however, that’s a completely different story.

Andrey Simonov, Moscow