Summer in Abkhazia: Mountains, Sea and Unexpected Discoveries

I headed to Abkhazia in the summer of 2016, finally taking a vacation. There was no money for Cyprus or Turkey, but I wanted something exotic — more than a hiking trip or a Golden Ring tour. Why this destination? I'd always loved the Caucasus. Besides, I served in the North Caucasus, in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, so I wasn't particularly worried.

About the Locals

You hear all sorts of things from friends about the local population. According to them, I'd find an entire country of bandits with meter-long daggers, riding jeeps and threatening every visitor. My friends' and family's fears turned out to be unfounded.

The people I met were mostly friendly. They showed me where the local sights were, where to go to save money on food, and where to find the tastiest water. So if anyone doesn't like Russians — I didn't end up there.

Sights

After strolling through Gagra, which I remembered from the film 'Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession', I decided to explore quieter parts of the area. Fate brought me to a settlement with a hard-to-pronounce name: Tsandryphsh. It used to be called Gantiadi in Georgian, meaning 'dawn'. The place turned out to be interesting and unconventional. I liked everything except, perhaps, the inner roads. You need good shoes because there are lots of stones.

I stayed at a local guesthouse with a perfectly Russian name, 'Valentina'. It was comfortable — air conditioning and other amenities. I was even able to get online via Wi-Fi and send photos to my relatives. Civilization!

After resting and sampling local delicacies, I continued exploring the surroundings, and surprises awaited me. First, in these parts, quite unexpectedly for a history lover like me, I found the dacha of the 'father of nations' himself — Comrade Stalin. The site was called 'Cold River'.

A couple of kilometers away, local guides showed me the ruins of a fortress. It stands on a beautiful cliff and, if the stories are to be believed, was built by Romans around two hundred years after the Nativity. The thickness of the walls impressed me. As a joke, the Georgian who brought me there lay down to show the scale. Given that the man was at least 180 cm tall, the main fortress wall turned out to be about 2 meters thick.

Nature

I really loved the Hashupsa River and the canyon next to it. Generally, the combination of mountains, water, and greenery is everywhere here. The air is very clean. I had been to Sochi — it's night and day.