Caucasus 12-23 August 2021
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Day 1. Džily-Su.
We arrived in Mineralnye Vody in the afternoon. Two mini-buses were already waiting to take us to the mountains. Our driver told us quite a few stories about local history, culture, economy etc. The road to Džily-Su is not easy with climbs and descends, many potential rockfalls and landslides. We drove through a thunderstorm but escaped unscathed.
We stopped in Kislovodsk for half an hour to taste local mineral water (Narzan). "General Narzan" tasted better than the Sulfate or the Dolomity ones.
It took us over 4 hours to get to Džily-Su. We went to have a quick look at the real Narzan springs. People come here to bathe in Narzan but we wanted to get going quickly.
The famous "dragon teeth" rocks.
A pipe with Narzan.
The Narzan facilities here are much simpler than in Kislovodsk.
The powerful waterfall "Sultan" on the river Kyzylkol.
Local people come here for the presumed health benefits of Narzan.
The blue line shows our track. Shift-click on the track link will open it in nakarte.me.
After tasting local Narzan, we got back to the mini-buses and started preparing for the trip. Fortunately, the rain stopped almost as soon as it started.
Mount Elbrus momentarily appeared from behind the clouds. It's a huge white mountain rising well above the surrounding green hills.
Local campsite. Visitors stay in big tents or huts. There were many elderly people.
We left the civilised world at last. Some campers followed us for a while wondering why people who venture in this direction never come back.
Anya and Misha.
First rest break.
We only walked for about a kilometer as it was getting dark. We pitched our tents on a flat terrace by the spring.
