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A story about how we traveled to the border zone with Abkhazia along one of the most beautiful roads of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic.

After a leisurely hike and a late breakfast, we finally hit the road. Species sometimes just mop! Especially in those moments when it is not necessary to part with oncoming timber trucks.

In the distance, mountains finally appeared. Add to this the first day of warm and sunny weather during our trip - and I would say that we were absolutely happy.

For us it’s a beauty, for the locals it’s ordinary. Someone fries kebabs on the shore, someone drove a car into the river and washes off the dust of roads.

There are a lot of wooden bridges along the way.

And the water in the Big Lab is really emerald.

It was noted on my map that there is a beautiful waterfall near Damhurts. Uncover freshly purchased tracking poles. What could be better than walking in the 30-degree heat with a backpack in which the baby sleeps? Taking with us a supply of water, we begin the ascent to the mountain. At first, the road is very easy, and then a specific forest track starts, and we begin to argue whether the defender will pass here or not.

After about two kilometers they hit a collapse, there is no further road.

And where is the waterfall? Yes, here it is, marked by arrows. Nice, huh? You can’t see anything from the road, but you can hear it very well. How to go down, we have not found. On the side of the cliff, there are no paths. Well, at least enjoyed the sounds of falling water.

Nevertheless, the walk was still not in vain. Enormous thickets of fern are right on the sides of the road.

We go further, for each new turn everything is more beautiful and more beautiful.

On the way, small streams and waterfalls are constantly met, and since the whole thing is in the middle of the forest, even at noon it turns out to photograph at a slow shutter speed without additional filters, thereby washing the water "into milk". We constantly stop to take photos and shoot videos.

Behind the village of Phiya we overcome a small stony ford (on a multi-van, yeah) and rest against the beginning of the border zone. There are 20 kilometers to Abkhazia. It’s empty at the checkpoint, but somehow I don’t really want to break it, so we take pictures for memory and turn around.

Returning to Phiya, we bought a can of delicious mushrooms from a local resident. And between us there was something like this conversation:

“You do not know what else you can see around here so that you can drive on our car?”

- There, behind the village, the road to the mountains leaves. There are beautiful views of the gorge. Of course, I am not a driver, but people go there in such minibuses ...

When we poked on that road, literally after a couple of kilometers we realized that by "such minibuses" she meant prepared "loaves" of local residents who take tourists to the mountains ...

And there’s nowhere to turn around, but to surrender back to the village itself is somehow not comme il faut! Finally I found a logging site, just before the entrance to which we scrubbed well on the bottom of a huge boulder. Got fuel tank mounts, spare wheel bracket and something else on the little things. They unanimously decided that we do not need further.

But what kinds of open around!

I launch a drone into the sky. The road along the gorge towards Abkhazia.

The village of Phiya. In the distance you can see the intersection and the road in the forest, along which we arrived.

We return back along the gorge. The son is hungry and begins to whimper quietly. The day was not easy, and I want to get to the camp as soon as possible. We find a descent to the river, I go out for reconnaissance, and such a feeling arose, probably, it happens to every lover of car travel. This is when the fifth point no longer hints, but directly shouts that it is not necessary to go here. I take off a shovel from the roof, uproot the largest cobblestones, throw them to the side. We are going straight, trying not to get into a rut.

And then I begin to turn left ahead of time, the left rear wheel slides off a boulder, falls into a rut. The boulder is under the car, a split second and ...

Grunting! Nasty squeak of the radio, on the screen the inscription "Parking assistant is unavailable." I go out, admire the picture. Immediately for some reason I didn’t take a picture, on this frame the bumper, one might say, is already in place. A part of the fasteners was torn off, the parking sensors wiring was damaged, and most importantly, the left parking sensor fell in half. One part of it is in its place in the bumper, the other hangs on the surviving wire. The bumper arched at some unnatural angle, I thought that the plastic had torn to pieces. But no, he stood, strong, infection. A hundred meters from this place was a normal flat exit to the river. It's a shame, yes.

And how evil mosquitoes were here! In general, the family locked up in the cabin, and I went to repair the car. I restored the wiring elementary, since the tool is with me in stock. But there's nothing to be done with the sensor, just change it. The bumper as a result also fell into place, however, with a small gap of 3-4 millimeters. As a result, this problem was completely resolved only upon returning home.

I look at the photographs, and something is just a pity that I did not take time-lapses on that trip. The Milky Way was in full view.