Posted by: Gritz
Re: Ukraine, East Crimea (Krim, Krym) - 03/03/08 11:44 PM
This is my short travel notes about some interesting places in eastern Krimea.
Town Stari Krym is unique place - the highest (from the sea level) situated town on whole peninsula. Only some villages are situated higher. You can say that this is not a town but a large village but it's oficially called "town".
It lies at the foot of Agharmysh mountain (Old Mountain). Agharmysh mountain is the first mountain on my usual way to eastern Crimea and from the road i can see it far at the horizon standing magnificantly under the sky dome.
This mountain itself is mostly leaf forest covered and has some carst caves. The biggest one is called Endless Well. Ancient greeks (which had colonized this lands about IV century b.c.) believed that it leads straight to the Realm of Dead and Styx river flow down there. The cave itself is not big in diameter and there is particulary nothing to breath down there even not far from it's entrance (no air flow, no ventilation). There are also some smaller caves randomly situated in the forest (for example one of them which looks like a hole in a ground 20-30 cm in diameter - i time to time pass near it). On the top of Agharmysh there are three places from which an outstanding sightseens opens. The one that can be found easily is Wind Rose, the one on the other side of the mountain is Ship's Bow, and the one that is hard to find is Wolf's Canyon.. On the path to the Wolf's Canyon stands a some sort of wooden gate (two trees at each side of the path crossed by another tree). It was built by someone unknown for unknown reason. Beware - a "fairy land" begins there - i know what i'm talking about. Just in wild forest (there is no beaten paths there) stands stoned gnome (naturally it's a rock pile about 1m in hight but this is definitly a gnome which was turned to stone). There are many strange things there - like moss growing on the rocks in the form of letters. From Wolf's Canyon is impossible to go further - i'd tried many times and always i returns to the road where my travel begins. Cannot explain how it happens, maybe fairys know?
(i know that one leg is usually shorter than another so people in forest usually go in circles but this is not that case).
At the foot of the mountain, just where ascent begins, grow juniper, so air is fresh and healthy there. Up ahead not so far from there stands a big rock which looks like sofa (i rest there usually when i'm going to gather herbs in a forest). At the right side of the Agharmysh mountain (if you look from the town) where forest ends and landscape become stony and sun scorched movie "9 regiment" about Afghanistan war (1979-1989) was filmed - soviet army blockpost was built (like soldiers in Afghanistan did) and left untouched - i'm sure it's still there.
Near town (on an another mountain which is called Gritz's mountain (Gritz is ukrainian man name, common in past times and this mountain is named on all maps by that name, so it's funny to say "that's my mountain - look at the map if you don't believe me") is situated armenian orthodox church monastery (it was built about first half of XIV century). It is called Surb Hach which means Holy Cross. The forest road leads there. By the side of this road is a grave of the christian monk who was killed by islamic warriors. Soon after the fall of Kiev Russia state under tatar-mongol invasion the Crimea was invaded by tatar-mongol too. They killed poor monk (not him only but many) for the icons of the saints that he was painting (islamic law, which was installed imediatly after invasion, prohibited to depict any people or living creatures). Grave is marked with stone plate with cross engraved on it. Monastery itself at present time is in a stage of reconstruction, and there is some sort of a small museum (it's a museum only, as i know there are no monks now there, but monastery church is still functioning). There are about four or five water springs just near monastery building (water is very clear and has an incredible taste - in each spring a little different).
Forest road leads farther in a woods. Clearly there are many roads but almost all of them leads nowhere - they suddenly ends or go in circles crossing with each other. Do not get dissapointed by the word "road" which i'm constantly using - i mean so called dirt roads which were sometime long ago used by foresters but now are abandoned. It's easy to lost in a woods so regular tourists do not go there (only steady ones). In the middle of a wild forest at a distance lies a ruins of a second monastery which is about XII or XIII century (i don't know exactly). It is completely uninhabited and ruined - only some piles of stone and a base of an unknown building with a stairs fragment left. There is a water spring there, but i don't know if it's safe to drink fresh water from there - i usually boil it.
I'd travelled farther a couple of times - there lies forest covered mountains (not very high), from some points opens beautiful sightseens, forests lies almost undisturbed. I'm sure that is possible to get to Schebetovka village that way and probably to Krasnokamenka village (but i'm not sure).
Once i'd seen there a bunnie jumping in a woods very close to me (i was sitting queitly and resting and the wind blow in such direction that bunnie can't smell me) and another time a boar jump out from the bushes and run away (i was riding quite fast by the road so i think that i'd frightened this boar). Bunnies are common there, foxes i'd seen a couple of times too but in another places not in this forest exact. Boar i'd seen only once. There must be many squirrels also but i didn't see any.
Town Stari Krym is unique place - the highest (from the sea level) situated town on whole peninsula. Only some villages are situated higher. You can say that this is not a town but a large village but it's oficially called "town".
It lies at the foot of Agharmysh mountain (Old Mountain). Agharmysh mountain is the first mountain on my usual way to eastern Crimea and from the road i can see it far at the horizon standing magnificantly under the sky dome.
This mountain itself is mostly leaf forest covered and has some carst caves. The biggest one is called Endless Well. Ancient greeks (which had colonized this lands about IV century b.c.) believed that it leads straight to the Realm of Dead and Styx river flow down there. The cave itself is not big in diameter and there is particulary nothing to breath down there even not far from it's entrance (no air flow, no ventilation). There are also some smaller caves randomly situated in the forest (for example one of them which looks like a hole in a ground 20-30 cm in diameter - i time to time pass near it). On the top of Agharmysh there are three places from which an outstanding sightseens opens. The one that can be found easily is Wind Rose, the one on the other side of the mountain is Ship's Bow, and the one that is hard to find is Wolf's Canyon.. On the path to the Wolf's Canyon stands a some sort of wooden gate (two trees at each side of the path crossed by another tree). It was built by someone unknown for unknown reason. Beware - a "fairy land" begins there - i know what i'm talking about. Just in wild forest (there is no beaten paths there) stands stoned gnome (naturally it's a rock pile about 1m in hight but this is definitly a gnome which was turned to stone). There are many strange things there - like moss growing on the rocks in the form of letters. From Wolf's Canyon is impossible to go further - i'd tried many times and always i returns to the road where my travel begins. Cannot explain how it happens, maybe fairys know?
(i know that one leg is usually shorter than another so people in forest usually go in circles but this is not that case). At the foot of the mountain, just where ascent begins, grow juniper, so air is fresh and healthy there. Up ahead not so far from there stands a big rock which looks like sofa (i rest there usually when i'm going to gather herbs in a forest). At the right side of the Agharmysh mountain (if you look from the town) where forest ends and landscape become stony and sun scorched movie "9 regiment" about Afghanistan war (1979-1989) was filmed - soviet army blockpost was built (like soldiers in Afghanistan did) and left untouched - i'm sure it's still there.
Near town (on an another mountain which is called Gritz's mountain (Gritz is ukrainian man name, common in past times and this mountain is named on all maps by that name, so it's funny to say "that's my mountain - look at the map if you don't believe me") is situated armenian orthodox church monastery (it was built about first half of XIV century). It is called Surb Hach which means Holy Cross. The forest road leads there. By the side of this road is a grave of the christian monk who was killed by islamic warriors. Soon after the fall of Kiev Russia state under tatar-mongol invasion the Crimea was invaded by tatar-mongol too. They killed poor monk (not him only but many) for the icons of the saints that he was painting (islamic law, which was installed imediatly after invasion, prohibited to depict any people or living creatures). Grave is marked with stone plate with cross engraved on it. Monastery itself at present time is in a stage of reconstruction, and there is some sort of a small museum (it's a museum only, as i know there are no monks now there, but monastery church is still functioning). There are about four or five water springs just near monastery building (water is very clear and has an incredible taste - in each spring a little different).
Forest road leads farther in a woods. Clearly there are many roads but almost all of them leads nowhere - they suddenly ends or go in circles crossing with each other. Do not get dissapointed by the word "road" which i'm constantly using - i mean so called dirt roads which were sometime long ago used by foresters but now are abandoned. It's easy to lost in a woods so regular tourists do not go there (only steady ones). In the middle of a wild forest at a distance lies a ruins of a second monastery which is about XII or XIII century (i don't know exactly). It is completely uninhabited and ruined - only some piles of stone and a base of an unknown building with a stairs fragment left. There is a water spring there, but i don't know if it's safe to drink fresh water from there - i usually boil it.
I'd travelled farther a couple of times - there lies forest covered mountains (not very high), from some points opens beautiful sightseens, forests lies almost undisturbed. I'm sure that is possible to get to Schebetovka village that way and probably to Krasnokamenka village (but i'm not sure).
Once i'd seen there a bunnie jumping in a woods very close to me (i was sitting queitly and resting and the wind blow in such direction that bunnie can't smell me) and another time a boar jump out from the bushes and run away (i was riding quite fast by the road so i think that i'd frightened this boar). Bunnies are common there, foxes i'd seen a couple of times too but in another places not in this forest exact. Boar i'd seen only once. There must be many squirrels also but i didn't see any.