Who built the road to Lake Ritsa. To Lake Ritsa in winter by car: and the impossible is possible ...
Yes, I returned from Abkhazia. Yes, I'm alive. Full of strength and energy, and even skated down the mountain in Krasnaya Polyana yesterday and today. Therefore, what is this a trip to Lake Ritsa in winter has become such an energy cocktail for all of us that, after our arrival from Abkhazia, we walk like we are stoned. And the queue of those who have already seen my photos of winter Ritsa on Instagram and now also want to get there is growing every hour.
All last winter I tortured drivers who take people to Abkhazia - is it possible to drive to Ritsa in winter? They answered evasively - sometimes yes, sometimes no ... There were also conflicting reviews on the Internet: someone wrote that it was dangerous, someone assured that the road to Ritsa was blocked in winter. Still others silently posted amazing photos of a snow-covered lake ... And I made up my mind: I have a car, I know the way. Must go.
If you are without a car, but also dream of seeing the winter Ritsa, then contact these guys: +79384600693
But first, read, watch photos and videos and decide whether you can master such a winter quest.
By car to Abkhazia in winter: what you should know
In principle, it is even easier to get to Abkhazia by car in winter than in summer - there are no endless traffic jams at the border. We arrived at the beginning of the ninth and after 20 minutes we had already completed the entire procedure. As a driver, I stay in the car and present it for inspection: I open the trunk and all the doors, as well as the glove compartment in the cabin and the top case on the roof, where I transport the skis. And then I go to the passport control window with a passport for me and a technical passport for the car. My passengers go into the building and pass passport control there.
If you want to get to Ritsa, then you can't do without studded tires. High ground clearance and all-wheel drive are welcome.
As I already wrote in previous articles about Abkhazia, it is most likely impossible to drive along its roads with Russian numbers and never say hello to traffic police representatives. Signs "40" are apparently given to Abkhaz traffic cops for their birthday. There are many of them, and it is not always possible to determine the zone of effect of the sign: either that narrow path that crosses the main road meant a crossroads, or not ... In short, prepare a friendly smile and banknotes of various denominations. Maybe you will return with the rights from Abkhazia ...
Road to Ritsa: don't forget to pray before leaving home
Leaving Krasnaya Polyana early in the morning, it was as if we were praying that the snow that fell from the sky in large flakes would end ... Ritsa, after all, it is in the mountains, at an altitude of 950 meters above sea level. So, if there is snow in Polyana, then there is also snow there ...
At the exit from the mountains, the snow turned into rain. After crossing the border, the rain began to subside: Abkhazia, you really are hospitable! How many times have I left Polyana on an excursion to Abkhazia in the pouring rain! And every time at the border it began to subside, and the first sun was already showing towards Gagra ...
So it was this time. A couple of minutes on the Colonnade, a greeting to the Black Sea - and we go further.
By unanimous decision, we also approved the arrival at the food market in Gagra. Tangerines, cucumbers, herbs, smoked cheeses, nuts, fig and feijoa jam - a standard Abkhazian "grocery basket" was purchased in 15 minutes. We leave Gagra. Less than 10 km left before the turn to Ritsu.
The weather has improved, there are few cars on the road. After 10 minutes, we turn to the village of Bzypta, it is through it that the road to Ritsa goes. We drive into a picturesque gorge. And then my passengers start begging me to stop for a snack. The intoxicating smells from the delicacies bought on the market, hovering in the car, did their job - everyone had a brutal appetite!
We call in honey yard , attracted the sign "hot pancakes with honey." And there were pancakes, and there was honey. Portion of pancakes 6 pieces - 100 rubles. Herbal tea - 100 rubles per teapot. Honey — free of charge, unlimited))) After such a breakfast, we were all determined to get to Ritsa.
At the entrance to the Ritsa National Park, we were assured: yes, you will drive to Ritsa, we have cleaned the road. Oh really?!? I just can't help but gasp in surprise. But the employee at the box office sells us tickets with an unwavering hand. And we're going through the barrier.
Excursions to Ritsa in winter - only for extreme people
Right behind us, a Mercedes-Sprinter with Abkhaz license plates drives up to the barrier. On such summer we drove tourists from Krasnaya Polyana to Abkhazia. Is someone really desperate taking tourists to Ritsu now? Well, well, it will be interesting to see how they manage.
And my passengers just start to squeal with delight, looking out the windows of the car. The views really open up fabulous: moss-wrapped trees, sheer cliffs, snow-covered edges, crystal-clear mountain rivers ...
It seems to me that my love for Abkhazia is getting stronger with every trip… And how could it be otherwise when there is such beauty around?
Immediately after the canyon, the road turns from a narrow, but still asphalt pavement into a rolled snow rut. The traction control system in the car is periodically turned on. And to part with an oncoming car is not an easy task. Someone has to back up to the nearest "pocket".
On the Chabgar cornice we pull over to the side of the road and go out to admire the panorama of the mountains. Soon three young Abkhaz guys join us. Their Mercedes jeep somehow parked next to our car. There is no room for a third car...
From this point, our ride turns into a nerve-wracking adventure: the road is getting worse, it shakes quite a lot, but it is undesirable to slow down - there is enough snow under the wheels to stall. We let the dashing Abkhazians go ahead in the Mercedes - so as not to put pressure on the psyche)))
But soon we are still forced to slow down, because. ran into a small traffic jam: the traffic was temporarily blocked - in front of the tractor clearing snow blockages. Our familiar Mercedes Sprinter is also in this traffic jam, from which curious tourists poured onto the road. And our friends in the Mercedes-jeep are also here. In total, there are seven cars on our side, and from the opposite side, five pieces can be seen. All are jeeps.
The tractor, by the way, is also very modern (see VIDEO) and very smartly wields a bucket, raking snow from the road. While we wait, we get to know the other participants in the movement. I really didn't expect that there are so many people who want it, like me, see Ritsu in winter!
The last fight is the hardest...
More precisely, the last kilometer. Namely, we did not reach Ritsa for so long, getting stuck in a traffic jam due to a tractor clearing the road. Finally, you can go. The first to miss were those cars that descended from above to meet us. Then, one by one, our motorcade also starts moving.
Although the tractor worked, the layer of snow on the road was still decent. At this stage, all cars without winter tires were forced to leave the route. Including that trinity in a jeep-Merce. But we were on spikes and were not going to retreat.
The road is uphill. Gas-gas-gas ... The main thing is not to slow down and not throw gas! Do not make sudden movements with the steering wheel so as not to fly out of the snow rut! Along the edge of the track - two-meter snowdrifts ... Through thorns to the stars, in a word.
Here is the sign "Lake Ritsa". We shout "hooray!" at the top of our voices! And the next moment we fall through four wheels into melted loose snow. Neither forward nor backward. The car hung on its belly. The wheels simply do not reach the hard surface, and even five men cannot push it out.
The owners of the Niva came to the rescue. A cable is tied to the towbar of our car. A minute later we were pulled out of the snow captivity.
And two minutes later we forgot about all the difficulties of the road and enjoyed the beautiful views of the winter Ritsa ... No photographs can convey that fabulous atmosphere and feeling of unity with nature, our childish delight from contemplating the unreal reality of this winter landscape.
Our CV
It is as simple as three pennies. Amazing experience and unreal beautiful photos- this is what you will have left from the winter voyage to Lake Ritsa.
Yes, there will also be enough thrills for you - in a couple of places we saw avalanches that descended directly onto the road, which the workers of the national park had already managed to clear up. This suggests that the road is still being monitored. And in case of some threat to your safety (the same avalanche danger), they simply will not let you in there. So now I have at least begun to understand why we give 350 rubles at the entrance to the Ritsa National Park.
Perhaps, over time, the road to Ritsa will become as safe and comfortable as the road to Krasnaya Polyana. But for now, it's a real challenge. An adventure that many of us miss so much in everyday life ...
All exciting roads and see you on the blog!
The road to Ritsu is beautiful in itself, regardless of the presence at the end of the lake. It passes through a picturesque gorge along mountain rivers, and the landscapes encountered along the way made us stop many times for photographs. The road was built in 1936, otherwise we would have had to get to Ritsa along goat trails and shepherd crossings. Now the significance of this route for Abkhazia is difficult to overestimate - in the season tourists are brought to the lake in droves. And this is justified - there is something to look at, there is where to look up and there is someone to give unnecessary money to.
The first part of the path runs along the very pretty Bzyb River, through which many bridges and footbridges are thrown. This is the most big bridge. The photo was taken from the Bzybsky temple-fortress, where we are.
But we don't need to cross the bridge. We'll go this side. See how the mountains converge on the left? Here we go.
Having driven a little in the direction of that very convergence of the mountains, we stopped again. What we have not been lucky with is the sky. It was overcast gray, which did not affect the quality of the photographs for the better.
This is the same river Bzyb.
Then we stopped at the Maiden's Tears waterfall, spoiled by a bunch of ribbons. Well, citizens, if you unbearably want to tie ribbons somewhere, then tie it, for example, to your own ear. Will it be beautiful? Unlikely. So why spoil nature?
Dripping here is not very good. Really tears.
And again views of the Bzyb.
There is also a neat bridge across the river.
A little later, another bridge. Decorated like a Christmas tree.
Another 5 minutes later I met this tower, but I don’t know where it came from and why. If you know, please include me.
Next stop in 3 minutes. Went out to shoot the river.
I, kanesh, do not remember how long we stayed there. I'm just looking at the time of the photos. This one is 3 minutes later.
After a couple of minutes we saw the bridge. The boards on it have already partly fallen out and there is a good prospect of sloshing into the river.
When the sky is not visible, the pictures are normal)
This is the Yupshar Canyon. The gorge is already. At its narrowest point, it is only 20 meters wide. Once these rocks were a single whole, but they were split by an earthquake. To the delight of tourists who can now travel here.
The rocks are high and sometimes crumbles from them.
And this is falling.
To better understand the size of the boulder, I drove my wife onto it. I'm not cruel, there, on the other hand, someone enterprising attached steps and hung a sign "50 rubles for a photo." But we don't know who needs to send the money.
This is probably the bottleneck.
Another waterfall. Probably some tears too.
The bridge doesn't look very secure. In general, we are already not far from Ritsa.
It looks like there used to be another bridge nearby. But that's all that's left of him.
Well, I'll finish. I will tell about the lake Ritsa separately.
Hello! Today I will talk about a classic Abkhazian excursion, namely a trip to Lake Ritsa. If you have not seen Ritsu, then you have not been to Abkhazia.
Perhaps it is worth immediately revealing all the cards and telling that this is not the first time I have been in Abkhazia. About 7-8 years ago, two years in a row, we quite consciously chose "light" abroad instead of cramped beaches Black Sea coast Russia. Then Abkhazia simply fascinated and conquered me.
In 2006, we went to Lake Ritsa first of all. This year I acted as a guide, because one way or another I knew the most interesting points of the route. Of course, you can always choose a standard tour and not particularly bother. But we are not looking for easy ways, besides, we were in Abkhazia.
Especially for independent travelers, I threw in an approximate map of the main attractions. If you think that a trip to Ritsa is limited only to seeing the beautiful mountain lake, then you are deeply mistaken. Feel free to book a whole day for the trip.
All points on the map are shown schematically, only in order not to miss different interesting things. I don’t see the point in leaving exact coordinates, because in Abkhazia there is a rule - if you see a crowd of people, then it’s worth stopping and looking around. There is definitely something here!
Waypoints:
Green - Maiden's Tears Waterfall
Brown - Blue Lake
Blue - Confluence of the Bzyb and Yupshara rivers
Blue - Geg waterfall
Yellow - Yupsharsky canyon
Gray - waterfall "Men's tears"
Orange - Lake Ritsa
Red - Milk Falls
Violet - Birdfall
And one more map, but closer to Ritsa Park.
There is only one road to Ritsu, so it's hard to miss. It doesn’t matter where you are coming from, from Gagra or New Athos, you reach the big junction of the E97 highway (at google maps) and rush to the mountains.
The mountain kingdom begins almost immediately. The road offers breathtaking views of Caucasian mountains, on the right we will be constantly accompanied by the mountain river Bzyb, which originates among the snowy slopes of the Main Caucasus. Along the way, here and there there are announcements about the possibility of rafting on the river. That's where the adrenaline and extreme. Of course with a quiet and smooth can not be compared. By the way, for those who are rather tired of the sea (and there are some!) I recommend diversifying your vacation and just coming to the Bzyb shore to cool off a little and swim in the cool water.
First stop - Waterfall "Girl's Tears". On the left side of the road, a motley rock immediately attracts attention. Upon closer inspection, it is clear that these are ribbons that tourists tie as a keepsake, making their simple and not simple desires. It is hard to see in the photo - small droplets flow down the mountain like tears and fall down, forming a waterfall.
Abkhazia is the Country of the Soul, so my photo essay will be incomplete without tales and legends of the local people. This is its own special and slightly quivering part of the culture of the Republic.
“A long time ago, the beautiful Amra lived in these places. She herded goats high in the mountains and sang beautiful songs. And she had a lover - Adgur, who reciprocated her love. The evil mermaid envied the lovers and she decided to destroy Amra by throwing her off a cliff. The poor girl called Adgur for help, but he was far away and could not help her. But the cry of the girl was heard by the god of water, came to her aid and turned the mermaid into stone. Along with the mermaid, Amra was also petrified. Since then, in the place where the beautiful Amra cried and called for help, the streams of the Maiden's Tears waterfall now run.
From the site open great views on the mountains and the river Bzyb.
And we're moving on. I did not mark the next point on the route. If you wish, you can stop near the hanging bridge and take a walk along it. A little further there is another bridge, more extreme and not so pretty.
Another stop in front of Blue Lake. Well, we could not resist the temptation to go down to the river. Here it is - a popular route water tourism. The color of the water in Bzyb is amazing - milky blue.
I found on the Internet two translations of the name of the river: “river bank / river gorge” and furious. Personally, I prefer the second option.
We drive up to blue lake. This is the second (after Maiden's Tears) tourist stop, so people are apparently invisible at a small lake. The lake fully justifies its name.
A haze rises over the lake. It's hot outside, and the water is piercingly cold. Not suitable for swimming at all, about +10°C At first glance, it may seem that the water in the lake is cloudy. In fact, it is very deep and the sun's rays do not penetrate to the very bottom. Some sources claim that the depth of the lake is 76 meters. It's hard for me to even imagine such depth. This is neither more nor less than 3 nine-story houses. Ahem….. The lake is fed by an underground river. Interesting fact- fish do not live here, aquatic plants do not grow, and even plankton does not live.
Of course, there is a legend associated with the lake among the people. This is Abkhazia! I bring brief retelling — « A long time ago, a kind old man lived in a cave, a well-known hunter in the past. People respected him and came to him for advice. One day, strangers came to him and, coveting the beautiful skins of animals, killed the old man. But before they even took a step, a powerful stream of water flooded the cave. Since then, the lake has existed, resembling the blue eyes of a good old man with its color.
They all have some sad legends, already longing rolls over. My personal recommendation- stop near the lake on the way back. Toward evening there will be fewer tourist people and it will be possible to approach the lake in a more relaxed atmosphere.
In theory, the next tourist stop is the Yupshar Gorge or " stone bag". However, we accidentally decided to stop at an old bridge and then such an amazing sight opened up to us - the Yupshara River flows into the Bzyb. The water line clearly divides the flows.
It is impossible to observe all this from afar and we go down to the water. Yupshara got very dirty somewhere in the mountains J.
Once again, I note for myself that a trip by car gives a certain freedom of action. Impressed by the two rivers, we once again stop on the banks of the Bzyb (slightly higher from the confluence) and now we see a slightly fabulous picture - rocks, lush greenery, incredible-colored water and a light “smoke” rising above the river.
Well, we arrived at the Yupshar Gorge. It is quite long, about 8 km. The narrowest place is the Yupshar Gate. Two powerful rocks rise high up and very clearly make it clear what kind of insect you really are.
I don't have any good photos from this trip that can capture the full power of the gorge, so I'll do a little trick and attach photos from my first trip. Believe me, nothing has changed there.
The Yupshara River makes its way along the bottom of the gorge. Please note that it is blue, not gray-brown at all.
If you do not rush headlong and make the right stops, then you can capture such a beautiful panorama from observation deck. Down there is the Stone Bag.
If you are planning a trip to Geg waterfall, then, it is important not to miss the landmark. As soon as you meet a tunnel on your way, this means only one thing - you are at the beginning of the path to Gega. To the left of the road there are UAZs with Abkhaz guys who, for 1,700 rubles. (back and forth) will take you to the Gegsky waterfall. But here, on the contrary, I advise you to first go to the waterfall, and then continue your route to Ritsa. On the way back, you can already get tired and just lazy. Do not even think about climbing among the rocks and stones in your own car. Feel free to load into the UAZ, just do not forget to close your eyes. You will be driven at incredible speed right along the edge of the cliff. And if you are a thrill seeker, then be sure to look down. There, far below, along the gorge, another mountain river with a difficult character rushes - the Gega. Beauties!
Just next to the UAZ parking lot, it flows into the Yupshara and again we can observe the confluence of two streams - the dirty brown Yupshara and the sky-blue Gega.
We must admit that this year we did not reach the Gegsky waterfall. However, I have great opportunity go back 8 years and show the waterfall in all its glory.
To estimate the dimensions natural wonder Might be worth attaching a picture like this. The water flow seems to cut the rock and breaks out. In the foreground - me, in the background - small figures of people. The height of the waterfall is about 55 meters. The water is ice cold even in summer.
It was here, at the Gegsky Falls, that the scene from the movie “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” was filmed, or rather, the fight between Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.
On the way to Ritsu we come across another waterfall - Men's Tears. Here it is a mean man's tear.
The legend of this waterfall brings us back to the beautiful Amra and her beloved Adgur:
“... And Amra's beloved Adgur, while hunting in the mountains at that time, suddenly felt pain in his heart. He realized that some kind of misfortune threatened his beloved and that he could not help her .... Mean tears fell on the stone .... "
Well, everything, then only Ritsa! At the entrance to the Ritsa Reserve, you need to pay an environmental fee or simply buy a ticket for 350 rubles. You can leave your car in the parking lot, although it is located quite far on the right bank of the lake.
A moment ... and before us opens a calm, greenish expanse of the lake, bordered on all sides by mountain slopes. The tops of the mountains are hidden in the clouds.
Photos cannot convey the full scale of Ritsa, you need to see it with your own eyes.
The lake is quite young, about three hundred years old. If you do not pay attention to the legends and turn to science, then the origin of Ritsa is explained by a huge failure in the karst voids. As a result of the collapse, a huge dam was formed. The depth of the lake is 130 meters. The water is clean, flocks of fish hunt near the shore in search of a fishing hook. By the way, trout is found in Ritsa.
If you wish, you can rent a catamaran or a boat and sail away from the coast. Near the lake there are several cafes where you can have a barbecue or taste river trout.
It's too early to go back, so we go in search of the Milky Falls. The road leads us along the right bank of the Ritsa further into the mountains. Asphalt is present purely nominally, in some places it is badly broken. Basically, off-road vehicles drive along this route, which take tourists on excursions to the Seven Lakes or to alpine meadows. After a while there will be a fork, the road down and the sign "Stalin's Dacha". It is on this sign that you need to go to the Milky Waterfall. But we decided to take another look at Ritsu, only now with an excellent observation platform. We move on without turning anywhere. As soon as you see a waterfall on the right side, then you have arrived. This is Birdfall. Eight years ago it was possible to get closer to him. This year, the waterfall is surrounded by a net and traces of collapse are visible. Apparently unsafe.
Well, this is perhaps the best panorama overlooking the mountain lake.
Our workhorse 🙂
Now we go back and turn to Stalin's dacha. The Milky Waterfall gets its name from its purely visual effect. The water is highly mineralized, this foams and turns white.
If you wish, you can look at Stalin's dacha and see how our political leader rested.
I hope my short photo report will be useful for travelers who want to visit Ritsa.
Are you planning big Adventure in the Land of the Soul? Then I recommend a big
Preface. Both my husband and I, having returned from this dizzyingly beautiful trip, were disappointed with the photos. Maybe it happened because of my inability to build a frame correctly, to find the right point for photographing, or maybe because photography is not able to convey the totality of sensations that you experience while in the mountains. The ears are filled with the sounds of nature - the creak of centuries-old trees, the noise of a stormy mountain river; eyes sometimes cannot believe what they see - the mountains are so beautiful and we are insignificant in comparison with them; at the same time you inhale the air, filled to the brim with oxygen and the smell of fresh water, snow, fallen leaves, moisture ...
But it turned out what happened. I hope you will enjoy.
1. Starting point. Hotel "Alex" in Gagra. Good rooms, outdoor pool. The sauna and indoor small pool are very popular with local jigits. Apparently there are no alternatives.
Of the minuses - in the indoor pool it smells of smoke and beer (although you can attribute this to my too sensitive sense of smell :))
3. First stop on the way to the lake. On the opposite bank of the Bzyb there are wild horses. Zhenya says that after the war they divorced here in countless numbers.
4. It seems that they noticed me, despite the sound of the river:) While I was running after the telephoto, two of them galloped away.
PS. The color of the river is natural.
6. Much in Abkhazia can be called abandoned. Abandoned houses (there were a lot of them along the way), bridges that have not been used for a long time, hidden from human eyes behind dense thickets of shrubs and trees.
7. Everything is covered with mold and evokes the feeling of a catastrophe that happened long ago.
9. Stop. It seems to be used sometimes - judging by the garbage bag carefully placed in the bin.
10. Trees ... You can look at them endlessly - huge, lost their leaves, covered with evergreen moss, they sleep in anticipation of spring.
11. There are also quite functional bridges.
A billboard near the road offers not only to shoot from the bridge at living moving targets, but also to cross the river on a bungee.
It is not clear, though, whether it is necessary to shoot at those who decide to test the bungee, or there is a specially trained "target" for this purpose.
12. This or " girlish tears", or "male". There are two waterfalls, but I photographed only one. And I don’t remember which one :)
13. Blue lake. I don't think the name needs to be explained :)
14. No comment. As long as there are people taking pictures with exhausted and chipped wild animals and birds, this business will flourish. And animals die.
17. The road to the lake becomes very narrow in places, almost single-lane. On one side of the road a mountain rises, on the other side a cliff terrifies with its depth.
18. First snow! (for us - the first)))
19. It cost us a lot of work to persuade Nina to go further :)
20. A typical photograph of a tourist. The goal is to capture yourself against the backdrop of the beauties of nature.
22. Observation deck, popularly nicknamed "Farewell, Motherland!"
I don't know exactly why. Maybe because of the deepest cliff under it. Or maybe not..
23. View from the observation deck on the right:
24. And if you look to the left, then far, far below you will see the road along which we were driving. See vooooo there, in the lower right corner:
25. Lake Ritsa.
In sunny weather, the photos, of course, would have turned out better ... But there were almost no tourists - this is very pleasing :)
From Wikipedia:
It is located at an altitude of 950 m above sea level in the Bzyb river basin, in a deeply wooded gorge of the Lashpsy and Yupshara rivers, east of the Gagra Range. The mountains surrounding the lake have a height of 2200-3200 meters. Area - 1.27 km², length - 2.5 km, width - from 270 to 870 meters. Average depth is 63 m, the largest is 131 m.
26. And the lake was formed about 250 years ago. Young at all.
27. Finally snow! A lot of snow!
28. I also got it :)
29. The most popular mountain transport. The older the year of manufacture, the louder the engine roars.
30. We climbed a small hill near the lake, where the heartbreaking sounds of pop music were not heard.
The menus in the cafe are the same and do not shine with variety.
The food is harsh, as is life.
Hominy (porridge made from cornmeal with cheese), freshly caught trout cooked on a fire (overeating !!!), akud (a bean dish - I love it), strong tea with lemon and "mountain" (homemade, hard and salty) cheese.
31. Zhenya saw a cartridge case near the cafe in the snow.
From AK (correctly spelled?), as the local boy said. He said that you can negotiate with the owner of the cafe and shoot.
Yes, little has changed in Abkhazia.
32. On the way back. The lower we went down, the harder it rained.
Automobile tunnels, of course, are not lit. But the longest, as a rule, are with cut slits through which the sun's rays enter. Or they don’t get if the weather is cloudy :)
33. Ahead - the so-called "stone bag" - the road is clamped on both sides by the foothills of the mountains.
34. "Stone bag": the ride is both interesting and creepy.
35. Having gone down, under a downpour, we still looked at the ruins of the Bzyb temple of the 10th century. Cows grazed there, slowly crushing flowering daisies and dandelions with their hooves.
But that's another story - I'll show it in the next post.
Hopefully we'll see more snow this winter...
According to the Soviet past, we wanted authentic adventures. Having conveniently settled down in front of the tablet and having studied the trip plan, we realized that we had no options left at all. Fate itself beckoned to Lake Ritsa. We got together in less than fifteen minutes. A week before the trip to Abkhazia, I shoveled gigabytes of various rubbish, looking for reliable information about the lake. There are many different stories with a beard on the net. One weirdo even wrote that it gets very cold there in June and it would be better to take winter clothes with you.
The road to Lake Ritsa. Be extremely careful while driving. The road will not forgive a single mistake.
I must say right away that winter things were not useful to us. The heat was such that at least squeeze out a T-shirt! But first, we had to submit to the road to Lake Ritsa. Today I will not write a banter post. Everything will be serious. When you are driving along the coast and enjoying the dynamic picture outside the window, you can relax your rolls a little and soak up future memories, but when you turn into the mountains, you need to immediately switch the toggle switch to the “Maximum Attention” position. The road to Lake Ritsa will not forgive you a single small mistake.
At first, everything looks friendly: the holes are small, the roadside is rocky and safe, really lush vegetation and a mountain river with blue water. They say there is trout in it. But when you drive up to the barrier and pay three hundred and fifty rubles per person for entering national park, even the guards themselves will warn you and remind you about the position of the toggle switch. Once again - "Maximum Mindfulness". The higher up the mountains, the larger the pits become, the steeper the turns, and inside the mountain tunnels, the light at the end is not immediately visible. By the way, all these misunderstandings do not prevent local jigits from driving in the opposite direction with excess speed. They really don't care about their safety. It looks like yours doesn't care either.
The road to Lake Ritsa. The water in the mountain river is really blue. It has trout.
The curious head itself turns during the movement, because the views are simply mesmerizing. In some places you can see Switzerland, and in some places even Thailand is imagining. I have already seen similar rocky surfaces in the province of Krabi. The narrow road to Lake Ritsa is divided into two lanes - one in each direction. Overtaking is extremely dangerous. An ill-considered and unjustified risk with the prospect of gaining a few minutes can be costly. In some places along the roadside there are stone chippers overgrown with moss. Running into such a bump stop is not the best prospect. There is no need to drive there and nowhere. Lake Ritsa will not run away from you, even if you arrive at the place three minutes later. The road to Lake Ritsa is dangerous precisely because of its beauty. It is worth turning your head unsuccessfully and material damage is guaranteed at least. It is much more pleasant to keep the speed of no more than sixty kilometers, moving from waterfall to waterfall. Even in this mode, you will reach Lake Ritsa in about three hours. And look at everything along the way.
