Kingdom Beneath the Sea

The highest point on the coast is the Akhun Mountain, from which you are treated to a breathtaking panorama of the surrounding area. According to Greek mythol­ogy, Fisht, a lonely rock at the edge of the earth, was the rock to which Prometheus was chained. The beautiful Agura fed the hero and threw stones at the eagle which came to pick at Prometheus' liver. When she managed to hit the eagle, it flew into a rage, caught her in its claws and threw her into the abyss. The girl, it is said, turned into a river... And here you can swim in the clearest mountain water and breathe the freshest mountain air. Or you can go to the Vorontsovsky Caves, one of the largest underground labyrinths in the world at over 11 km long. Here, the air is sterile and ionized, stalactites shimmer mysteriously in the depths, and the tem­perature never rises above eleven degrees Celsius even in summer, so a trip to the caves can provide a welcome break from the scorching sun.

The Dragon's Mouth Cave is 1070 meters long. An under­ground river running along its base reaches the surface just beyond the cave. This type of spring water cave is relatively rare, and there are only five of them in the Sochi region. Where the river reaches the…..

There are dozens of Matsesta waterfalls to discover around and about the caves, and many of them are protect­ed as sites of outstanding natu­ral beauty Still having energy to spare, we decided to climb up to the highest of them, Bezymyannyi or The Name­less One — a name which is traditionally, if inexplicably, popular for waterfalls in this part of the world. The water descends from the dizzying height of 72 meters into a round basin, where it shatters into a multitude of sparkling droplets. A fairytale forest of alder, mountain maple and ash enclose the waterfall in their picturesque thickets.

Royal Leisure

A trip to the underground kingdom can leave you feeling a little peckish. On entering a fish restaurant we were somewhat taken aback to have a fishing rod thrust into our hands and to be told to go and catch our own dinner. Never­

theless we went to try our luck and, surprisingly, we did manage to catch several large trouts. Our catch was baked in foil with vegetables and served with cold beer, for the very reasonable price of just 5-7 dollars for a dish.

For those who don't like fish, there are many restau­rants that will gladly open their doors to foodies and plain hungry tourists, and you can sample a variety of dishes from Russia and Georgia, as well as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia, with names that sound like incantations: khashlama, dolma, matsun, ekka, tursha, to name but a few.

In all this glut of dining op­portunities be sure to visit the

Royal Hunting House where Emperor Nicholas II vis­ited the famous ballet dancer Kshesinskaya, and climb the park steps to the lookout point to make a wish in the magical summer house. Your wish may just come true...

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