Wonderful land – Abkhazia
We arrived in Adler at 21:30 – the flight was not very convenient due to the late arrival time, but there was no other option. We decided to go straight to the border for customs control, then hire a car and go to the hotel (we had chosen the accommodation in advance, having called the hosts beforehand). However, an unpleasant surprise awaited us at the border: it turned out that at 23:00 the border closes until morning. We had to walk around until morning, and at 5:30 we finally entered Abkhazia. This was practically the only unpleasant incident during the entire trip.
Private taxis in Abkhazia are not a cheap pleasure. They asked us 1000 rubles for the ride to Gagra. However, we found an old Lada and a Caucasian guy drove us straight to the gates of our hotel for only 300 rubles. As you can see, it is worth bargaining with drivers; it is quite possible to bring down the price.
We found accommodation through the internet. We had arranged with the hosts in advance, as mentioned, and they were waiting for us. It was a pleasant surprise that we were immediately offered breakfast; everything was very tasty and free. After settling into our apartment (a large room, shower, toilet, sink, refrigerator, TV) costing 500 rubles per day, we headed straight to the beach.
By the way, initially we were considering choosing a boarding house in Gagra, but after comparing the conditions and prices, we realized that a private hotel was cheaper. A small surprise was the distance to the beach: the ad said a 2-minute walk, but in reality it was all of 10 minutes. But that didn't upset us much.
Throughout the entire vacation, the sea pleased us with its calmness and cleanliness. The beach is small, mostly pebbled, and, pleasantly, not crowded unlike, for example, Crimea. There is no beach equipment freely available; it is rented out. But lying on the warm pebbles is much more pleasant and also healthy. There are many cafes and bars on the beach; we especially liked how they prepare coffee in these establishments. I cannot say anything about the cost of food in cafes and restaurants, as we mainly ate at the hosts' place, paying 150 rubles per person per day.
During our two-week stay, we went on three excursions. We really liked the caves in New Athos, and the trip to Lake Ritsa was also impressive, namely the road through the mountains itself, very beautiful and unusual especially for people who have lived their whole lives in the city.
Evenings were mostly spent at home; we had a good company: a family from Saratov and two guys from Irkutsk. So the wine tasting was fun. Overall, we were satisfied with the trip, although the tourist infrastructure lags behind, for example, Sochi's, but everything is compensated by the beautiful nature and the friendliness of the hosts of this wonderful land.
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