We are lucky to live in very big country with a huge variety of different areas and landscapes. Although we are locals we still don’t know all places and every year we explore something new. One of the insights of this year are the Caucasus Mountains, which are located between the Black and Caspian Seas. It’s here located the Elbrus Mountain, highest in Europe. Here there are Dombay, Arkhyz, Aibga and many other beautiful peaks.
This year we did three tours to Elbrus and in this article we want to tell you a little more about one of these rides. It was in September and we had a group of friends from Indonesia. Good riders and just cool guys with great sense of humor.
We started our tour in Moscow with a city tour and after headed to the south. With plenty of stops in different towns and cities we arrived to the Dombay (one of the peaks) in a few days. Ride during first days was mostly straight and flat and guys even got a bit upset. But you know, Russia is very bug country and sometimes to reach interesting serpentine road/picturesque spot you must first pass pretty solid distance. In our case we had to ride for approx. 1500 km to reach Dombay.
But that doesn’t mean we ride with highway, its just a journey through agricultural regions with many fields and forests, towns and villages, lakes and rivers. No seprentines, but still you see the country.
As we were moving to the South landscape was changing, with more steppes appearing. On the third day we reach Dombay, winter ski resort with fascinating mountains around. We stayed in the previous USSR Gorbachev Dacha (residence) that became a hotel just two years ago. With a group on 10 people we just booked the whole building. After dinner with traditional local food, and here its lamb mostly, in BBQ, soups, pancakes, and red wine we went for rest.
Next day we traveled around the venue with bikes in the morning and had a Russian sauna in the evening, with steam and stick master doing everything according to traditions that were preserved since medieval times.
On the fifth day we headed to Elbrus Mountain, its located approx 300 km from Dombay. Once again picturesque road, no cars, friendly local people. We stopped by our friend Ruslan who lives in a small village for lunch and just to see how local people live there. All his family came to welcome us.
In the evening we arrived to Elbrus, hotel is located at 2350 meters and the highest place you can reach with the cabin is 3850, from where you can go further up with the snowmobile, to 4500 meters.
Once again in the evening was a dinner with local food and next day we went to the peak. High altitude is not comfortable for most people, as there is not enough oxygen in the air, so most people get tired quickly, after making even short 150-200 meters walk. So when we reached highest point with the cabin we made some photos and after sat on the open terrace of the local café to drink local herbal tea, enjoy fascinating views, listen to music (we had Bluetooth speaker with us). Time passed quickly and in few hours we went down to the hotel.
During next several days we had road to Sochi. City was rebuilt and significantly reconstructed for the 2014 Olympic games and today its one of the most beautiful places in Russia. Its main disadvantage now is that last 300 km road to Sochi is narrow and always loaded with cars. But once you pass this 300 km you can visit a lot of great places in the area around, old towers, castles, tea farms, waterfalls, plus numerous restaurants, souvenir shops with local handmade food, clothes, etc. Our group was more interested in visiting Sochi city, buying souvenirs, shopping, etc., so next day after we arrived we went with speed train to Sochi. In the evening we had a farewell dinner in the cozy restaurant.
Below are some photos from this tour, that can at least partially show you what places we visited. There are few more mountains located in Russia, but all the rest are in Siberia and in one of the next articles we will tell you more about them as well.
If you want to ride with us please write us at info@rusmototravel.com or simply choice tour you want and send booking request (Book Now button in the Tour description).
Thank you for attention. Ride safe and see you in Russia
