Kaukaz.net - Caucasus - People, Culture, Research

Karachay-Cherkessia

Karachay–Cherkessia is an autonomous republic situated in the western part of the Russian North Caucasus. Its northern part inhabited by the Russian, Cherkess and Nogai people is as flat as a table. In the southern part inhabited by the Turkic-speaking Karachays stretch beautiful mountains which separate the republic from Abkhazia.

The Sophia mount is one of the highest peaks in this part of the Caucasus. At its base lies the magnificent Sophia glacier.

Karachay-Cherkessia, especially the villages of Arkhyz, Dombay and Teberda, are frequently visited by Russian tourists and mountaineers. Trekking and horse rides in mountain valleys are popular activities. It is suprising that foreign hikers still haven’t discovered the place.

On our way to the Sophia glacier we met a local djigit Magomed. He goes high into the mountains every day to look after the flocks of sheep grazed by the hired shepherds (chabans)

Magomed is writing an SMS, probably to one of his girlfriends. He claimed to have one in almost every Karachay village.

When Magomed gets angry or drinks too much vodka, as was the case here, it is better to get out of his way. He learnt to ride a horse in Kyrgyzstan, where his family had been deported in 1943, like all other Karachays. He returned to his native Caucasus mountains only a few years ago.

Snow-capped summits near Dombay – a great place to set off trekking.

Caucasian rhododendrons growing on the glacier.

The Chuchkhur waterfalls.

The Mussa-Achitara ridge.

At the end of June, the trails of the Caucasus are still almost completely empty.

Close encounters of the third kind:-)

Christian churches in Nizhny Arkhyz. The kingdom of Alanya occupied the western part of the North Caucasus in the Middle Ages. Its inhabitants were converted to Christianity by Byzantine monks.