To Lake Ritsa in winter by car: the impossible is possible... Abkhazia. “Stone Bag” - a gorge in the Yupshar Canyon Who built the road to Lake Ritsa

Small and proud Abkhazia is a small republic on the Black Sea coast. The Sunny Region invites those who wish not only to relax, but also to take exciting trips around the republic. One of the most attractive places for tourists is Lake Ritsa. The path to it lies through the “Stone Bag” gorge in Abkhazia. This is the second name of the Yupshar Canyon - a place where the mountains surprise with their beauty and grandeur.

Natural attraction on the way to Ritsa

For those who make excursions in the Republic of Abkhazia, “Stone Bag” may seem like a strange name, but when you get closer to the place, you can understand its origin. The gorge is a section of road sandwiched between rocks. Its length is 8 km, and the distance between the rocks on this section of the path varies from 20 to 30 meters. The height of the mountains reaches 500 meters. People are breathtaking from the beauty of the “Stone Bag”, but at the same time a person feels like just a grain of sand among the stone greatness. In some places there are rocks overhanging the road. The narrowest section at the exit from the gorge is called the Yupshar Gate. The span between the rocks here is only 20 meters, so you get the feeling that you are about to find yourself in a real bag of stones.

The mountain slopes are covered with perennial boxwoods, reddish moss and lichens, and in some places there are lianas. Light penetrates into the gorge for only 2-3 hours a day; the rest of the day, twilight and coolness reign here. The Yupshara River flows along the bottom of the “Stone Bag” gorge of the Republic of Abkhazia with surprisingly clear water. It flows from Lake Ritsa, along the way it absorbs the waters of the Gega River, and then flows into Bzyb. Not far from the Yupsharsky gorge, the Gega flows through a karst gorge and forms in which the height of the falling stream is about 70 meters.

Observation deck with the sad name “Farewell, Motherland”

One of I. Stalin’s dachas was located on Lake Ritsa. From documents preserved in the archives of the FSB of Russia, it is known that in the period from 1933 to 1939, the head of state made several trips to the lake for recreation. During the Patriotic War in 1942, the steep walls of the “Stone Bag” gorge of the Republic of Abkhazia were mined using boreholes. Mining work was carried out by an engineering platoon of internal troops of the Sukhumi division. This was done in order to block the road to Lake Ritsa and the village of Bzybta, which is located next to it, in case German troops managed to break through from the Sancharsky pass.

After the retreat of the Nazi army in 1943, the gorge was cleared of mines. This fact is not very well known, but, according to one version, a bus with Soviet soldiers serving a section of the road in the Yupshar Gorge fell off a narrow road, on one side of which there is a high cliff, and on the other there is a bottomless abyss. Now there is an observation deck with the sad name “Farewell, Motherland”. It offers a beautiful panorama of the surrounding mountains.

Kissing Stone

At the entrance to the gorge (Abkhazia, “Stone Bag”) lies a huge stone, which is called the Stone of Kisses. It is very difficult to climb, but according to local legend, a couple who climbs on it and kisses will be happy for the rest of their lives. Many tourists take pictures against the background of the stone. Next to it there is a parking lot with retail outlets and a large number of stuffed animals, and there are also potted palm trees. The enterprising local population offers to take a souvenir photo in the national costume of a highlander with a dagger, an old pistol or a saber.

The Legend of the Maiden's Tears Waterfall

In addition to the Gegsky cascade, there are 4 more waterfalls on the road leading to the Yupshar Gorge. The most popular waterfalls among tourists are Maiden's Tears and Men's Tears.

Stretched for several meters. It can hardly be called a waterfall, because it is a karst crevice located high above the road, from which water flows in small streams. As you approach it, your attention is drawn to a rock with special ropes stretched along it. On these ropes and on tree branches, tourists attach colored bows and make their cherished wishes.

The Maiden's Tears waterfall is located before the entrance to the Stone Bag gorge (Abkhazia). Legend says that a long time ago, a beautiful girl Amra lived in the mountains. She herded goats, sang songs, and the young man Adgur fell in love with her. The evil witch was jealous of the lovers and wanted to kill the girl. She decided to throw her off a high cliff, the girl began to cry and began to call Adgur for help, but he did not hear her screams. But the God of Water heard them. He decided to save the girl and turned the witch into stone. Together with the witch, the girl also became a stone. Since then, from the place where Amra cried, the beauty’s tears have flowed down in drops.

Waterfall Men's tears

Behind the “Stone Bag” gorge, Abkhazia (photo in the article), you can see the Man’s Tears waterfall. A stream of water flows from the mountains, splashes from the waterfall fall directly on the road.

A legend links the two waterfalls together. The distance between the water cascades is 20 km. According to legend, the young man Adgur was hunting high in the mountains and did not hear the cries of his beloved, but in his heart he understood that trouble had come. He realized that he could not help the girl, and the man's tears fell to the ground. When he learned of her fate, a waterfall formed in the place where his tear fell, called Men's Tears. At its foot there are souvenir tents, and tourists tie colorful ribbons to the trees.

Preface. Both my husband and I, returning from this breathtakingly beautiful trip, were disappointed by the photographs. Maybe this was due to my inability to frame the 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 creaking of centuries-old trees, the noise of a stormy mountain river; the eyes sometimes cannot believe what they see - the mountains are so beautiful and we are insignificant compared to them; At the same time, you inhale air filled to the brim with oxygen and the smell of fresh water, snow, fallen leaves, moisture...
But what happened was what happened. I hope you will enjoy.

1. Starting point. Hotel "Alex" in Gagra. Nice rooms, outdoor pool. The sauna and indoor small pool are very popular among local horsemen. Apparently there are no alternatives.
The downside is that the indoor pool smells of smoke and beer (although this can be attributed to my overly 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 noise of the river :) While I was running after the TV, 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 had not been used for a long time, hidden from human eyes behind dense thickets of bushes and trees.

7. Everything is covered with mold and gives the feeling of a catastrophe that happened a long time ago.

9. Stop. It seems that they sometimes use it, judging by the garbage bag carefully placed in the trash can.

10. Trees... You can look at them endlessly - huge, having lost their leaves, covered with ever-green moss, they sleep, waiting for spring.

11. There are also quite functional bridges.
A billboard near the road offers not only shooting from the bridge at living moving targets, but also crossing the river on a bungee.
It is not clear whether it is necessary to shoot at those who decided to try the bungee, or whether there is a specially trained “target” for these purposes.

12. These are either “girlish tears” or “manly tears”. There are two waterfalls, but I only photographed one. And I don’t remember which one :)

13. Blue Lake. I think there is no need to explain the name :)

14. No comments. As long as there are people taking pictures with exhausted and wounded wild animals and birds, this business will flourish. And the animals die.

17. The road to the lake becomes very narrow in places, almost single-lane. On one side of the road there is a towering mountain, on the other side there is a terrifying cliff with its depth.

18. First snow! (for us - the first)))

19. It took a lot of effort for us to persuade Nina to go further:)

20. A typical tourist photo. The goal is to capture yourself against the backdrop of the beauty of nature.

22. Observation deck, popularly nicknamed “Farewell, Motherland!”
I don't know exactly why. Maybe because there is a deep cliff underneath 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. You see whooooo there in the lower right corner:

25. Lake Ritsa.
In sunny weather, the photos would, of course, have turned out better... But there were almost no tourists - this is very pleasing:)
From Wikipedia:
Located at an altitude of 950 m above sea level in the Bzyb River basin, in the deeply forested gorge of the Lashpsa and Yupshara rivers, east of the Gagra ridge. 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. The average depth is 63 m, the greatest is 131 m.

26. And the lake was formed about 250 years ago. Very young.

27. Finally snow! A lot of snow!

28. I got it too :)

29. The most popular mountain transport. The older the year of manufacture, the more deafening the engine roars.

30. We climbed a small hill near the lake, where the heartbreaking sounds of pop music could not be heard.
The menus in the cafes are the same and lack variety.
The food is harsh, as is life.
Mamalyga (porridge made from corn flour with cheese), freshly caught trout cooked over a fire (delicious!!!), akud (a bean dish - I love it), strong tea with lemon and “mountain” (homemade, hard and salty) cheese.

31. Near the cafe in the snow, Zhenya saw a shell casing.
From AK (spelled correctly?), as a local boy said. He said that we could negotiate with the owner of the cafe and shoot.
Yes, little is changing in Abkhazia.

32. On the way back. The lower we went, the harder it rained.
Car tunnels, of course, are not illuminated. But the longest ones, as a rule, are those with cut holes through which the sun's rays enter. Or they don’t get there if the weather is cloudy :)

33. Ahead is the so-called “stone bag” - the road is sandwiched on both sides by the foothills of the mountains.

34. “Stone Bag”: the ride is both interesting and creepy.

35. Having gone down, in the downpour, we still looked at the ruins of the Bzyb temple of the 10th century. Cows grazed there, slowly crushing blooming daisies and dandelions with their hooves.
But that's another story - I'll show it in the next post.
I would like to hope that we will still see snow this winter...

The road to Ritsa is beautiful in itself, regardless of the presence of a lake at the end. It passes through a picturesque gorge along mountain rivers, and the landscapes encountered along the way forced us to stop many times for photographs. The road was built in 1936, otherwise we would have had to get to Ritsa along goat paths and shepherd crossings. Now the importance of this route for Abkhazia is difficult to overestimate - during the season tourists are taken to the lake in droves. And this is justified - there is something to look at, there is something 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 there are many bridges and footbridges. This is the largest bridge. The photo was taken from the Bzyb fortress temple, where we are.

But we don't need to cross the bridge. We'll go on this side. Do you see how the mountains meet on the left? Here we go.

Having driven a little towards that very convergence of mountains, we stopped again. What we were unlucky with was the sky. It was cloudy gray, which did not have a good effect on the quality of the photographs.

This is still the same Bzyb River.

Then we stopped at the Maiden's Tears waterfall, ruined by a bunch of ribbons. Well, citizens, if you have an unbearable desire to tie ribbons somewhere, then tie it, for example, to your own ear. Will it be beautiful? Hardly. So why spoil nature?

It's not dripping much here. Really tears.

And again views of Bzyb.

There is also a neat bridge across the river.

A little later another bridge. Decorated like a Christmas tree.

After another 5 minutes I came across this tower, but I don’t know where it came from or why. If you know, please enter me too.

Next stop in 3 minutes. I went out to take pictures of the river.

Of course, I don’t remember how long after we stopped there. I'm just looking at the time of the photos. This one is in 3 more minutes.

A couple of minutes later we saw a bridge. The boards on it have already partially fallen off and there is a good prospect of falling into the river.

When the sky is not visible, the photos turn out normal)

This is the Yupshar Canyon. The gorge is narrower. At its narrowest point its width is only 20 meters. 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 falls from them.

And this falls.

To better understand the size of the boulder, I drove my wife onto it. I’m not being cruel, on the other side, someone enterprisingly added steps and hung a sign “50 rubles per photo.” But we don’t know who should send the money.

This is probably the bottleneck.

Another waterfall. Probably someone else's 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’ll tell you about Lake Ritsa itself separately.

Due to the Soviet past, we wanted authentic adventures. Sitting comfortably in front of the tablet and studying the trip plan, we realized that we had no options left at all. Fate itself beckoned to Lake Ritsa. We got ready in less than fifteen minutes. A week before my trip to Abkhazia, I shoveled through gigabytes of various rubbish, looking for reliable information about the lake. There are many different beard stories online. One weirdo even wrote that in June it can be very cold there and it would be better to take winter clothes with you.

Road to Lake Ritsa. Be extremely careful while driving. The road will not forgive a single mistake.

I’ll say right away that winter clothes were not useful to us. The heat was so hot that you could even wring out your T-shirt! But first we had to conquer the road to Lake Ritsa. Today I will not write a banter post. Everything will be serious. When you are driving along the shore and enjoying the dynamic picture outside the window, you can relax your buns a little and absorb future memories into your subcortex, 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 even 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 are trout in it. But when you approach the barrier and pay three hundred and fifty rubles per person to enter the national park, even the guards themselves will warn you and remind you of the position of the toggle switch. Once again - “Maximum Attention”. The higher you go into the mountains, the larger the holes become, the sharper 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 horsemen from driving in the oncoming traffic at excessive speed. They really don't care about their safety. It looks like yours doesn't care either.

Road to Lake Ritsa. The water in the mountain river is really blue. It is home to trout.

The curious head turns itself while moving, because the views are simply mesmerizing. In some places you can see Switzerland, and in some places you can even see Thailand. I have already seen similar rocky surfaces in Krabi province. The narrow road to Lake Ritsa is divided into two rows - one in each direction. Overtaking is extremely dangerous. Taking a thoughtless and unjustified risk with the prospect of gaining a few minutes can be costly. In some places along the side of the road there are stone barriers covered with moss. Running into such a bumper is not the best prospect. There is no need to drive there and there is nowhere to go. 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. If you turn your head incorrectly, at least material damage is guaranteed. It is much more pleasant to maintain a speed of no more than sixty kilometers, moving from waterfall to waterfall. Even in this mode, you will reach Lake Ritsa in three hours. And look at everything along the way.

Everyone who has ever been to Abkhazia knows about its pearl - . But today I want to talk about the sights that you can see on the way to the lake.

The road to Lake Ritsa begins from the so-called Ritsinsky turn, 15 km from Gagra. The road, about 40 km long, runs along the Bzyb River. It is completely paved and can be easily driven by a car. There is no public transport on this route, only taxis.

Wine cellar in Abkhazia

Wine tasting in Abkhazia is not uncommon, but it is on the popular Ritsin route that the largest number of Abkhaz wine cellars are concentrated. As a rule, these cellars are named after the family of the winemaker.

Of all, I liked the wine cellar of the Ashuba family the most. I definitely recommend trying Alexander’s wine, named after the youngest granddaughter of the head of the family.

Buying wine on tap or in sealed bottles is everyone’s business. But, I want to note that it is not always possible to bring bottled wine to your home. It may turn sour or spoil.

Honey yard in Abkhazia

The next stop on the way to Lake Ritsa is Honey Yard. Just like wine cellars, there are several honey yards here.

They will give you a short tour, tell you about bees and let you try local products (which includes not only honey, royal jelly and honeycomb, but also chacha and mead). Also here they often demonstrate the “plate trick”, the so-called “genetic code of honey”. I won’t tell you its essence - it’s better to see it in reality.

I can’t say anything about the quality of honey at the Honey Yard - I’ve never purchased it. But, in my opinion, it is better to purchase such products not on popular tourist routes, but from local residents. I can recommend a family that has been making honey for several years and has their own apiary in the mountains.

Waterfall Maiden's Tears in Abkhazia

The next stop on the route to Lake Ritsa is the Maiden’s Tears waterfall. It is impossible to drive past without noticing it. From a distance you can see a rock mottled with multi-colored ribbons from which small streams of crystal clear water flow.

It’s difficult to call it a waterfall in the usual sense. Mountain waters from alpine meadows make their way through the rocks, forming thin streams of water that look like tears. In summer, the waterfall becomes completely dry - you can see rare drops that, shimmering in the sun, form a rainbow.

A beautiful but sad legend is associated with the waterfall.

Once upon a time, a young shepherdess girl named Amra was in love with the mountain spirit Adgur. The Evil Witch was jealous of the pure love of young people, lured the girl onto a rock and over the cliff demanded her to give up her love. Amra called Adgur for help, but he was too far away and did not hear the cries of his beloved. Then the Witch threw the girl off the cliff, and since then her tears have been dripping in that place: as a sign of strong and tragic love.

In addition, it is believed that if you tie a ribbon here and make a wish, it will definitely come true. Ribbons can be purchased here, from local merchants. Whether the wish will come true or not depends only on the faith of the person making the wish.

They also say: if an unmarried girl washes herself with water from a waterfall, then there will be a wedding soon.

I washed my face. The wedding took place three months later - although not mine.))

Suspension bridge over the Bzyb River, Abkhazia

Near the Maiden's Tears waterfall there is another attraction - a suspension bridge over the Bzyb River.

Bzyb is a mountain river in Abkhazia, about 110 km long. The suspension bridge has a rather flimsy appearance and causes concern among many tourists. However, this is in vain: it is built of metal and boards, and is very strong. You can take wonderful romantic photos on the bridge.

There is also a hanging bungee over the river.

Immediately after entering the territory of the Ritsinsky Nature Reserve (at the checkpoint you will need to pay an environmental fee - 350 rubles), you approach the Blue Lake.

This lake of karst origin has become famous for its unusual blue color, regardless of the time of year and weather conditions. The area of ​​the lake is 180 square meters, the water temperature here is constantly maintained around 9 degrees. Scientists and local residents often argue about the depth of the lake. The figures vary, from 40 to 70 meters - and many even believe that the lake is bottomless.

As with other natural attractions, a folk legend is associated with Blue Lake in Abkhazia.

Once upon a time, a wise old man with a long white beard and sky-blue eyes lived on the site of the lake. And everyone who came to him was greeted with the hospitality inherent in Abkhazia. In gratitude for the advice and lodging for the night, people brought the old man gifts of meat and skins of killed animals. One day, strangers came to the elder. He met them, fed them and put them to bed for the night. The wanderers were jealous of the wealth of the old man’s skins and killed him for profit. When they began to collect the loot, streams of water suddenly fell from everywhere and flooded the cave. And somewhere at the bottom of the blue lake lies a murdered old man and illuminates the lake with the color of his eyes.

The area around the lake is landscaped for tourists: there is a small market with homemade wine, souvenirs and other products. Various statues, information signs. And Abkhaz “entrepreneurs” will be happy to invite you to take memorable photographs with animals and in national clothes.

Yupshar Canyon or stone bag

The Yupshar Canyon in Abkhazia is another famous natural attraction. The canyon got its name in honor of the Yupshara River, which flows nearby. The Yupshar Gorge was formed in ancient times: during earthquakes, the rock cracked, forming a narrow passage. The length of the canyon is about 8 km, but what attracts tourists most of all is the place called the Yupshar Gate or the Stone Bag.

A small section of the canyon where the rocks approach each other at a distance of 20 meters. Only a narrow strip of sky is visible from below, and even in July the sun's rays do not reach the bottom of the canyon (hence the name “Stone Bag”). Due to the shade and cool slopes of the mountains in this place, they are overgrown with boxwoods and moss, which gives the canyon even more charm. We will make a stop at the waterfall of Men's Tears. Cascades of water begin their fall from the cliff so high that if you stand under the waterfall, it is impossible to see its beginning.

According to legend, after the death of Amra, Adgur cried with grief - and in the place where his tears fell, the waterfall of Men's Tears was formed.

It is also customary here to tie ribbons for love and good luck. Near the waterfall there is a bridge from which you can reach the streams of water.

Cliff and observation deck “Farewell, Motherland”

The road to Lake Ritsa in this place is very narrow, on one side there are high cliffs, and on the other there is the famous “Farewell, Motherland” cliff. The height of the cliff is about 300 meters. There is also an observation deck of the same name, which is a small platform.

Many legends are associated with the origin of the name of this place.

According to one version, a bus with captured Germans who were building the road to Ritsa fell off this cliff. And one of the prisoners of war managed to shout “Farewell, Motherland.”

This legend seems implausible to me. After all, no matter how beautiful Abkhazia was, it was not the homeland for captured Germans. According to another version, a bus with military personnel, which was driving away from shelling at night, fell off this cliff. Whether all this is true or not, no one knows. But we can definitely say that the view from the cliff “farewell, Motherland” is mesmerizing. However, recently, fewer and fewer tour buses stop at this place due to safety concerns and careless tourists.

Bird's Beak Waterfall

The last attraction for today on the territory of the Ritsinsky National Park is the Bird's Beak waterfall. It is located just above Lake Ritsa and, as a rule, is not included in the excursion tour to the lake itself. If you wish, you can climb to it from the lake yourself.

The water here is clean, potable and with little mineralization. Many tourists put it in bottles. Next to the waterfall there is a small observation deck, which offers a gorgeous view of Lake Ritsa.

The road to Lake Ritsa and the sights of the Ritsa Nature Reserve on the map of Abkhazia

Below you will find a map and the road to Lake Ritsa, starting from the Ritsa turn, as well as all the attractions that we talked about in today’s article.

I would like to remind you that all the attractions, starting with Blue Lake, are located on the territory of the Ritsinsky National Park, entry into the territory is paid - 350 rubles. If you are traveling on a tour, the entrance ticket is usually included in the price.

You can purchase an excursion to Lake Ritsa

We will talk about other places near Lake Ritsa (Geksky waterfall, Molochny waterfall, Stalin's dacha) separately in the following articles.