Crimea, Abkhazia (???)

Wow! Sounds like an amazing summer! I really enjoyed the videos. It made me realize that I am almost completely ignorant about Crimea. I had no idea the coast was so beautiful. I will probably never go there — I certainly won’t go to Red Cave — alas, beyond my skill set — but I could manage Chersonese. Who knew there were Greek ruins in Crimea? I didn’t!

Thank you - even though the videos are not mine, I do think a well-done youtube video is worth more than a thousand words :-) – and a good way to highlight Crimea as a potential destination to visit (even if only vicariously).

I hear you on Red Cave - a couple of friends did the "extreme" tour recently, and even though it left them totally exctatic, they say it was quite trying physically (and they are both triathletes, so I'd take their word for it).

I only did a standard "visitor" route, less than an hour in full electric illumination and all, and while I really liked the cave, the tour itself was a very generic "speleo for dummies" spiel ("look at that stalagmite - we call it Santa Clause" kind of thing).

If you are into ruins, though - there are also ruins of Genoese fortresses from 14th century, when Kaffa/Caffa (Feodosiya) was one of the leading slave trade hubs for the region, with the Genoese and later Venetians pretty much monopolizing the "market".

https://youtu.be/KuBtqXoOWqw

There's also a good number of pre-Greek sites (scythian, taurian), but these are typically active archaeological excavation sites and not open to the general public. One exception I can think of is the Taurian staircase near the Golitsyn trail by Karaul-Oba (sorry, no video).

Again, wow! What an amazing fortress, talk about natural fortification with that cliff. My knowledge of history is limited to Western Civ in college and history I’ve picked up in reading and during travels. I have never been anywhere near the Black Sea. I love seeing ruins and I love hiking. Crimea sounds incredible. I just read up a little on Scythians and have never heard of Taurians. I probably won’t go that far off the beaten path, but it is fun to learn about places over the horizon.

I want to hear all about your trip when you get back. Thanks for the videos!

When you see the fortress in person, it still looks a little strange - cliffs and all, it doesn't seem to be equally well protected from the sea as it is from the surrounding terrain, the reason being that the harbor was supposed to be protected by the Genoese fleet, which was arguably the most powerful Black Sea navy at the time.

Just be careful that several insurance companies do not cover accidents or other incidents that happen there, due to the embargo under which the area is from many countries.

I'd venture a guess most Western insurers would not be willing to provide coverage in Crimea. And those who would, would probably not readily advertise it.

That said, since logistically the only feasible way to get there in the first place is via mainland Russia, one could purchase travel/medical insurance from one of the larger Russian companies. Historically, that was a very small market typically catering to foreign citizens interested in road trips and "extreme" tourism in the Caucasus, but I don't see why it couldn't be extended to Crimea visitors.

Another place very much worth a visit (and raising similar insurance concerns): Abkhazia.

Here's an English-language blog I came across recently: https://againstthecompass.com/en/travel-abkhazia/
Also lots of great travel info on Georgia and Central Asia (the "Stans") there.

Abkhazia — another place I will never visit but I enjoyed reading about it! I recently read a book by Peter Nasmyth about Georgia, pre and post independence, which included a visit to Abkhazia. Description was similar your link, but I hadn’t seen photos before! Beautiful!

Have you seen the movie “Tangerines”? It’s about two tangerine farmers who lived in an Estonian village in Abkhazia. All the villagers had returned to Estonia, except these two men. Of course, the conflict comes to their village. Very interesting film.

Yes, a very good film. Sad to learn the director and the actor playing Ivo are no longer with us.

I should have known you were very well informed about the film.