Mangup-Kale and travel to Kerch.
Mangup-Kale are ruins of a “cave city”, a very old (6th century to 18th century) fortress and city, featuring troglodytes. It’s on the top of a steep hill surrounded by cliffs.
I want to go there as early as possible in the morning, because of sun and heat. It is a complete failure: I mistake the bus station, then I mistake the bus departure time. Ternovka, the closest bus stop to Mangup-Kale, is only 30 km away from Sevastopol, but I spend five hours to get there :-( It’s noon when I arrive in Ternovka, the worst time I could imagine.
Anyway, my lucky star is back and I find a kind couple from Sevastopol, Antoneta and Yuri, who know the way up to Mangup-Kale.
We walk a few kilometers on the road, up to the lake at the bottom of Mangup-Kale. They decide to stop for a swim, so I go on by myself.
The path up to the plateau is very steep but nicely shaded by forest. I walk across a wonderful graveyard. Gravestones are carved in a mysterious alphabet.
On the plateau, there are bits of ramparts, ruins of churches, mosque and other buildings, and a dozen of troglodytes. It doesn’t really deserve the name of “cave city”. Most of troglodytes are small: one room accessible by a stairway from the top. Once again, the view on the valley is splendid.
The last troglodyte, at the end of the fourth “finger”, is a 3-façade palace with several large rooms.
I’m late for the 17:20 bus back to Sevastopol. Hitch-hiking on the road to Ternovka is uneffective. Finally, a peach producer gives me a lift – and a peach. But no bus comes. A babushka says “remont”: the bus has broken down somewhere. Next bus is at 19:00. Well, at least there will be another bus today :-)
An unexpected microbus shows up and drops me at the “Fifth kilometer”. Another microbus ride and I am in the main bus station, queueing for a ticket to Simferopol. The queue is long and slow; outside, an empty bus is about to leave for Simferopol. The exasperated driver pops in the hall and invites passengers to Simferopol to board without ticket. The ticket office clerks get upset at this questionning about their (un)efficiency. The whole scene is very funny, but at last common sense took the upper hand over paperwork.
In Simferopol, I get a train ticket to Kerch after only 30 minutes of queueing. Today, I rode 1 trolleybus, 2 buses, 2 microbuses and a train :-)
I am in a second-class compartment, with 4 bunk beds; in France, it would be a first class compartment. My compartment mates are a Belarussian-German couple and a nearly mute Russian. The Belarussian-German couple speaks English and is very friendly. Our conversation is a mix of English, German and Russian.
I don’t sleep well, because it’s too hot in the upper bed. I had slept better in third class...
I want to go there as early as possible in the morning, because of sun and heat. It is a complete failure: I mistake the bus station, then I mistake the bus departure time. Ternovka, the closest bus stop to Mangup-Kale, is only 30 km away from Sevastopol, but I spend five hours to get there :-( It’s noon when I arrive in Ternovka, the worst time I could imagine.
Anyway, my lucky star is back and I find a kind couple from Sevastopol, Antoneta and Yuri, who know the way up to Mangup-Kale.
We walk a few kilometers on the road, up to the lake at the bottom of Mangup-Kale. They decide to stop for a swim, so I go on by myself.
The path up to the plateau is very steep but nicely shaded by forest. I walk across a wonderful graveyard. Gravestones are carved in a mysterious alphabet.
On the plateau, there are bits of ramparts, ruins of churches, mosque and other buildings, and a dozen of troglodytes. It doesn’t really deserve the name of “cave city”. Most of troglodytes are small: one room accessible by a stairway from the top. Once again, the view on the valley is splendid.
The last troglodyte, at the end of the fourth “finger”, is a 3-façade palace with several large rooms.
I’m late for the 17:20 bus back to Sevastopol. Hitch-hiking on the road to Ternovka is uneffective. Finally, a peach producer gives me a lift – and a peach. But no bus comes. A babushka says “remont”: the bus has broken down somewhere. Next bus is at 19:00. Well, at least there will be another bus today :-)
An unexpected microbus shows up and drops me at the “Fifth kilometer”. Another microbus ride and I am in the main bus station, queueing for a ticket to Simferopol. The queue is long and slow; outside, an empty bus is about to leave for Simferopol. The exasperated driver pops in the hall and invites passengers to Simferopol to board without ticket. The ticket office clerks get upset at this questionning about their (un)efficiency. The whole scene is very funny, but at last common sense took the upper hand over paperwork.
In Simferopol, I get a train ticket to Kerch after only 30 minutes of queueing. Today, I rode 1 trolleybus, 2 buses, 2 microbuses and a train :-)
I am in a second-class compartment, with 4 bunk beds; in France, it would be a first class compartment. My compartment mates are a Belarussian-German couple and a nearly mute Russian. The Belarussian-German couple speaks English and is very friendly. Our conversation is a mix of English, German and Russian.
I don’t sleep well, because it’s too hot in the upper bed. I had slept better in third class...
posted by Juliette at 00:00
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