A Toast to the Caucasus

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The best thing about working on Russian deals is making friends who are willing to show me around their beautiful and fascinating country. Trips to Moscow and St. Petersburg were a great start but last weekend we went further off the beaten path to visit the relatives of a friend in the remote Caucasus Mountains, as far west and south as you can go in Russia before reaching Chechnya and the Georgian border.

We flew from Moscow to Mineralnye Vody (literally, "Mineral Water") which is adjacent to the town of Kislovodsk whose claims to fame are mud spas, hot springs and natural healing waters. For centuries people have been coming to Kislovodsk (which translates as "Sour Water") to drink its sulfuric waters (bottled by the Narzan company) in the hope of curing a variety of ailments. In the 19th century, the area's spas drew Russia's upper crust including writer Alexander Pushkin; in the 1920's, its famous healing waters were shipped to an ailing Lenin in the final years of his life; and after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, victims were sent to Kislovodsk for the "Narzan treatment" which was believed to help wash out radionuclides.

The day we arrived was "Russian Day" (on 12 June 1990 Russia declared its independence from the crumbling Soviet Union) and the little city was hosting a patriotic celebration complete with balloons and musical entertainment. On this long holiday weekend the Russian tourists and local townspeople (and our motley crew of Muscovites, Brits and Americans) were out in force sampling the sour healing waters in the water tasting hall and strolling through the large public park just north of the town center.


We had a fun day in Kislovodsk but kept our eyes on the prize - forty miles south in the western Caucasus close to the Georgian border lies Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia (and in Europe for that matter). The majestic Elbrus is actually a volcano that has been dormant for 2,000 years and is comprised of two peaks measuring 5,642 meters (18,510 ft) and 5,621 meters (18,442 ft) in height. Despite the relatively short distance, the trip south from Kislovodsk to the Prielbrusie region took us about four hours in two different vans (the first one broke down and we had to flag down a second one which made room for us in the back amidst boxes of groceries and other provisions). On the way, we passed through the "abandoned" mining town of Tyrnyauz which was all but wiped out by a massive flood and mudslide in 2001 but has been slowly rebuilding itself since 2004.

We finally reached our destination, a little ski town about ten minutes from the base of Mt. Elbrus, and checked into a cute mountain lodge for the night. There were a few other hotels in town but ours was the nicest looking by far. Otherwise, the town did not have a lot in the way of typical ski-resort infrastructure and amenities. There were a few cafés (all serving the same selection of grilled meats and cheese pies) and some market stalls where local women sold hats made of sheepskin (of course I bought one) and hand-knitted sweaters, and that was about it. 'Quaint' isn't quite the correct term....it was giving off a bit of the "abandoned mining town" aesthetic itself. But perhaps that's too harsh - it was the low summer season after all - it's probably quite pretty covered in a blanket of winter snow.

Speaking of snow, we found plenty of it on Sunday when we took two cable cars up to about 4,000 meters on Mt. Elbrus. There were plenty of skiers and snowboarders up there who were undeterred by the gathering storm clouds which prevented us from going any higher (the lift operators shut down the single-person chairlift which would have taken us to the next stage). Nevertheless, the views were spectacular and the air impossibly fresh and we were wishing we had our ski gear with us!

Caucasian Hospitality

Traditional Cuisine:

The first rule of Caucasian hospitality is to keep the table full of food for as long as possible. As a result we were very well fed on local delicacies such as:

• cow's tongue with horseradish
  
• khachapuri - delicious Georgian cheese pies
  
• shashlik - shish kebab, generally lamb
  
• khichini - layers of potato pancake and cheese
  

Toasting:

I had become familiar with the Russian tradition of toasting (to thank the host, to welcome everyone, to health, friendship, family, etc.) throughout a meal in Moscow and the only difference in the Caucasus was that half of the table chose to toast with vodka and the other half with locally produced cognac. In addition to keeping the table heaped with food, they never let your toasting glass stay empty for long.

Dancing:

One of the friends we met in Kislovodsk has a 13 year old son who happens to be an expert in traditional regional dances. After dinner one night he treated us to a demonstration of "Lezginka". He moved quickly and skillfully around the floor, imitating an eagle by dancing in quick, concise steps, waving his arms, falling to his knees and leaping up quickly. His partner (often his mother) danced quietly beside him but not touching him, taking light, small steps with her arms outstretched, giving the appearance of floating around the dance floor. Other diners got into the act as well and pretty soon three or four Caucasian men were flapping and prancing around the dance floor vying for the women's attention. A fantastic display! Of course we toasted the young lad's efforts when we got back to the table.

Later that night, the folk dancing gave way to more modern dancing (it's all relative) at the "Palace of Culture", one of three night clubs in Kislovodsk. A family run establishment with dad bouncing the door, mom working the ticket window and daughter serving the drinks, the club is housed in a former ministry of culture building left over from the Soviet era.

Time Warp

After leaving the bright lights of Moscow, arriving in the Caucasus felt like entering a time warp in many ways.

• the buildings and towns had a very Soviet feel to them
  
• my friends saw types of ice cream and biscuits that haven't been sold in Moscow since the Soviet days of their childhood
  
• the selection in the convenience store-sized grocery stores and roadside restaurants was sparse. In a row of cafés near the airport, for example, a waitress from one establishment begged us to come in and once we'd agreed and sat down informed us they were out of everything on the menu except for one kind of beer and some stale cookies. Oh, and then she made us pay 10 rubles each to use the toilet facilities.
  

Transport

On this trip, much of the adventure was in getting there and back.

Mineralnye Vody Airport:

There's a large map of the Soviet Union on the wall behind the check-in counter and vendors sell Caucasian swords and daggers in the departure lounge. A friend of mine had a swiss army knife and a flask full of whisky in his carry-on. They noted the items and waved him through security. We were lucky there was an air conditioned waiting area - I got the impression that was a recent addition as it was clumsily separated from the check-in area by a concrete alleyway (which doubles as the smoking lounge).


Flights:

Our small Aeroflot planes had seats that collapsed in on themselves with a gentle nudge and the bathrooms gave off the most unpleasant and powerful odor (we had been told to request seats in the front of the plane but were unfortunately in the next to last row every time). Our other friends' flight back to Moscow was even worse - they boarded before us but were made to sit on the tarmac in their stiflingly hot plane for an hour after we took off. Worse still, the flight had been overbooked so the last three unlucky passengers to board were made to stand in the back of the plane for the entire flight! I guess on balance it was a better option than waiting in Mineralnye Vody airport for 24 hours until the next flight.

Driving:

We had rented a van and driver for the weekend to ferry us around Kislovodsk, take us to Mt. Elbrus and get us back and forth to the airport. Unfortunately our driver was new to the area and did not even know where Kislovodsk was when he picked us up on the first day. Troubling. Then, his van (which was quite comfortable for all 10 of us despite the lack of air conditioning) broke down on the highway and we were very lucky another van drove by and agreed to take us the rest of the way. Unfortunately the new van our driver came up with the next day to take us the 5 hours back to the airport was not quite so roomy. Oh, and he chain-smoked the entire way.


Road Blocks:

Luckily we were only stopped by the police a few times and were only asked for our passports and papers once. The Russian police with their beat up AK-47s were menacing looking but ultimately left us alone. The other kind of road block was more comical - there were herds of cattle aimlessly wondering across the mountain roads which we had to stop for time and again.

Thank you Anoush and Nick for planning a wonderful trip! Hope to see team "Caucasian Invasion" again soon!

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