Abkhazia

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July 4–6, 2008

You fly to Sochi, take a taxi “to the border,” and then cross the border without any issues half an hour later.

Unlimited

Then you need to catch a second taxi. The other option is to come in by rail: from time to time, four train cars travel here from Sochi after being uncoupled from the Moscow train.

I’d been here several times before as a kid. Back then, no one ever called it “Abkhazia,” they called it “going to the south.” The region has become a somewhat less dazzling resort destination since those days.

Turn off brights!

Gagra

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A rather provincial place.

Gagra is our city.

The town has exactly one traffic light, and even that’s out of order.

Pitsunda

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This isn’t even a town—it’s just a waterfront with health resorts. Back in Soviet times, it used to be incredibly difficult to secure a spot at a resort here. You had to be the director of a good meat shop, at the very least.

Visit Pitsunda

Gudauta

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A typical Abkhazian dumpster. You see them all over the country.

Household waste

The town is right on the seashore, but no one seems terribly excited by this fact.

CAFEBYTHESEA

A local store displays its merchandise as though this was still the last century.

A sign at the barbershop advocates standing firm to the end.

Stand firm to the end

There was a war in Abkhazia 15 years ago, and no one can forget it for a second to this day. People talk about the war morning, day and night.

They treat it the same way as the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.

Freestyle wrestlers killed in the Abkhazian Patriotic War of 1992–1993

Sukhumi

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The entire canon of Soviet military-patriotic rhetoric has been successfully adapted to local conditions.

Glory to the Victor People!

Yes, there was a war.

Hotel Abkhazia Restaurant

Yes, buildings were destroyed.

Yes, everything turned to chaos.

But that was all 15 years ago. Abkhazians are in no rush to rebuild the country. It’s like they prefer to live in ruins, waiting for someone else to come along and for everything to just rebuild itself, like in the old days.

Groceries

It’s interesting that Russian speakers now call the city of Sukhumi Sukhum. And khachapuri are sold here as “khachapur.” There’s an ongoing battle against the pro—Georgian “i” on the end.

Sukhumi has come into the possession of one new traffic light.

Bottled water brands are engaged in an idiocy competition. One offers “crystal-clear water.”

A gulp of crystal-clear Ritsa water

Another seems to be evoking Loch Ness.

Auadkhara: freshNess and the Power of the mountains

Ochamchire

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Ochamchire lies beyond the area that Russian tourists usually reach, so things are particularly neglected here. This is a natural hot spring, for instance.