Kubachi, Republic of Dagestan, Russian Federation
MIR Trip Notes: Drive to Kubachi via Balkar Village.
Drive to the Lak village of Balkar, where the women create prize-winning pottery. Sit in to learn more about pottery from these masters and stroll about the village. Lunch is in a private home here.
Continue to Kubachi, a village of goldsmiths, blacksmiths, and jewelry-makers. In the Middle Ages, the village was known as Zirikhigeran, meaning ":armor-makes" in Persian.
Visit the local bazaar, the museum and the homes of jewelry makers. Tonight you have dinner and stay overnight with families in their homes in Kubachi.
Meals: B,L,D
Driving time: 3-4 hrs.
I was so happy last night that I actually went to bed before 11 pm!! But I still woke up at 5am - maybe even earlier than usual. It has been over two weeks - I wouldn't have expected jet lag to last so long. What is going on? So with my spare time, I packed up all my washed laundry, drying laundry, dirty laundry and sundry other things. I checked gmail and facebook several times. With an hour to breakfast, I am going to read up on today's itinerary, but I see that it is unusually short.
So after breakfast, we first went up to the peak of Gunib to a park commemorating where Shamil surrendered in 1859 after resisting the Russian Empire for so long. The Russian General sat on a rock that is now enclosed in a memorial and he signed the treaty with Shamil. Shamil would not turn his back for fear that the Chechens would kill him for surrendering rather than fighting to the death. He ended up going to St Petersburg and getting a pension a lot higher than the winning General Yermolov. This is another reason why the Chechens do not like him.
Next we made a stop to the main square of Gunib where we wandered around rather purposelessly but then tried to talk to some older people sitting on a bench. Then our drivers got gas for the jeeps that needed it. Tourism is interesting. There are some tourists who are naturally engaging and have generally very positive contacts with the local people - both for themselves and the local people. Being shy, by the time I get into the right frame of mind, it is usually too late, but it is especially gratifying when it happens. It seems that tour companies and travel magazines are promoting the attempt at getting a "deeper understanding" and more immersive experience while traveling.
Driving out of the town, we made a photo stop at the dam and hydroelectric plant on the Karakoi-su River. Jerry, who is a nuclear physicist, knows all about these kinds of things and said that this one only had 3 turbines and only put out 15 megawatts or something like that.
He thought it was very small output, but then the people here probably don't use air-conditioning and lots of electricity. We saw apricot orchards, old terraced fields, and wildflowers again. We made aa photo stop for the old terraces.
We then visited a museum where our hostess served tea and had been considered the most beautiful girl in the village when she was young. She married the most handsome man but they divorced and she married an ordinary man and they are still married. The house has many artifacts - kitchen utensils, rugs, et al. Anya was volunteered to dress as the bride (in the beautiful lady's own wedding dress) and she looked very authentic.
We then went to the Potter's village with its stacks of cow manure patties for firing the kilns. We saw a demonstration by a master potter in which she threw a little pitcher on a hand-turned wheel. Then we took a short walk in the village. We saw some donkeys on our walk. I especially like these walks through the villages.
There we were back in the jeep driving on.
We had a photo stop at the village of Shukty where a wealthy man had had apartments built for his fellow villages, but when he was almost done, he died and the whole project stopped. Consequently, people live in the unfinished houses - mostly on the first floors - without electricity or plumbing. Without incomes, they cannot finish the houses or maintain them. People have moved from the country to the cities to earn their living since they can no longer do so after the Soviet Union collapsed. We had another photo stop in a village called Gapshima where we walked around and took lots of photos of the cow patties used as fuel for fires.
Then we continued on to Kubachi, the silversmith's village. We visisted the shop of a silversmith - the father of the man who established the new hotel we were to stay at. Or at the majority of us were to stay there. There was also a museum of Dagestani artifacts from this particular ethnic group. Dagestan, as opposed to the other North Caucasus republics, is composed of many different ethnic groups, some of which do not have a common language base. We had dinner at the hotel - on its first day of being open after waiting for 4 years. Then some of us were transported elsewhere. Kay, Judy and I went to the house of some other relative where we each had a room - Judy downstairs and Kay and I upstairs. Our rooms were large - Kay's especially so. We shared the modern bathroom with a washing machine in it. We met a youngish woman who put sheets on the beds and made us welcome. Then we were left to our own devices.
2025-05-22