Road To Survival. The Valley of Ghosts

I travel to Crimea quite often. My boyfriend was born in Yalta, so we regularly go to see his family and enjoy the beauty of the peninsula at the same time.

In the spring of the following year, we decided to take to a small one-day hike to the mount Demerdzhi.

If you've ever traveled by car from Simferopol to Yalta, you probably saw a huge mountain range to the left side of the road. This area is pretty much known as location for several Soviet movies; there is also the famous stone "Catherine's Head", named after russian empress Catherine the Great, and, of course, the mysterious Valley of the Ghosts.

The name "Demerdzhi" is translated from the Crimean Tatar language as "smith". Scientists say that these are the oldest rocks in the Crimea, whose composition is absolutely unique. There is the only place, where you can find red granite, that age more than 1 billion years! Under the influence of water reacting with carbon dioxide plus constant winds, unusual stone sculptures were formed, that is called the "The Valley of Ghosts" - a place, enveloped in myths and legends.

According to the legend, in ancient times barbarian tribes came to these lands, which burned and destroyed everything that came in their way.. When they saw the mountain range, hidden in a haze, they decided to build a huge smithy at the top, where swords for their troops were forged. They burned all the nearby villages, killed women and children, and took men into slavery. From the unbearable heat of the mountain, all rivers and springs dried up, everything alive around died. Once, a brave girl Maria went to the main villain and called upon him to have mercy and leave the earth. However, the smith only laughed and wanted to take her into slavery too. She did not obey, so he killed her. The mountain could not stand such cruelty, the earth shook and flames spewed out, that swallowed up the enemy tribe. That's how these huge stone idols appeared...

It is said that if you spent the night in the valley, you would see warriors leaving their tombs at dawn and even heard their screams.

Specialists in paranormal phenomena claim that the summit of the mountain is a real anomalous zone, exuding a powerful flow of energy.

Believe it or not - everyone's business. As for us , to get some fresh air and see stunning views from the top were our main goals. Nothing foretold troubles. Early in the morning, we took a bus from Yalta, drank a bottle of our favorite Massandra wine, and got off the bus stop at the Raduzhnoye village.

When we started to climb, the weather began getting rough. Of course, we did not abandon our idea and carelessly continued to walk. We followed the path through the forest, a bit like a tropical one.

Thanks to the protruding rocks, it's quite easy to climb up, as if walking up a stairs. We were already halfway along to the top, when we realized that we were literally in the cloud, the visibility was about 50 meters, it was easy to lose sight of each other. But we continued to have fun and enjoy the charming beauty of the haze.

And the rain was getting stronger ...

When I realized, that there was no any shelter nearby, and the rain was not going to stop, I had a moment of despair. But we understood, that there was no return way, and we had to move on. Then, funny idea struck us- we made improvised umbrellas from huge mugs. Of course, they did not save us from the rain, but it was more fun to go.

Clouds scattered for a moment, and we realized at what height we were. Another moment - and we could hardly see each other again. A strong wind rose and lightning flashed around. It wasn't funny anymore..

Somebody offered to make shelter in a small grove and wait the storm to pass at the campfire. Of course, trying to make a fire from wet branches under heavy rain - the idea is quite absurd. In addition, we were already thoroughly wet and risked not to back home till darkness. We burned the fire, just to prove to ourselves that we can do it, then extinguished it and went on.

A little more, and we finally reached a huge plateau with an alien landscape.

Surprisingly, as soon as we climbed up, the rain stopped, the clouds thinned, and we finally saw a piece of the long-awaited view... It was definitely worth it!

Unfortunately, we did not reach the The Valley of Ghosts. Being wet and frozen, we decided to go down the first path. On the way back, the rain started again.

Tired, but happy we found to the road and caught the bus home.