schupack: as promised

Some pictures from the weekend trip to Kislovodsk with my dad. To get there, we took a marshrutka (van-sized bus) across the city to the bus station. There we got another one to Pyatigorsk, a city about an hour and a half away. Once there, we took a tram (bus that runs on tracks) across Pyatigorsk to the train station. Pyatigorsk in Russian means Five Mountains, because the city is surrounded by....five hills! amazing. At the train station we got on an elektrichka, which is a train/trolley - it is on train tracks, attached to a wire on top. Forty minutes on this took us to our destination not far from Kislovodsk.

It's really pretty out there, and the weather was perfect:

The roads are not so perfect, but still fairly picturesque:

On the way back to the elektrichka the next day:

We went to a river nearby:

We also took a bus into Kislovodsk itself. I really liked this city. The downtown area is really beautiful - hilly; wooded; steep, narrow roads; lots of people...it felt very European, especially for Russia.

The main boulevard:

I liked the balconies hanging out into the street:

Above the door it says "Главные Нарзанные Ванны," which means "Main Narzan (?) Baths":

Kislovodsk and several neighboring towns are built around mineral springs. You can go in this place, pay two roubles and receive a plastic cup. Then you go around to the different taps and taste the various local mineral waters. Which are disgusting. But apparently very good for you. People are sent to Kislovodsk (which means Bitter Water) or nearby (another city is named Mineral Waters - Mineraliye Vody), and prescribed a treatment of water consumption. Who knows. I guess it works for some people. But the sulfurous taste and carbonation were a little too much for me.