Abkhazia 'Comfort' room worse than 'Economy', tourist says

The Black Sea coast remains one of the most popular destinations for summer vacations among Russians. Samara resident Yulia Borisova shared her impressions of a trip to Abkhazia with 63.RU. Below, in her own words:

My vacation was in beautiful Abkhazia, in the village of Rybzavod, which is located a bit beyond the town of Pitsunda.

I flew from Samara to Sochi. From the airport to the checkpoint I took a private car for 600 rubles ($6). You need to ask around for the cheapest fare, as the average price for such a ride is 1,000 rubles ($10). It is possible to take a taxi, but as it turned out, drivers are not eager to accept such orders and drive to the border. It is simply unprofitable for them.

I crossed the border on foot. On the other side, a driver was waiting for me and took me to the address for 1,000 rubles ($10). Actually, I was supposed to have a direct transfer waiting for me at the airport, but the driver did not manage to cross the border in time, and I had to make my own way. Otherwise, the trip would probably have cost 2,200 rubles ($22).

Accommodation in Abkhazia is varied. You can rent a room in a hotel on the beach. There are also separate cottages that sleep 4–5 people. And there are simply mini-hotels and guesthouses across the road from the beach. I myself chose to stay at a private house on Primorskaya Street.

A room with private facilities («comfort») cost 2,500 rubles ($25) per night. However, the «economy» room from the same landlady, with shared toilet and shower, was several times cheaper — 1,000 rubles ($10) per night. That room is designed for three people. At some point I was moved from the more expensive room to the cheaper one, so I felt the difference.

The «comfort» room, in my opinion, was worse. It was on the first floor, and the windows were curtained so that people would not look in. But because of that, the room was very damp. Moreover, the room itself was smaller. Probably the only plus was having its own shower and toilet.

Since I was traveling with relatives, they lived a bit farther and rented a room in another guesthouse. Their room without private facilities for two people cost 2,000 rubles ($20) per night.

If you are looking for some «action», this village is not suitable for that. It is peaceful and life is quite measured. It is an ideal place for a «seal-like» lazy beach vacation.

The sea is clean. Sometimes the water was like warm milk, and sometimes it was very cold to enter. But you quickly get used to it, and swimming becomes comfortable.

A couple of times after rains, the sea was a bit dirty and rough due to waves, but it quickly cleared. During those periods, there was an invasion of jellyfish. It was not very pleasant to enter, and children screamed and were scared. But if you swam farther out, there were no jellyfish.

But there are almost no vacationers on the pebble beach. If you go in the morning, it is completely empty. People start arriving closer to lunch. The main thing is not to forget sunscreen or buy yourself an umbrella. There are almost no sunbeds with awnings on the beach.

There are no air raid sirens in Abkhazia, so anxious people can finally relax. Everything is happening over there, in Sochi. And to the border with Abkhazia, let alone to the village of Rybzavod, is very far.

An interesting note — Abkhazia is full of stray dogs. And they are all so adorable and well-mannered! They either just silently sit or lie near your table, or beg for food with a paw. Finally, one dog simply came as close as possible and put its paw on my chair. Sometimes dogs just run past you with a pigeon in their teeth.

On the way back, I traveled from Adler to Samara by train. But first I had to get from the guesthouse to the station. The trip cost 1,000 rubles ($10). However, there were problems at the border — the driver was not allowed through, something was wrong with his documents. So already in Russia, another driver picked me up and finally took me to the railway station.

Usually tourists enter Abkhazia through a border checkpoint near Sochi. Since July 19, it has been possible to reach the neighboring country by plane. Now there are direct flights from Samara to Sukhumi.