How to get lost in Dagestan

There are different regions on Earth. Beautiful and dirty. Peaceful and dangerous. Easily accessible and reachable with only a lot of transfers and not in any season. For some of them it is recommended to travel as part of a group. Somewhere you feel more confident alone. Somewhere, a person with a machine gun is assigned to each car.

Dagestan is Russia. It's very close. And at the same time far.

We spent the entire first day of the trip as part of a group. And a little tired. From the fact that all the time someone gets in the frame. They are rushing from the fact that they are waiting for us. Of course, it’s more understandable and calmer. But it’s not interesting! And we decided to get lost.

While the rest wandered around the fortress of Derbent, and then sat in a cafe in the same place, two girls fled down the ladder to the old city. We threw the message “don’t worry and send the geolocation of the bus” to the general chat room and plunged into narrow streets.

I’ll tell you about Derbent separately. Now - only about the adventure of this evening.

“I wonder why they didn’t really want to let us go?” We thought. “Maybe they think we can get lost? Or, contrary to all assurances, is it still uneasy? Dagestan is all the same. Region 05, it’s not enough ...”

Just in case, I hid the phone deeper in my backpack. It was not possible to remove the camera there either, because I was photographing something all the time.

Gates in the ancient city wall. The city, by the way, is 2000 years old.

The narrow street runs to the right. Houses made of yellow stone.

Wooden outbuildings, television "plates", air conditioning. On some windows there are bars. On the streets of almost no one. What kind of people live here? Why so quiet? Or maybe they don’t live here at all?

However, no. All buildings look perfectly inhabited.

It is getting dark rapidly. Actually, the sun has already gone, which is terribly frustrating. How to shoot a city when it's all in the shadows, gloomy and thoughtful.

On the wall, something is written about the Azerbaijanis. Only I did not understand what. Actually, it is mainly the Azerbaijanis who live here. So either they wrote that they are good. Or someone new who is bad.

We dive into this narrow alley on the right. And then we come across a woman with a child. She shows somewhere upstairs: "Look, kitty!"

The child doesn’t give a damn about the potential kitty, but I don’t.

I look down at the woman, and we begin to laugh in unison.

- Where are you from?

- From Moscow.

- And let's go to drink tea?

We looked into the alley on the left. What are the chances that we will be stolen, kidnapped, sold to grooms? Apparently, zero, ”we decided, and with a clear conscience went. Let's go to that blue gate on the left in the photo.

Behind the gate was a neat tiled courtyard with an apple tree, on which several types of apples grew (we learned this later). And on the left on the roof are planting tomatoes.

And here is the table at which we were seated. Seated and left. We sat quietly, barked around and, of course, took pictures. How not to photograph such a yard?

However, he did not long remain deserted. Literally five minutes later, relatives, neighbors and acquaintances ran into it, and on the table appeared everything that had been found in haste.

We were treated, questioned, introduced.

At first we were a little shy, and then we relaxed. Still, it is very convenient when the local language is native to both sides.

People talked and talked. They showed photos, brought more plates with food, poured tea. It was very comfortable and completely homely. Not a second of awkwardness or tension. It was as if they looked into the yard to the neighbors with whom we have a lot of common topics for discussion.

Here are most of our hosts. No one refuses to be photographed. In Dagestan, they are great for cameras. Sometimes they ask not to take pictures if they are shy. But overall no one is angry.

If fellow travelers were not waiting for us, we would probably stay here overnight. They immediately called us to several of the houses of the present relatives, gave us addresses, and poured a can of jam "with us."

In general, dear friends, that’s what I’ll tell you.

Do not fend off a group in Dagestan if you do not count on communication, tea, rolls and preserves.

And we will return to this house three days later. We will specially get in a taxi in Makhachkala and will drive for two hours one way. To treat the hosts with a cake.

And they will invite us to come to the wedding in December. But this is a completely different story ...