Speleotour around Chatyr-Dag

From Simferopol railway station we are waiting for a transfer to the surface of the lower Chatyrdag plateau. Among the karst sinkholes, at the edge of the yayla here. There is a tourist center, called “Tochka” among tourists and speleologists. This is where we will stay for all the days of the tour and use it as a wonderful place to relax, cozy pastime, and while in the fireplace room, communication and exchange impressions...  

We're on the easy side. Let's head to the “cave pit”, which contains famous wild caves Cold and Thousand-Headed. They do not require special equipment to visit, and therefore will be good for the first acquaintance with the dungeon. Armed with lanterns, we will go to the underworld. Quite a few legends and stories have been written about these caves….On the way we will explore the no less legendary Bottomless Well.

Today will be entirely devoted to familiarization with speleological equipment and the technique of moving along ropes. After breakfast, let's dress ourselves from head to toe in special equipment. Ups and downs await us, rope crossings and more. And to consolidate the acquired skills, we will set up a training ground near the wonderful vertical Gugerdzhin cave and, naturally, with descents into it.  An 18-meter vertical well will lead us to small, but interesting and promising with new discoveries!

On the Chatyrdag plateau, here and there are scattered  isolated islands of forest. And almost everywhere under the treetops they hide steep wells going down deep into the massif. To unravel the secrets of the underground world, we will go to one of these pieces of forest, called by speleologists "Vyalovsky forest". Here await us two wonderful vertical caves. One of them is unusual - Army, the other is Uchunju - Khosar or in other words known as "Herringbone". Equipped with a “caving harness”, we will go down to the bottom of the thirty-meter well. And we will find ourselves in a spacious hall with numerous drip decoration, and most importantly with a huge stalagmite, reminiscent of a real Christmas tree! 

Day 4. Upper Chatyrdag plateau, Mramornaya and Emine-Bair-Khosar caves 

Today is the day of unloading and walking before the fifth day - important. In addition to wild and hard-to-reach caves, on the edge of the plateau there are famous equipped cavities: Marble and Emine-Bair-Khosar. Everything here is arranged for an excursion visit, and most importantly, this makes them no less interesting. They are worth a visit. Is it possible to go to the upper plateau and climb to the top of our tent (Chatyr-Daga) -  Eklizi-Burun, and on the way go through amazing Yew Gorge. Those who wish, without interrupting speleological passages, will be able to fully “get enough” small but memorable underground labyrinths.

Waiting for us again "Vyalovsky forest". And this time with its main object - the Vyalov deep mine. Rich in calcite deposits, it is named after the famous hydrologist, who studied the karst cavities of Chatyrdag. We are waiting for a serious descent along the ropes to a depth of almost 100 meters. First, a vertical well, and then a long and inclined one. The passage will lead to a huge hall.  Perhaps here each of us will discover a real fairy-tale country of the underworld. Columns, organs, stone flowers, amazing mineral crystals….

It's time to return to "bright life"! We are leaving this huge table area and our camp site, which has become a real home these days. We will run along one of the classic paths to Perevalnoye, or to a tourist shelter Sosnovka. Where it will be easy to take a trolleybus to Simferopol or go to the gentle Southern coast of Crimea.