Mountain Biking in Zheleznovodsk May 26th

We were not able to see the kids today, so our lovely interpreter Marina and her friend Helen took us to the town of  Zheleznovodsk which is in the North Caucasus mountains near Beshtau and Iron Mountain.

The sign with the city name and date the city was founded.

Zheleznovodsk is a lovely town.   Very pretty - smaller than where we are staying - and a bit more quiet.




The stairs up to the walking/biking paths through Iron Mountain.

When we got there we rented mountain bikes and headed up the side of Iron Mountain.  It was quite fun to be on a bike again.  It's been awhile.   We road on the path for a while, and then we went off road and up to an incredible overlook.

At the start of our mountain bike ride in Zheleznovodsk

While we were biking we were told to look for various tree carvings that would tell us when to turn.   The carvings have been around for a long time to mark the way.

 As we got closer to the top, we went further and further into the woods.  It was really beautiful, although I have to say that I thought MN had a lot of mosquitoes, well, they may just have us beat here.

We got to a point, where we had to walk the bikes a short way, and then we climbed up to the overlook.  All I can say is Wow!  It was an incredible view and so peaceful!

While we were on the overlook we could hear thunder in the distance, but thankfully the rain held off until after dinner, and we remained dry during our ride.

Helen, Lynne and Marina



Mount Beshtau in the distance.

Dave and Marina climbed a big higher to get an additional view of the area.

Hiking back to our bikes

The cold caves area.

Next we rode to an area where the ground is very cold.  There were little openings in the ground that emitted very cold air.   Marina was telling us that in times past this area was used as a natural refrigeration area.   It was strange to be so hot, and then suddenly walk a few steps and feel the temperature drop 10-15 degrees.

There was also a monument here.  In the picture below we are standing inside a concrete monument that has natural cold air coming up through the ground.

Cool cave-like air at the farthest-most point on our ride.

The Mineral Waters area that we are in is known for both hot and cold water.  These mineral waters are believed to have healing powers.  Each area has water that is a bit different, as so the various waters are numbered, and each is believed to have a bit different healing power.   So, the next stop on our tour was to see try the mineral water from this area.   This water was pretty good.  Not to minerally.  Some that we have tried has had a lot of sulpher in it.  This water does come out pretty warm. 

The building where we are drinking this water, also had a nice fountain by it.  The belief is that if you throw a coin in the water, you will return to the area.  So, of course we had to do that.  To make things a bit fun, we used American coins, in the hopes that this would have the added benefit of getting Marina and Helen to the US to visit!



The travel wishing well



Hot sputtering mineral water after a hot bike ride! Yum!

In front of the water house.



So, found out today that the Lenin Statue marks the town center of any town you are in,



We finished the day with a dinner in a sushi restaurant.  The food was great and the company even better.  A big СПАСИБО! to Marina and Helen for providing us with such a lovely day!!!