The path to the Crimea has turned into a quest: getting to the peninsula is becoming more and more difficult

Crimea continues to be plagued by misfortunes: now, due to a fire at the training ground, the Tavrida highway is partially blocked, motorists are advised to make a hefty detour. And for those waiting at the Kerch crossing, when the ferries begin to take on board tourists in private cars, on Wednesday morning, after two days of waiting, it was officially announced that waiting is useless: only freight and regular transport is transported. All that remains is the “military” road through the new Russian territories.

We learned that vacationers who have planned a vacation in the Crimea are undertaking in increasingly difficult conditions.

Motorists, who have been waiting for a ferry crossing since Monday, received clarity only on Wednesday morning, albeit with a minus sign. The Crimean Ministry of Transport reported that tourists, not only in private cars, but even on tourist and sightseeing buses, can only get to Crimea along the “alternative land corridor” – that is, through the DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. They will have to return the same way. But, according to the Crimean authorities, with the help of the Kerch crossing, the movement of shuttle buses that used to cross the bridge has been completely restored: the crossing receives more than 40 passenger buses a day.

“Private traders can also theoretically pass through the Crimean bridge,” explains the autotourist, who until recently hoped for a sea route to a place of rest. – But there are huge traffic jams due to the fact that oncoming flows pass in turn at the place of destruction. We saw that ferries take buses, we thought that they were tourist buses, so we thought that then sooner or later we would be launched. But these turned out to be scheduled passenger buses following their route, only instead of a bridge they have a ferry. And all tourists on four-wheeled transport – through new regions.

According to the Crimean Operational Headquarters, since Wednesday, autotourists have been helping to lay the route through new territories with Yandex maps (they did not build routes in these regions before). The opinions of those vacationers who have already done this alternative route are divided: some say that if they knew how depressing the road scenery on this route is, they would not go. Others, on the contrary, assure that the road is not bad, they try not to keep tourists at the checkpoint for a long time, for their sake, the curfew has been lifted in the DPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Autotourists help each other with advice in the general chat, so if you wish, it is quite possible to make this path. On average, from Rostov-on-Don to the southern coast of Crimea, it takes 8 hours (for so much, a Rostov couple reached Alushta, taking into account the passage of 3 checkpoints).

But those who have already broken through to the peninsula on their wheels now have new difficulties: the Tavrida highway leading from Kerch to Simferopol and Sevastopol is blocked. The reason is a fire at the training ground in the area between the 118th and 130th kilometers. Tourists here react differently depending on the level of their natural optimism and attitude towards the world as a whole. Some try to see only the good in everything:

– Not all of Tavrida is closed, but only a 12 km stretch, – say optimistic car travelers from Moscow, who have turned onto the detour recommended by the Crimean Ministry of Transport. – Yes, yes, the detour distance is twice as long, respectively, and the consumption of gasoline too. But we roll along the old Crimean road, the views are amazing, and the coverage is surprisingly decent. There are no traffic jams – beauty! The road goes through Stary Krym, where Grin is buried. Near the old Armenian monastery, the mosque of Khan Uzbek. And in the village of Pervomaisky, through which there is also a detour, they say that the wine is excellent, the market is cheap and an entertaining museum. In general, we decided to stop everywhere and enjoy, since it happened so. We still came to rest.

Those who are less optimistic complain about the unforeseen consumption of gasoline due to a detour and the loss of time from paid trips or housing. Meanwhile, the domestic tourism industry is happy to announce that the bus tours canceled on the day of the tragedy on the bridge have already been resumed. We asked in what form, since tourist buses are not taken on the ferry. Calling shows that one of the capital’s travel agencies takes its clients by bus to Anapa, where they seat them in cars and ferry them across the Crimean bridge. Accordingly, “bus” tourists stand on the bridge in a traffic jam, inevitable with partial reverse traffic, on a par with ordinary private traders. Another company transfers its people to electric trains, which is faster. At the same time, everyone assures that the cancellation of tours to the Crimea is “not critical”.

“Some are trying to change the tour to the Crimea for Anapa or Sochi,” they say in the capital’s travel agency. – But there everywhere to the eyeballs. And you still have to pay extra for Sochi. And some of the clients refuse this idea and still go to the Crimea. Only a few people cancel the trip. We have, at least. True, our tours based on air or railway, “bus” refuse more often.

Surprisingly, the predictions of a number of tour operators come true: the Russians hand over railway tickets to the Crimea, in connection with which they reappeared on sale (before the tragedy, the trains to the Crimea were completely sold out).

“I wanted to abandon the trip altogether, since we don’t have a tour, but a reservation in the private sector,” says a mother from Obninsk, who had been planning a trip to Koktebel with her husband and 11-year-old daughter since July 25. – But when I saw the train tickets, I changed my mind. The train, it seems to me, is now the best option, it goes through the Crimean bridge without traffic jams.

Meanwhile, long-distance regular buses traveling from Moscow to Crimea from bus stations in Salaryevo and Yasenevo report that there are no changes in their schedule, although now they will not go through the Crimean bridge, but by an alternative “corridor”. And there are no tickets for the Crimean direction either, since they were sold out in the spring, and so far no one has refused them.