The Chegem Gorge, located in Kabardino-Balkaria, is very unusual. It divides the small republic in half, into the Northern and Southern parts. Chegem flows through the bottom of the gorge - the river, which gave the name to the gorge and waterfalls.
It is difficult to say that the gorge is the most beautiful. Chegem waterfalls are amazing for their unusual and beautiful views. They do not flow down from the mountains, they break out directly from the rocks. It seems that the crystal tears are flowing to the ground of the crystal tears of some mysterious huge creature. Perhaps this is why the Chegem waterfalls are called crying.
Each waterfall has its own story, its own tradition. A beautiful legend tells of the most powerful of them, called Maiden’s Braids (Adai-Su). They say that proud girls with long braids lived in the village above the waterfalls. Once, when a village was not attacked, the girls began to jump from the cliffs, clinging to the stones with braids. They died, but retained their pride. Their braids turned into a thirty-meter Adai-Su waterfall, their tears into other Chegem waterfalls. Photos of these cascades of water are usually worked out even by a novice photographer: waterfalls are beautiful.
The height of Abai-Su is seventy meters, but the pressure of water in it is not the same as in Adai-Su. Around the waterfalls there is a pine forest that fills the moist air with the pure aroma of pine needles, the smell of flowers or melted snow (depending on the time of year).
I still can’t decide when Chegem Falls attracts me more: in winter, autumn or summer. In summer it is pleasant to swim there, in the autumn the gorge seems golden. In winter, freezing jets of water form fantastic landscapes.
If you go a little further from the waterfalls, you can get to the village of Upper Chegem. Locals call him Eltyub. Here is the Tower of Love, which was built by a very real local resident (he only lived a long time ago), about which a very beautiful romantic fairy tale, or true story, is now composed.
Eltubu Museum. Not far from the Tower of Love, the Stone of Shame is stored here, there are towers similar to those that helped defend the Svans from enemies.
Even further - the ancient settlement, the ruins (well preserved) of Greek stairs and temples.
Tired travelers can drink real mineral water: not from bottles, but directly from a spring spouting from the ground. Gara Auz Valley provides such an opportunity for surprised city-tourists.
It is difficult to list everything that pleases tourists the Chegem Gorge.
It seems to me that the best here is not at all historical sights, although they are incredibly interesting. For me, the main thing is the feeling of unlimited freedom, the feeling of flight that Chegem waterfalls give rise to. And I know for sure that I'm not the only one.
Tourists who have visited Chegem enthusiastically describe the heady air of the gorge, a feeling of lightness, covering both body and soul, light romantic excitement. It is difficult to convey with owls. This must be felt.
As soon as it's time to relax, feel free to take a ticket and go for youth and health that Chegem waterfalls give to everyone who has been there at least once.