By the will of the case in the second half of August I visited Astrakhan, glorified by his watermelons, fish and the Caspian Sea. The heat is incredible about 40 ° no less, during the day to go to the streets of the city - this suicide. Even the presence of beaches on the Volga river and other reservoirs of the city does not improve the situation with the exhausting heat in the middle of the day. But I was lucky to visit the Watermelon Fair and visit the Lotus Valley in the Volga River Delta.
I stayed in Astrakhan for five days and during this time climbed the whole city along and across.
But first of all I went to the excursion-transfer, see how the lotuses are blooming and admire the cormorants. It was not to buy her work, since all the travel agencies offer it among the first. At first we were driving to the hub on the bus more than an hour, then on the motor boat Bardoke we went to the lotuses themselves. The beauty of the indescribable and unforgettable aroma of flowering lotuses is the main sensations from the river trip. Caspian lotus lotus rip out is forbidden, otherwise a huge fine threatens, so keep your hands in your pockets to not be seduced. On the boat we rode three hours. On the way back, we have lunch in the beam, bathed and sunbathe on the beach five hours before the bus, and then returned to Astrakhan. All the pleasure cost me one and a half thousand rubles and took the whole day.
Before bedtime, I walked along the embankment - a business card of the city. From the walk I remember the glowing sowing fountain, the registry office and the sculptural composition "Lady with a dog". The embankment itself is about 2 km., There are cafes, but they are overcrowded, you can ride horses, take rental bikes or ride a train.
The following four days I walked around the city in search of attractions. It is for what, but only very hot, you can easily get a heat blow. It was saved in stores where it was cooled under air conditioners.
On Friday, I took a three-day tour of the Caspian Sea for five thousand rubles with three meals. The tour program includes a trip to the thermal lake with hydrogen sulfide water (intolerable stench), an excursion to the elevenbash brandy plant with tasting (it is possible to purchase champagne and brandy at ridiculous prices). The next day, the lunch was resting to the sea, the benefit from the hotel about 30 meters. The beach is equipped, sun beds and umbrellas are provided. After lunch, we went to an ancient Derbent and walked along the "Naryn-Cala" citadel (the inlet).
In the evening, sending to Astrakhan, along the way I drove into the market, bought nuts and fruits on the cheap. I can not say that rest in Astrakhan impressed me very much, but it was worth going! Beautiful, picturesque city with friendly residents. The rest of the Caspian Sea is not at all similar to the sea rest in a wide sense, and it is difficult to call full. Little beaches have a little, and wild beaches have frightened reed. The infrastructure on the beaches is no, offer fishing and water rides. Water is clean and salty, but loses compared to the Black Sea.