How to get to the peninsula and return from it
After the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, the moods of those who planned a trip to the Crimean resorts in the near future were sharply divided: some turn around even halfway, others study detour paths ahead of time, intending to realize their vacation plans at any cost. We learned what those who are not going to give up their holidays on the peninsula advise each other.
By Tuesday, car traffic on the Crimean Bridge resumed, however, on the damaged section, cars move in one lane in reverse order (that is, in turn, first the flow towards Kerch, then towards Taman), which significantly slows down the movement.
— We arrived at the bridge at 4 am from Sunday to Monday, that is, immediately after the explosions, — autotourists from Ivanovo say. — They turned around and left for Kabardinka. But a day later they could not stand it: they decided that since they were going to the Crimea, it means they need to go to the Crimea.
Now we are standing in a traffic jam in front of the bridge, everything is very slow, although only cars pass, no trucks or buses. And checks, they say, have been reduced to a minimum. But at the site of the explosion, reverse along the right lane: at the checkpoint, columns of 50 cars are formed and launched first in one direction, then in the other. Volunteers carry water and provide first aid if someone suddenly feels bad in the heat.
— No, and how, almost everyone here is with children. Volunteers offer to take the little ones and the old ones to temporary accommodation facilities so that they don’t suffer in a heated car. At the same time, they write on the Internet that there are 400 cars in the queue, the approximate waiting time is an hour. We've been here for 3 hours and there's no end in sight.
— Our friends went. They specifically called us to say that this path is not for the faint of heart. There are destroyed houses, burned-out cars on the roadsides, walls of memory. Personally, we are not ready. Although the road itself, they say, is not bad.
Tourist industry reports that all the health resorts and hotels of the peninsula, in connection with the tragedy, provide those who were supposed to leave Crimea home on July 17-18 one day for free or a 50% discount, and travel agencies do not fine for late cancellation of the reservation — that is, they return the money if the tour is cancelled.
— My travel agent persuaded me in every possible way not to cancel the tour at all, but to postpone it to August, — says Elena, a Muscovite, who changed her mind about vacationing in Yalta on a tour starting on July 20. But I insisted. I'm with two small children and don't want to risk it.
The money has not yet been returned to Elena, but they promised to refund the amount paid in full, without withholding, as is usually the case, a penalty for refusing at the last moment. But another metropolitan family with teenage children, who already have vouchers to the Foros region since July 21, abandoned only the idea of getting to the peninsula by private car.
— Until Tuesday morning, we were still thinking, — explains the father of the family, 34-year-old Dmitry. — We thought that if the ferry service was operational, then we would still go by our own car, as we had planned. The web says that it works.
But our acquaintances have been waiting near her all Monday, and now they are writing that they are turning around and leaving. There are 5 ferries and two large warships, but they only take trucks and buses. We thought that they would start taking private traders, but no.
— No, to Novorossiysk. They say that they lost their mood for the Crimea. But we don't have it yet. Friends whispered to my wife that now we need to catch train tickets. They have been sold out for a long time, but now they will appear from refuseniks.
In chats dedicated to “all the paths” to Crimea, they also mention the railway as the best option to get to Crimea for those who are not afraid to drive over the bridge in principle.
— Railway traffic on the bridge has been fully restored, — they say in the capital's travel agency, — on Monday the trains were out of schedule for a maximum of 3 hours, and from Tuesday additional trains were launched between Anapa and Kerch. Plus, commuter trains also travel across the bridge in both directions.
But many of our clients now have an obsessive “mostophobia”. They do not refuse a trip to Crimea in principle, but they do not want to go specifically through the Crimean bridge. So train tickets might actually come out now.
Meanwhile, those who are already traveling to the peninsula through the new territories of Russia share with each other in thematic chats the coordinates of decent roadside catering and convenient gas stations. Autotravellers who were not afraid to take a rest on the military road are also exchanging points where the connection is “buggy”.
— We are going on the road of life, in the truest sense, — say autotourists from the Moscow region, who went on a detour, armed with advice from the chat. — They write that roaming from Crimean mobile operators will automatically turn on in the Kherson region and Zaporozhye. If it suddenly doesn’t connect automatically, you need to manually connect it.
But there are areas where there is no connection at all. There it is impossible not only to call or write, but also to pay by card or transfer. It just needs to be kept in mind. From the checkpoint, those who have already passed advise Armyansk and Krasnoperekopsk, it is faster there.
According to the reviews in the chat, the road from the border to Mariupol is excellent, but after it the M18 highway to the Crimea itself leaves much to be desired. Although there are reviews of those who, nevertheless, safely reached the place of rest along it:
“We stood in a huge queue, stood for 2 hours, I look — everyone is passing ahead,” a vacationer, who is already sunbathing with her husband in Alushta, describes passing through the inspection on the bypass road. — I also tried to skip the queue — it didn’t work out: they say, well, get back to the tail!
On the second attempt, they nevertheless passed, having quarreled with everyone and wasting their nerves. Bags are checked at the checkpoint, some are simply opened, others are asked to be unloaded. They work quickly, there are several checkpoints. I was very tired, after Chongar my husband got behind the wheel.”