We came to this world from the sea .

There will be a day, when the River of Time will take us back to the sea…

In autumn 2008 our son Ivan was born. We wanted him to hear the voice of the sea in his first winter. So, we went to the Crimea.

Traveling on a train possesses the charm of a leisurely old-fashioned movie. Railway stations and whistle-stops of snow-covered Russia slowly float behind the window. It’s three thousand kilometers to the south-west.

The Ukraine. The southern coast of the Crimea. The town of Simeiz. The cypresses in snow, abandoned Art Nouveau villas, and cats everywhere, guarding the litter bins and looking as if they are the real owners of the town.

In summer time Simeiz, like the rest of the Crimea’s seaside resorts is crowded with tourists. Every corner and every shack is rented triple the price. This is the main source of income for the locals. In winter time those who have a house, build a new one. Those who can’t build a new house, build an extra floor. And those, who cannot build a new floor, make two rooms out of one.

Aristocratic landscape of Simeiz is surrounded by the necklace of sharp rocks, which used to terrify the travellers back in the XIX century. Nowadays hills of garbage have grown up on the rocks. There is only one official dump, which is forbidden to use, because it’s overfull now. The problem of waste utilization is huge along the whole coast.

In winter the streets of seaside towns are as full of people in a hurry, as streets of any other cities. Yalta welcomes us with a naive self-promo - “Yalta is the city of happiness!” There are lots of very expensive boutiques on the quay, but the living houses look like unwashed underwear put under elegant expensive clothes. We saw more openness and warmth in the faces of people from Sevastopol. And there we saw stately houses built of white stone, which seemed to soak up the sunshine. This city withstood two wars due to the persistence and courage of its defenders.

Esoteric tourism is growing up on the coast. Those who are in search, find knowledge, new ideas, and relations here. There is nothing on yoga or Vedic seminars, shamanism or ecstatic practices in tourist booklets. The way to find the sacred knowledge is to follow a recommendation or to be in the right place at the right time. Mystical experience can be sourced directly from the origin - every mountain in Crimea holds its own legend or secret.

We were lucky enough to meet some soulmates, due to whom we have learnt many interesting things.

For slideshow click here