A relic right under your nose!

Once, when breakfast was over long ago, and lunch did not even think to begin, we decided to climb into some distant corner, away from the smells of gasoline, the buzzing of electric braids and endless garbage, abundantly scattered in the city by the efforts of our countrymen (And do you litter in your hometown?).

If there was a globe of the Nizhny Novgorod region, then the “pumpkin method” would be tried on it. But since such a globe does not exist, I put in front of me an ordinary map, closed my eyes, and poked with a pencil. A barely noticeable dot “decorated” the map next to the name “Transfer”. A few finger movements on the keyboard and our company (2 guys and 2 girls), crowded at the screen, touches the temples, knocks his foreheads, and greedily absorbs information about the town of Carriage of the Nizhny Novgorod region. And then the desire turned into a plan, bread and sausage into sandwiches, and the money saved into payment for transportation.

I will not talk about the incidents that happened to us along the way, because I believe that the thirst for adventure is inherent in each of you, dear readers. We were interested in one particular place that most accurately reflected our desire to move away from civilization.

Not far from the above-mentioned city of Perevoz, on the banks of the Pyana River, is the village of Ichalki, which, according to legend, was founded in the time of Ivan the Terrible. Not far from this village, in the place where the Pyan River makes an intricate bend, there is Ichalkovo Bor.

The place is quite unique, for two reasons. First of all, boron itself. In addition, which consists of a coniferous and broad-leaved forest, it hides relict pine trees. They are easy to distinguish with a glance, since the thickness of these pines is much higher than the thickness of the surrounding trees. (The difference is about the same as if a pencil accidentally got into a box of toothpicks.) Some of the pine trees we couldn't hold together, and we needed the help of a third. Secondly, Ichalkovo Bor reliably keeps a secret. Namely, caves. These caves have been known to people since time immemorial, but only in the last century, in 1965, they were taken under state protection and declared natural monuments.

It is in Ichalkovo Bor that the karst underground kingdom appears in all its splendor. This forest with grottoes, caves and light gray rocks overgrown with emerald vegetation, as if transferred to the heart of the Russian plain from the Carpathian or Caucasian mountains.

In general, there are about 1000 different karst formations in Ichalkovo Bor. These are funnels, and dips, and grottoes, and gutters. Some of them resemble the ruins of medieval castles. At least the heroes of J.R.R. Tolkien's books would feel good here. How are we worse?!

Each of the caves of Ichalkovo boron has its own name and features. So, Kuleva Pit is a colossal size (25 meters) karst failure with vertical walls. It could fit a seven-story house. According to legend, robbers dumped coolies with looted goods from merchants who traded at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair in this pit - hence the name of the cave.

The old pit is 19 meters deep. It once served as a refuge for a desert elder. It is very difficult to climb, only by rope, and requires good physical training. So before you explore it, look critically at your muscles.

The walls of the Moss Pit are abundantly overgrown with moss, and the Student Cave was so named because about 50 years ago it was discovered by students. For many years, students who come here leave notes with wishes in this cave (it is believed that they will come true). Someone wants to write for an excellent test job, someone dreams of entering the university, someone solves their personal problems. We also wrote our own notes.

Some dips or, as they are also called, funnels, are so close to each other that narrow isthmuses form between them. Some of them also have names: “Devil’s Bridge”, “Swan crossing”.

The Devil's Bridge will take you directly to the Nameless Cave, and from there you can get to the grotto, at the bottom of which there is a small lake with crystal clear water.

Even if you walk very carefully, there is a chance to soak your feet, as the transition from dry stones to rocks under water is imperceptible.

In the caves, even in winter, there is a plus temperature, so bats winter here, flying here from all the Nizhny Novgorod land.

We spent a whole day in Ichalkovo Bor, and we were impressed for a month. A lot of photos, a lot of emotions, a full pocket of good mood.

Of course, we climbed into every cave; of course, we walked across the Devil's Bridge and made sure to soak our feet in an underground lake!

Visit Ichalkovo Bor and enjoy this relict corner of our Nizhny Novgorod land yourself!