Big trip here bye. embraced the immensity

Get up at 5am, drive a few miles down a grassy dirt road past abandoned compact oil rigs to a ranch where real Texas cowboys select cows to sell at the weekly fair. This was the plan of our team on the way from Texas to New Mexico during Great trip TUT.BY - a joint project with Korona Techno.

Ray Rogers is a multi-generational cowboy. “My ancestors have always lived on earth. I grew up in the city, but all my life I dreamed of buying a ranch. When the money came, I could afford it.”

The cowboy got rich in the manufacture of exclusive custom-made furniture - this is now his main form of income. And breeding cows and bulls (he has more than 30 of them) is an expensive hobby that brings practically no income.

There is a house at the entrance to the ranch. Here cowboys rest after driving or hunting. On the walls hang trophies obtained by Rogers, on the ceiling - an indispensable attribute of American homes - a fan.

Fairs are held every week in the neighboring town, sometimes Rogers sells his cows and bulls there. Now he needs to select two calves. The work is complicated by the fact that they are in two different herds.

Ray is helped by another cowboy - Dave. They are business partners and lifelong friends.

Modern cowboys often use ATVs for this kind of work, but Rogers sticks to tradition - he keeps horses and specially trained dogs. In the photo below - Raski.

Do not look at the fact that the dogs are small. Cows and even big bulls are afraid of them. Dogs are no worse than riders, driving cows in the right direction, as if reading the minds of cowboys.

Rogers' horses are looked after by a groom. Animals are kept elsewhere, and are delivered to the ranch, if necessary, in a special semi-trailer.

Ray invites you to try the work of a cowboy in practice - there is another horse. I politely refuse, without admitting that I don’t know how to ride a horse at all.

Before we move into the field, Rogers warns you to watch out for rattlesnakes. They are everywhere here. They are given out by a sound - a cross between a hiss and a crack. Fortunately, we did not meet creeping reptiles.

Here are the cowboys leading the first herd into the corral. After herding the animals, they will select a suitable calf and then release the rest.

The procedure is repeated with the second herd. This time the work is dragging on - last time Dave forgot to close one of the paddock gates, and the animals escape through them in the other direction.

You have to repeat the operation again.

There is a bull in the herd. He is noticeably larger than cows and constantly mooing loudly. This unaccustomedly frightens us, frozen behind a wooden fence, but does not bother Ray and Dave and their dogs at all.

Now the selected calves need to be loaded into the wagon. This turns out to be a difficult task - the second cow does not want to go into the cramped metal chamber on wheels.

Animals are loaded. Now the cowboys unsaddle the horses and put them back into the trailer.

Ray and Dave have a few minutes to sit on the porch of the house and drink water before going to the fair.

Working on the ground has always been difficult, but now it has not become easier. After several years of farming, this is still a hobby for me, not a business. But I did not set such a goal. Being a cowboy for me is a tribute to my ancestors, an opportunity to touch history, or something, - Ray says in parting.

We're moving on. The next stop was Santa Fe, where we planned to meet the Indians. Read about it in the next report, and all the materials of the Great Journey TUT.BY can be found on a special page of the project.

After a three-day trip around North Ossetia on a Volvo V90 Cross Country off-road station wagon, I realized that everything is calm in the Caucasus and why you can easily change the Alps for Caucasian mountains. They love Lada, Lexus and guests here.

In the morning start from the hotel. An almost 300-kilometer route awaits me through the already beaten and still wild places of North Ossetia. I keep in the extreme right lane and I am cautious, I have heard a lot about the hot morals of local motorists. In general, I try not to stand out. But on a car like this, it's hard. Nearly five meters long and just under two meters wide, the Volvo V90 Cross Country is a real eye-catcher.

This car looks like a foreign body in the cramped jambs of Lads of various models. AvtoVAZ products are the basis of the Ossetian car fleet. The second part is made up of Lexus paired with one of the most popular models - Toyota Land Cruiser 200. There is a class gap. Interestingly, used French cars are almost never found. I haven't seen one in three days.

Making my way through the city, I appreciated the head-up display, which shows "navigation" prompts on the windshield. It turned out that this is the most convenient way to correlate the "picture" with reality. No need to look from the screen to the road.

Concerns about manners local residents turned out to be in vain. Yes, they drive quite sharply, quickly, but not aggressively. Even pedestrians are allowed to pass. But outside the city, they can easily go to overtake through the “solid”. Locals observe the speed limit only when they pass through villages or villages on the highway. As the organizers told us, in Ossetia they can measure average speed movement through such settlements. So it's best not to exceed. Well, there are also photo fixation cameras on the roads, although they are rare.

My car for these two days was the D5 version. She has the same two-liter diesel engine under the hood, but it already develops 235 “horses”. The same version of the engine on the XC90 crossover is in the greatest demand in Russia - it fits into the inexpensive tax rate "up to 250 hp", and at the same time accelerates a large station wagon to hundreds in 7.5 seconds, the maximum speed is 230 km / h, and the average consumption is 5.3 liters per "hundred".

True, during intensive acceleration, the rough voice of the diesel engine does not caress the ear, unless it is drowned out by the sound from the speakers of the Bowers & Wilkins audio system. She is able to recreate the acoustics concert hall Gothenburg, where the National Symphony Orchestra of Sweden performs. It sounds really great, although I'm far from a music lover. Yes, and I listened more to the stories of our guide, Hassan, who did a significant part of the route with me in the car.

Visiting the Highlanders

Khasan lives in Vladikavkaz, he is a city man. But it pulls him to the mountains. Since he returned from the army, he walked around all the mountain paths and knows them better than the streets. hometown. 8-10 hour walks are normal for him. Hassan is ready to talk about his homeland endlessly and very interestingly.

Ossetians are very hospitable people. There has been no war here for a long time, everything is calm. You know, I want people to stop being afraid of the Caucasus and North Ossetia. You can spend your holidays here - the mountains, nature are simply amazing. There are many wild, unexplored places where no tourist has set foot. Come again, I'll show you everything. - Hasan demonstrates the breadth of the Ossetian soul.

One of the travel points is the ancient village of Kamunta in Digorsky Gorge. Its foundation dates back to the late Bronze Age - IV - III centuries. BC e. There are still several houses left. Hasan says that two families live here permanently. And not long ago, two grandmothers lived - seventy-six and one hundred and five years old. Bride and mother-in-law. And up to a hundred and four years, my grandmother still knitted every day.

When the organizers of the route offered to go down from Kamunta to the village of Galiat on bicycles, my colleague and I immediately agreed. But Hasan was against it.

“Only if I go with you. These are mountains, and above all they are dangerous. And then they are beautiful. I am responsible for you and will not let go alone.

Hassan was adamant. As a result, we made a compromise - a couple more journalists joined us, and we made a half-hour walking tour along the mountain path down into the valley, to the village of Galiat.

Galiat is not just a village, but a medieval one architectural complex. At the end of the 19th century, a real archaeological fever flared up here, after one peasant plowed gold things in his field. The local population retrained as archaeologists, and sold the excavated values. Golden human masks, precious jewelry, Byzantine coins - all this indicates that there was a high civilization of the era of Rome, Babylon, Byzantium.

Hasan says that the Scythians lived here. By the way, there is an opinion that Ossetian is the direct descendant of the Scythian language. And here, in the Digorsky Gorge, its most ancient form has been preserved.

We dropped in on a visit to a hermit living in Galiata. He walks all year round barefoot and does not want to return to the city where he lived until the age of forty. His ancient house has no amenities or even electricity. But there is a local moonshine, which is called "Ossetian whiskey." Tried. It's 35 degrees, no more. The taste is mild.

— Those who live in the mountains are mainly engaged in animal husbandry. They raise sheep, horses, keep cows. Can make cheese, other dairy products and sell. A car periodically arrives in remote villages like this, bringing the necessary things or products - matches, salt, cereals, bread, - says Hassan.

In spring or summer, getting here is not a problem - the primer is even, except that there may sometimes be scours. Hassan says that he even drove here in a Lada Kalina, so for the Volvo V90 Cross Country, with its 21-centimeter ground clearance and all-wheel drive, traveling to the mountains was not a problem. But in winter, of course, an ordinary passenger car will not reach. Most often in mountain villages there are "Niva" and even quite a lot of GAZ-66. In one of the villages, I counted three cars at once.

On the complex and dangerous mountain serpentines, travelers are kept by Uastirdzhi, the most revered deity of the Ossetians. Uastirdzhi is the patron of men, travelers and warriors, women are forbidden to even pronounce his name. Even in official sources, many mistakenly believe that Uastirdzhi is St. George the Victorious. But despite the similarity of the functions of these two heroes - both are patrons - there is nothing in common between them.

— Do you know that you can't wear seat belts in the mountains? It should always be possible to jump out of the car at any moment. Rockfalls are not uncommon here. Once, acquaintances were driving to me on the Gelendvagen. They fell under the rocks, barely survived,” Hasan notes. But out of habit, I still buckle up. By the way, on the serpentines, I did not notice reckless drivers. It is possible, of course, that on the Niva you simply can’t go wild there. Or maybe the reason is that most of the serpentines are dirt and gravel. It's dangerous to drive fast.
If you need to be always on the alert in the mountains, then on the tracks on the tracks you can relax a little with the Pilot Assist system. It helps to keep the car within the selected lane where there are markings on both sides, but does not allow you to take your hands off the steering wheel for a long time. But the "piloting assistant" does not know how to independently brake in front of pedestrians, animals, small trailers, cyclists and motorcyclists. Meanwhile, cows on high-speed roads are a common sight in Ossetia.

Under the sky

We are heading to the village of Fiagdon. Our hotel is there, but on the way we have to overcome the Arkhon Pass. Its height is 2200 meters. When we almost passed highest point, Hasan stops me.

- You can go even higher. There is one place here, from where you can see two gorges at once - Alagirskoe and Kurtarinskoe. But the road is a bit dangerous there. The organizers excluded her from the route, Hassan warns.

Of course we'll go! Danger is not scary. After all, there was still no normal off-road on the entire route to test the capabilities of our Volvo V90 Cross Country off-road station wagon. So let's go without talking. I was so fired up with the idea that I even forgot to turn on the off-road mode. It should have helped a little in overcoming off-road conditions - the responses to pressing the gas pedal are softened, the rear part rises slightly (there is an optional air suspension installed there, while the front clearance remains unchanged). All I did was put the eight-band "automatic" into manual mode. Losing traction on a steep climb is of no use to me.

We rather dashingly climbed the mountain, slipped along a deep rut, and only on a steep rift caught on the threshold, but not critically. We reached the top when it was already getting dark.

There are no words to convey the feeling at the top. You seem to have landed on another planet where there is no one but you. And all around - a ringing silence, so pure that the low roar of the diesel engine of our car seems like a frantic roar.

Gotta get down. Soon it will be completely dark. The Volvo V90 CC sports active LED headlights. They themselves adjust the angle of the beam of light depending on the speed of movement and turn after the steering wheel. Even at night, driving along a winding serpentine is easy - the headlights "look" into the turns.

We stay overnight at the Figdon Art Hotel.

“This is such a party place for the local “golden youth,” Hassan says. But now it's empty. And only five tents turn white on the lawn on the territory of the hotel. The organizers offered those who wished to spend the night in tents and gave out sleeping bags to everyone. There were no applicants.

At the hotel we said goodbye to Hassan. Tomorrow we will go on the route without him. It's a pity. If you decide to visit North Ossetia find him on social media. His name is Khasan Morgoev. And he the best guide across Ossetia.

Dargavs - the city of the dead

On the way to the airport the next day, the most impressive stop was in the city of the dead - Dargavs. It is famous for its ancient necropolis located on the outskirts. This burial is the largest in the North Caucasus. There are about a hundred ground and semi-ground crypts here.

In stone tombs, they buried both individually and as whole families, so in some of them you can see several skulls and whole piles of bones at once. The first excavations at this site were carried out with caution, having previously made samples for the presence of plague pathogens. They write on the Web that the place is not very popular among tourists, however, stone paths lead to the crypts, and in front of the entrance to the territory " dead city» there are gates and the ticket office building. With us, only one couple visited this strange and creepy place.

Leaving North Ossetia

Ossetia has no wine of its own. But after visiting her, a sweet and at the same time tart aftertaste remained in my head. Here, even in expensive and pretentious places, there is a slight touch of parochialism. But for a pathetic vacation - to the Alps. And here - plunge into the past. Forget yourself. Reboot. Possibly rethink. If at the same time you find yourself driving a Volvo V90 Cross Country, that's fine too. This all-terrain wagon copes with Ossetian mountain roads. And in the trunk you can easily arrange an overnight stay under the stars on some pass like Arkhonsky. But we must hurry before this quiet corner is turned into a tourist mecca.

marginal notes

Contacting a travel agency is the most boring way to plan a trip. But many people are not ready to monitor services with tickets and hotels for days to find the best deal. In addition, it is not always clear where the cheapest option will be. Now the situation has changed. A team of experienced travelers assures that they have solved all the problems with finding hotels and profitable flights.

Depending on the specific point of travel, the most profitable option can be found on Trivago, and on HotelsCombined, and on HRS, and on any other site, of which there are more than a hundred around the world. Moreover, tourists simply did not hear about many tourists, which is why they overpay.

Leonid: A person is going to Spain and does not want to overpay for the same conditions. Often the lowest prices for hotels will be on internal services that the general audience does not know about. I booked Mallorca and the Canaries myself on a Spanish site, there was not even an English version there. Then they checked on well-known sites - the same numbers cost exactly twice as much. Even such very small booking sites are presented on Malpatravel. To facilitate the search on these services, we specially create video instructions in Russian.

By the way, about languages. Resource on this moment focused on the Russian-speaking audience. English is not available, but will appear in the future. The authors of the service say they wanted to help travelers from the CIS first of all. In addition, the creators are well acquainted with the peculiarities of the native market. They make it clear that income from Malpatravel is not a top priority. They talk about profit as a consequence of creating a truly independent and useful resource.

Alyona: Not a single portal can be considered independent in the supply of information - it is paid a certain amount for posting offers. Travel agencies, hotels, airlines appear on services if they buy their presence there. In the case of Malpatravel, this is not the case, all resources are presented. I wanted to do what is convenient for ourselves, our colleagues and travelers. Monetization is in partnerships with services, but only 40% of them involve affiliate programs.

Leonid: Some affiliate programs have already been launched. As for finances, we really liked the way Zuckerberg did with the development of Facebook. He was waiting for the development of the network, so that both investors and advertisers would come to him. We do not yet know how big Malpatravel will become, so we are not in a hurry to flood the site with advertising. There have already been offers: wedding photographers and so on. But how would a photographer's ad look on a travel site?

The creators of Malpatravel say that each service is good in its niche, but there is no universal aggregator. As an argument against, we call OneTwoTrip - there are both air and Railway, and car rental, and hotels. It seems to be the cherished “all in one”. What else does a traveler need?

The total number of presented services reaches several hundred. There are about 120 hotel booking sites alone. Some specialize in Europe, others mainly affect Asia, and others are North American. The developers say that they have been looking for resources for several months and the base is still expanding.

Arthur: For the first six months, we really worked around the clock. We are grateful to the software developer and our partner - Yuri Yakubovich. He was able to feel our idea and turn it into a finished product. To compile the pros and cons of each company or service, we looked through hundreds of topics on foreign forums, made selections, analyzed the data, then studied the same resources ourselves - to what extent the reviews are confirmed. Of course, they are still subjective. But, for example, the lack of round-the-clock support is a minus in any case.

In order not to go through all the links in a row, you can set criteria. We fly to Austria - select a country in the search, turn on the necessary parameters: show only local aggregators, availability of round-the-clock technical support, bonus program and others. As a result, it will turn out to narrow the list of services to 7-9 pieces (for some countries even less). Then you will have to manually open each site and look for profitable hotels or tickets. Malpatravel can sort services by work on the route you need, but the most favorable price among those available on the resources does not show - it would, of course, be excellent, but technically impossible.

Victor: Here several problems appear at once. First, it is unrealistic to communicate with all services. Anyone who can do this will probably become a billionaire in one day. Secondly, not all resources will agree to provide their APIs - after all, travelers will choose the most profitable offer and other services will suffer huge losses.

Booking a hotel and a plane, bus or train ticket is just the beginning of the journey. You can also find companies that will arrange insurance for you, rent a car, plus offers sea ​​cruises and tours from agencies. In addition, Malpatravel has a small editorial staff that compiles country guides: interesting places, convenient routes, travel tips (section "Buzzhacks"), flight schedules and stuff like that. All materials are original, without copy-paste, which sometimes even large services sin: the authors of the project have enough experience to share their personal impressions and recommendations. They also say that the service has facilitated the work of tour operators.

Ruslan: What does a competent travel agency manager do when a client comes to him? He offers either package tour or individual travel. All agencies sell tours from operators - these are actually shops. Anyone can create a tour for himself if he knows the directions of the operators. In the "Tours from operators" tab, you can select the country of departure and the end point - and you will immediately see a list of companies that travel to the desired destination. Note that not intermediaries are shown.

The relevance of Malpatravel is understandable, but how many tourists will spend nights looking for discounts so that they can save fifty rubles from a trip that costs two thousand rubles?

Arthur: The savings will be much greater. Of course, there is a category of travelers who simply open a site they are familiar with - for example, Booking.com - and choose a hotel in five minutes. Although spending a little more time, they could have booked the same room for 30% less. But many still strive to get a favorable price, so they are ready to look for cheap deals. Tourists go online: both in Russian-speaking and foreign travel forums, you can see a lot of questions like “where is it cheaper?”. The topic is in demand. However, we have a section for "lazy" tourists - with Aviasales and Hotellook forms for quick booking. In our experience, these services provide the most complete offers around the world.

If you do not take into account low-cost carriers, then, as a rule, the cheapest transport will often be a bus. When low price more important than travel time and comfort, and you are also afraid to fly, then bus routes would be the best option. Understanding this, Malpatravel compiled flights around Europe with descriptions. For example, it takes two days to get from Minsk to London and costs about 130 euros one way. Also interesting is the section "I want to go where ...". Choose the month and time of the year - summer or winter. A list of countries according to the specified sorting appears. For example, in July, winter will be in Greenland, and in December, fly to Cuba, the Maldives and other resorts for summer. In the future, the section is planned to be made more detailed.

Alyona: We expect 3-5 thousand people a day. Now new sections are being developed, existing ones are being filled, the base of services is expanding. Malpatravel will help you not only get to know the country you are going to better, but also save on travel and accommodation.