The word "most" can really be applied to Karabi Mountains. They are the most intensive karst area of Crimea with 306 of 800 karst shafts of the peninsula. There is the most deep shaft of Crimea – Soldier Shaft (500 m.deep). The massive is fed by the most strong karst source of the area named Karasu-Bashi. Karabi is a territory of amazing, almost fantastic landscapes, unique historical monument.
  We go by regular bus from Alushta busstation to Generalskoye village. Then we go to Mayskaya Street and further to the village fence. Tha road dives into the forest right behind a small pond. There is a white house seen through the trees. Behind it the road crosses the mouth of the gorge. From this place, jumping on stones, appears a quick mountain river called Orta-Uzen. You will meet this river three times till you reach its source – the ancient Ai-Aleksiy Fountain. It is made in the form of a chapel; silver water streams spring from two pipes in the front wall .
  The road turns left and goes up with a long but rather flat ascend along Kara-Tau Ridge. From the fountain and to the pasture the road is quite simple for a walker. You should go on and on along a well-seen car truck with Karabi-pasture pointer at the fork (45 minute-walk). We still go straight. We meet one more fork in 10 minutes. Then let's go left. The right road goes up onto the plateua. We cross a green glade and soon on our way we see a karst deepening. Five more minutes along the forest. Suddenly trees part. The Karabi-pasture is before us. It seems that a mountain glade was ploughed by mighty unseen tractors. Each one of them has made deepenings upon its allotment and has risen huge lime-stones. From a close distance it is seen that they are not stones but long crests. They stick out of the ground like sharp grinning teeth.
  The road forks again at the exit from the forest. This time we go to the right.
  And here it is - the boundless space of Karabi pastures. By the way if pastures are fogged or covered with rainy clouds (here at the height of 1000 m it is almost the same), even if there are gloomy clouds from the east and fresh air blows from there you should better turn back. The most dangerous thing on Karabi is to get lost in the fog. A man can go round and round in this stone chaos for a day or two (sometimes the fog lasts a week and more) with the risk to fall from one of numorous rocks and even to freeze during summer night on Karabi which is very cold. Artful cracks covered with snow and hiding deep holes should be added to them.
  If weather deterioration finds you at Big Buzluk cave (it is situated on our route) you should go quickly to the meteorological station which is seen from the cave.
  But now the horizon is clear and the route is far from dangerous places. It is still on the road adjoining woody slopes of Kara-Tau and bends around its feet. Let's follow the same tactics: we will miss all the turns to the left. In 10 minutes north-east there appeared white buildings of meteorological station. But we go east around Kara-Tau and its far-extended bare lime-stone rocks. Behind the rocks to the left of the road there is a deep hollow looking like a bottom of a dried up lake. There is a pointer to the meteorological station to the left. But we still go to the right. After we ascend from the pointer to the hill let's stop in order to orient. Look at the road which calls us to go on while coiling along rocky hills. There is a trough with two reservoirs quite close: they are for sheep. There are two or three single trees and a dark line on the hill crest to the south-east and left. One more trough - a massive and concrete one. Here we leave the road and move onto Karabi pastures.
  So here we are. Now take out your compass. Almost east from us (azimuth 75) is a two-head hill of Karanchih-Burun. It's two peaks are crowned with stones. There are two distinctive cross crests between Karanchih-Burun and us – they are manes. On the further mane almost at the center of a double-head "Burun" standing behind it (azimuth 90) there is a stone figure over the entrance to Mamina Cave. The cave is 20 meters from the stone on the opposite slope. There is a well-seen shadowed grotto - a false entrance into Mamina cave, the real entrance is on the opposite side. But the azimuth is unchanged. The azimuth and all said about cunnings of the first orients will help you to define the situation of Mamina cave in any condition. After we define the position we go straight right on a steep slope down.
  15 minute's walk and we stand over a deep hole. Under its steep wall there is a low and broad entrance into the cave, to be exact - into its lobby. At the further end of the lobby there is a narrow crack and a vertical 4-meter well behind it.
  Mamina cave is famous for its architecture. It has two wide and tall halls. The impression about greatness of the underground palace is intensified by lime-stone ribs which, like bearing constructions of the dome, go up and into darkness.
  Now we get out to the surface. And again the double-headed Karanchih-Burun is before us. Go straight towards it and bend it from the left. Stop when the hills, lying on the other side of the hill, become open. North-east, 700 meters from us, is a chain of stone figures. The most outstanding one (azimuth 65) is on a high rock. 70 meters to the right (azimuth 70) is a smaller stone figure. Right under this stone there is Big Buzluk cave.
  In order to not make extra ascending and descending bend around Karanchih-Burun before going on and start your way to Buzluk agains the middle or right opposite the southern peak of the double-headed hill. It takes about half an hour to get to the stone figure. 20 meters from it to the east there is a hollow. But it is not seen yet. The crown of a beech-tree, suspiciously green on almost bare stone slope, tells us about proximity of the hollow. You should go toward the tree. And you stop amazed over a dark depth.
  Upon the eastern, quite flat slope of the hollow, the path goes by a wide beech-tree and leads to a platform before a big grotto. Further there is a rather hard obstacle: a 6-meter vertical wall. It has many ledges and hooks. But you'd better help yourself with a rope.
  With the help of available means we climb down from one more "step" and find ourselves under the dome of a giant hall. The beech-tree, up on the hill where the sun is hot, looks so small from here. Big Buzluk is specially beautiful during spring and in the beginning of summer while it's icy clothes are on. In niches and cracks going up and down on the walls of the cave, ice stallactites hang like chrystal lusters. Western gallery of the cave concedes a real icy palace.
  There is a 19-meter deep well at the northern wall. But descent into this spillery hollow can be made only by skilled cave explorers with special equipment. Anyway there is nothing remarkable. During intensive ice thawing a little stream flows along the bottom of the well.
  After you climb out of Big Buzluk hollow look at the east. At the horizon, like a sharp ledge, is a high rocky peak (azimuth 75). Let's call it "Horned" rock. Between it and Buzluk is next part of our route.
  We bypass the hollow on the slope of Buzluk hill from the left, then go along the slope of a low ridge under the very crest. Now where is that flat boring valley seen from Buzluk? Wherever you look there are picturesque rocks, isles of trees and bushes.
  In 15 minutes we are at the hollow on the left. A flight of birds flies out from a deep shaft of the hollow. There are lots of shafts on Karabi. Soon they become a necessary and constant detail of the landscape and does not attract attention. In 15 minutes more a majestic grotto is seen to the right – it is called «False Buzluk». The entrance arch is guarded by rain and wind modeled idol which looks like brought from the Easter Island. And suddonly you notice that you are in a strange, almost alien world.
  We cross a wide ravine. After we climb let's turn right to the middle of the opposite hill. You'd better keep to the middle of the slope on this intensively hilled territory. In 15-20 minutes let's make a halt near Horned Rock. Its peak is really horned: it is devided by a hollow. But from a close distance all this looks rather like gates.
  Here we are at the boundary of two worlds: behind us is chaos of stones and hollows, ahead are green hills and valleys with soft outlines. North-west (azimuth 330) Irtysh mountain is above Karabi pastures. It is semicircular like the sun during sunset. Mountain feet are covered with forest.
  The highest hills are in the north-easter part of the horizon. The look, jumping from one mountain peak to another, slips to the east. The last of the peaks is situated south-east from us (azimuth 135). It's our new reference point so we go towards it. Not we sure will not get lost. Even if we deviate from the azimuth we will meet altogather the southern steep of Karabi. Our choice is stipulated only because of conveniences of the way.
  Now we bend this hill from the right and get to a road. In 45 minutes our way will be blocked by southern steep of Karabi and behind it, over the hills covered with forest, unlimited horizon of the Black Sea will appear.
  Let's go along this steep to the left to the upper part of Chigenitra gorge lying down. And there, where the steep stops being a terrible obstacle, where in in shallowed gorge on the clay, trambled down by sheep, ponds are shining, a stone pile begins, which is a sad trail of famous long walls, sometimes blocking mountain passes of the Southern Crimea. This stone pile lasts 700 meters up to the very forest in Tanasskiy ravine. This wall blocked the way into Chigenitra gorge from the valley where Egiz-Tinah lake is.
  While walking along these walls look at the gorge not to miss a strange – even Marsian – landscape: behind the ponds on the opposite flat slope of the gorge tree-looking, hand-looking and chapel-looking rocks grow from the ground. They convulsively try to touch the sky. There is something tragic in their outlines.
  Under the cover of the forest where long walls are over, we make a halt - the last one on Karabi pastures. Further on is only a descent to Ribachiye village.
  Before going down you should climb onto a slope at the road turning south. The road dives into woods behind the crest and leads to a pass, blocked by the remainders of the ancient wall. The road goes further down and right to the fountain house. This is Suuk-Su source. There are tents of Chigenitra tourist base close by. Here a tourist can count on hospitality, night-stay, because it's about 10 km up to Ribachiye village.