Dombay ( Домбай ). A voyage to Dombay, The Karachay–Cherkess Republic ( Къарачай-Черкес Республика), Russia, Europe.

Even those well travelled in the world’s most stunning wilderness areas can only gape in awe when they first set eyes on Dombay. Wedged into a box canyon at the confluence of three raging mountain rivers, the town is surrounded by a soaring crown of jagged, Matterhorn-like peaks of rock and ice, festooned with glaciers and gushing waterfalls.

A spate of Olympic-related construction – Dombay was a backup venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi – has done little to improve the town's appearance. Fortunately, it takes only a brisk walk to be far removed from the town proper.

Dombay and its surrounding mountains lie within the Teberdinsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve. Most locals belong to the mountain-dwelling Karachay ethnic minority.

Three ushchelie (deep valleys) watered by glacier-fed torrents – Alibek from the west, Amanauz from the south and Dombay-Ulgen from the east – meet here to flow north, eventually as the Teberda River. Straddling both sides of the Amanauz River is the village of Dombay.
From here two cable cars and several chairlifts ascend the Mussa-Achitara (Horse Thief) ridge to the east.

The winding ul Karachaevskaya goes right through the village, past the cable cars and most hotels. The tatty residential zone lies to the south of the village.

You’ll find good hikes and horse riding in Teberda, 20km north of Dombay.

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