We got to Shulgan Tash nature reserve today and visited the same named cave, famous mostly for its' rock paintings.
What amazes me the most is that the nature reserve was initially created to protect forest beekeeping, the rock paintings were discovered only few years later, and now tourists came here only to see the cave, almost nobody cares about the bees.
Worth to say, it reminds of Kronotsky nature reserve at Kamchatka, where the world famous Valley of Geysers was discovered several decades after the reserve was established.
Back to Shulgan Tash, I'm not quite sure what impressed me the most here – the cave or fragile and wonderful autumn colors. But as long as I've bothered you with colors almost for a week now, I decided to go with the cave. It's actually three and a half kilometers long, but tourists can see only a small part. And as long as out breath (and our hands) is harmful for the paitings, you can only see newly made replicas.
Despite that the cave is impessive. It's huge and cold and dangerous. And it really makes you want to break the rules and go and explore those restricted parts, even if you didn't think about it before. There's something magnetic. It's hard to overcome.
Luckily for us, the colors of the fall outside were even more magnetic. So, we didn't deviate from the path.
