Indiana Andrushenko and the Marble Cave

Raved about by legend and locals alike, the strapping young lad sets off for the Marble Cave apparently located high in the mountains outside Alushta. Having pieced together partial information about its whereabouts he is cautiously optimistic he will discover what has been described as magical but he will not rest until this is personally verified. Local transportation only goes so far before he is dumped unceremoniously roadside with little more than scraps of a map in his head based on written accounts, and determination. Stocking up on supplies (read:biscuits) he bucks the proffered taxi and sets off into the small village under the noon sun with crisp conditions. All canine attacks rebuffed the start of the journey is without incident along the dusty road until a royal purple vehicle approaches from behind and slows. A lift seems to be offered and cunning as he is he accepts in order to save energy for the tasks to come. Only minutes down the road the free ride ends and once again he is in the open air. Locals approached are either excellent liars not willing to disclose the majestic whereabouts to a foreigner or imbeciles.

A stroke of luck would come in the form of a beguiling English-speaking woman whom he befriends and through careful discussion is given not only initial directions but a head start as she walks him to a trailhead. As instructed he enters the forest where the ascent begins and steadily rises first to the ground where snow still lies then past the treeline before finally plateauing. The journey, he knows, is far from over.

Strides across the open field are interrupted by photographic documentation of the route for explorers to come but as the adventurer continues without finding his prize this effort becomes dangerously wasteful. The only sign of humanoid life comes from the abandoned vehicle on the sole mud-caked road that he traverses as he presses on. Now above the clouds, following nearly three hours of trekking, one might think that the stupendous views would be prize enough but he has bigger things on his mind.

Finally the path breaks away, down into a shadowy valley, and he hypothesises that if there were to be a near-mythical cave the entrance would be here. Alas all that he finds are snow and mud drenched pant cuffs and cutting his losses he climbs straight up and out.

Daylight is waning, threatening his determination, but his will is strong and he forges on with only a vague, haunting, dark thought of a night alone in the mountains stuffed deep in the back of his mind. Then he hears it! Voices. Weighing his options he concludes the potential glory outweighs the potential downfall and calls out. And again. Silence..

Undeterred he makes for the highest point and obvious peak, serendipitously the same presumed direction as the unanswering voices. Then he spots movement, first one and then another, and waves a greeting. Valuable leads are at stake. Cutting a beeline for the couple they firstly are able to communicate and secondly seem to know of the location. Tormenting your hero they only agree to assist him if he first leads them to the nearby precipice. Although it appears a simple endeavour their careful steps and hence sluggish progress serve to render the man further frustrated with the lack of progress. Once his end of the bargain is finally taken care of, being an honest fellow, he expects corresponding payment but is disappointed to hear them refuse, citing a lack of remaining daylight (without mention of their prolonged summit). They do however agree to provide details, and even show him the route via the apparently-not completely deserted vehicle seen earlier. Without option he accepts this agreement and with their knowledge imparted, including a return trip to the village, he resigns to return another day. It has been a full day, much of it spent relentlessly hiking with little, or potentially nothing to show for it, but the dream of the Marble Cave is too alluring to relinquish that easily and he vows that the search will continue..