Farm Achalteke Tukleky 

We went through about 12 or 14 similar waterfalls, each with its own surprise, I remember each one, although I am not able to count them exactly. The horses resigned themselves to their fate and understood the need to obey 100%. What is interesting is that I had no side thoughts in my head, purely full concentration on the task at hand at any given time. At that moment, I wasn't thinking at all about the fact that if we got stuck somewhere, no one would help us because no one would even find us - that didn't cross my mind until much later. I doubt that I could have unhitched and picked up the horses in any other circumstances. After all, Taran weighed at least 350 kg. And it wasn't just pushing him away, I was actually lifting him on my shoulders. I didn't feel pain at that moment, cold - even though the water was icy. My shirt managed to dry on me in the short 10-15 minute breaks between dives under the falls.
The last waterfall, perhaps the thirteenth, surpassed all the others. When I saw it, I thought again that this was the end. It was 5-6 meters high and there were huge boulders sticking out of the water at the bottom. To jump down meant certain death. But God exists, and though he had every right to punish me deservedly, he took pity on the innocent horses and the boy and extended a helping hand. I looked around and noticed that the gully was widening slightly and there was something like a path in the rock at the top left, very steep, rising at an angle of 30-40 degrees, about 3-4 metres long, gradually widening and seemingly biting into the rock face. What is further on is not visible. In that rock wall, about 20 m high, a black rectangle can be seen - the entrance to the adit. This eventually served as evidence for the suspicious shepherds - few of the local people knew about it. In the past, gold was mined here and people were lowered to the adit by rope from the top of the rock. So I said to Edik: "This is our only chance to save ourselves - we'll try to climb up the rocky slope and then we'll see."
For the first time in my life I saw a horse crawling like a dog. I never thought a horse could do something like that.
Taran looked at me for a long time, flapping his ears and pricking his teeth as if to say, "Aren't you an asshole? What have you invented again?" Well, imagine: Edik from behind swipes Taran across the tender spots, Taran stands to the left and literally digs his front hooves into the rock. I'm supporting him and swinging him across his stomach at the same time.

Taran makes several incredible jumps to a platform that was not visible from below. It then leads down a steep slope. But back - Taran is standing on the platform and I repeat the same thing, but in a more subtle way, with Sokol. Sokol doesn't resist, the chic crawls up on his own. And from here on everything is easy - or rather easier, but in the light of what we have been through .... We literally ride down the steep slope on our asses, scraping off everything we can. We cross a stream, climb up a hill and wherever the trail went, there the trail went. We follow it, the gully widens. We're saved!
The interesting thing was that when we climbed the hill, we saw that we had to go a few more turns on that mountain path to finally get out of the narrows. And so, as it turned out, what appeared to be a clear time saver from the top of Chimgan was just an illusion. We gained nothing in terms of either time or mileage savings, but we did learn a very harsh lesson. Again, I repeat - there was no way I wanted anything like this. But it happened, whether through my stupidity or other causes, and we had no choice but to deal with it as best we could to get out of the trap. A big thanks to the horses - they did not resist, they did not panic, they dealt with the obstacles with all their horse power, like a mountain goat or a leopard. They did not kill us, although they undoubtedly had the right to do so, if only in an instinctive reaction of self-preservation.
And finally, we are coming out of the narrows in front of which the collective sheepfold stands. A man peeks out of a tent and hears our movement. If you could see the look in his eyes, it's not as if he saw a pair of horsemen, but a pair of dinosaurs. He disappeared and the next thing you know, two people have appeared, discussing something animatedly, staring at us and gesticulating with their hands. Only when we had already passed them after greeting them did we hear "Where are you coming from?" To our answer they said, "That's impossible, it's impossible to come from there." But what got me the most was Edik, who never spoke a single word during the entire journey: "I thought we would never get out of there." At that moment I realized everything, I got chills and then sweat poured from head to toe.
And what happened next? We approached the camp and I said to Edik, "Edik, if you say anything to anyone, I'll cut out your tongue." He was silent for a long time, and then he said, "I still don't understand what happened." We arrived, saddled up and got the horses, and sat down to the fire, just in time for dinner. I asked Lena: "Do we have any alcohol?" She says, "We have vodka." I say, "Pour it. A big drink." I drank it in one gulp. Edik is watching me, so I ask him: "You want one?" He nods. I pour him a big drink too. He falls into it without blinking, and he's a boy who doesn't drink at all. I ask Lena for another shot, we both throw it in and keep drinking, but there's no more vodka.