5 Days in Dagestan

The Central Juma Mosque is the symbol of the city. Construction started in 1991, modeled on the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and it opened in 1997. It holds roughly 15,000 worshippers by most counts, and sources differ on whether it is the biggest mosque in Russia or only one of the biggest in Europe, which tells you that nobody is measuring too carefully.

It is a working mosque, so go outside prayer times and dress properly: women cover hair, shoulders and legs, men wear long trousers, and everybody takes shoes off. Ask at the entrance whether visitors are welcome that day, because rules change around holidays.

Lunch is the first lesson in Dagestani food. Khinkal here is not the Georgian dumpling with the same name: it is pieces of dough boiled in meat broth, served with boiled meat, a garlic sauce and a bowl of the broth, and it is eaten with your hands. Order it in a Dagestani café rather than a Russian one, and ask for the Avar version if the menu offers it.

Add kurze, the small braided dumplings, and tea, which comes with jam and arrives whether you order it or not. Portions are enormous. Share one khinkal between two before you order a second.

Tarki-Tau is the mountain that stands right behind Makhachkala, about 700 meters high depending on the source. There is a viewpoint on its eastern slope between the villages of Tarki and Kyakhulay, and from there you see the whole sprawl of the city and the Caspian beyond. It is the quickest way to understand how a million people got squeezed between a mountain and a sea.

The old Kumyk villages of Tarki and Alburikent are nearby. Tarki was a seat of the Kumyk rulers long before Makhachkala was a port. Drive up by taxi and agree on a waiting time, since signal and apps fade on the slope.

Walk down to the Caspian at the lighthouse, an operating lighthouse and a landmark of the city. The sea here is the world's largest enclosed body of water, and in summer the beach is where Makhachkala spends its evenings. In late autumn it is empty, grey and quiet, which suits a short stroll before the dune.

Dress is conservative even on the waterfront. Swimwear belongs on the beach, not on the promenade, and shorts are tolerated more in the city than in the mountains.

Sarykum means yellow sand in Kumyk, and it is a single dune about three kilometers long, one of the largest in Eurasia. Its highest point is quoted anywhere between 213 and 262 meters because the wind keeps moving it. It sits inside the Dagestan Nature Reserve, created in 1987, and the desert film White Sun of the Desert was shot here.

It is about 28 km and half an hour by road from the city. Climb the slope barefoot if the sand is still warm, walk to the crest and watch the light go. The sand is soft and steep, and a hundred meters take longer than you'd think. Take water, a headscarf or hat against wind, and leave before full dark.

Finish in town with something simple. Urbech is the Dagestani paste of ground seeds, nuts or apricot kernels, eaten with honey and butter on bread, and on the dinner table it often comes with tea. A plate of lamb shashlik or chudu (see day four) rounds it off.

Dagestanis eat late and family-style, and a café table is rarely empty before nine. If a local starts a conversation, that is normal; it is not a sales pitch.

Naryn-Kala is the top of the hill above Derbent, and the core of a UNESCO World Heritage Site listed in 2003 as the Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent. The fortress known today was built in the 6th century by the Sasanian shah Khosrow I, with two parallel walls running down to the sea and, west of the citadel, a 40 km mountain wall to stop riders going round it. The citadel covers about 4.5 hectares. The name is usually translated as sunny fortress.

Inside you walk past baths, cisterns, the ruins of the shah's palace and the Khan's quarters. Don't believe the old story that Alexander the Great built the walls; he was never here. The idea that a cross-domed room is the oldest Christian church in Russia, from the 4th or 5th century, is debated by specialists, and you will hear both versions.

The ticket includes the Ancient Derbent history and archaeology museum inside. Bring a hat and water in summer, because shade is scarce, and walk the top of the walls for the view of the old city and the sea.

Down in the old town, the Derbent Juma Mosque is called the oldest mosque in Russia and the former USSR. Local tradition dates it to 734, which is a claim you can take with a grain of salt: the building you see was largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1368, and it looks like a converted Christian basilica. What is solid is the later story. Closed in the 1930s, it served as the city prison from 1938 to 1943, and was given back to the community in 1943.

The quarter around it, Magal, is a maze of stone lanes and old houses. Wander without a map. The mosque publishes no visiting hours, so ask at the door and expect it to close to visitors around prayer times. Dress for a mosque.

Eat in the old town rather than on the main road. The coast is the place to ask for fish and lamb shashlik, and Derbent has its own habits: Azeri is widely spoken here, and the cooking has more rice and herbs than the mountain kitchens.

Look for a small family café in Magal rather than a restaurant with a photo menu. Ask what the owner is serving today. That is usually the best meal.

Kirkhlyar, meaning forty, is the old Muslim cemetery of Derbent, widely described as the oldest active Muslim burial ground in Russia. The tilted whitewashed stones sit under the mountain wall, and the quiet is a surprise after the market. Walk the edge, don't walk between graves.

Nearby is a museum in a restored men's bath, which explains how bathhouses worked as social clubs, usually next to a quarter mosque. Treat it as a short look, and ask the museum-reserve which of its departments is open that day.

Finish on the northern wall as it runs down to the Caspian. The Derbent lighthouse, built in 1853 on the wall, still works and is lit in the evening, so you see it only from outside. The embankment below is the best place in town for a walk at dusk.

Then go back. Allow two hours to Makhachkala and book your ride before dark. Last trains and buses are not worth risking for another coffee.

The Sulak Canyon is advertised as the deepest in Europe: 53 km long and up to 1,920 meters deep, a figure that makes it 63 meters deeper than the Grand Canyon. That number is measured from the ridge tops to the river, so claims like this depend on what you count. What you see from the viewpoint is a turquoise river sliced into limestone, which needs no statistic.

A 14 km road with a 1.5 km tunnel runs along the left wall from the Miatli dam, and the main viewpoint is at its fifth kilometer, over a horseshoe bend of the river. Vultures nest in the canyon, among the largest colonies in Russia.

The river here is a lake, held up by the dams of the Sulak cascade, and the boats are reported to leave from the village of Zubutli-Miatli, about 20 km north of the viewpoint, so confirm the pier when you book and add up to an hour of driving to the day. The ride goes between sheer walls, and you can see the Weeping waterfall from the water. How long you stay on the water is mostly your choice, from a quarter hour to longer.

Haggle politely and agree the price and the length before you board. Life jackets are standard on the larger boats; ask for one.

Lunch near the pier is trout, grilled or fried, with bread, fresh herbs and sometimes a bowl of soup. It is a standard meal on tours, and it is good because the fish is farmed in cold mountain water.

Fish is sold by weight. Ask the price per portion before you order and expect cash.

The Chirkey Dam is an arch dam on the Sulak, 232.5 meters high by one count, the tallest arch dam in Russia, completed in 1978. It supports a 1,000 MW power station and holds back a lake of about 42 square kilometers.

It is a working industrial site, and photographing it near the structures may not be allowed. Look from the public viewing points and don't point a drone at it.

Back in the city, buy a bottle of Dagestani cognac in a licensed shop. Kizlyar, in the north of the republic, is known for its brandy and has one of the five biggest brandy factories in Russia. The shelf in a licensed shop is where you meet it, because alcohol is not served everywhere (see the tips).

Sit with tea and jam instead, as most locals would. If you are invited home, say yes. Hospitality is not a slogan here.

The Karadakh Gorge is a slot in the limestone cut by the Kvartakh river: two to four meters wide in places and up to 170 meters high. It is a regional natural monument. You wade the stream and walk between walls with traces of mud flows five or six meters above your head, which is the whole warning.

From Makhachkala it is about 155 km and three hours by road, through Buynaksk and Levashi. Visit only in dry weather and not after heavy rain. The river rises quickly, and operators close the gorge in rain.

Lunch in the mountains is chudu: a thin flatbread folded around a filling of meat, pumpkin, nettle, cheese or potato, baked on a hot pan and served with butter. Think of it as a close relative of a Russian pirozhok, only flatter and bigger. Almost every guesthouse makes it, and the hostess will tell you which filling is best that day.

Eat slowly. In the mountains, refusing a second helping is considered strange, so say you are full with a smile and a hand on your chest.

Gunib sits on a steep slope at about 1,500 meters, with 700 meters of height between its lower and upper houses. The fortress above the village was the last stronghold of Imam Shamil, who led the highlanders' resistance in the Caucasian War. Russian troops took it on 25 August 1859, Shamil surrendered, and the eastern part of the war ended.

The village itself grew from a Russian military post founded in 1862. Walk the road up through the gates, the main square named after Shamil and the small Victory Park. It is a good place to feel how Russia's conquest of the Caucasus ended, told from the side of the people who lost.

On the plateau edge a viewpoint called Shamil's gazebo looks across the valley. Bring a jacket: Gunib sits at around 1,500 meters and evenings are cold from autumn to spring. The sun goes behind the ridges, and the village lights up one lamp at a time.

There is little nightlife here. That is the point. Walk back to your guesthouse in the dark with a torch, and expect stars.

The guesthouse (gostevoy dom) dinner is the other reason to sleep in the mountains. Expect lamb, khinkal, soup, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables and a lot of tea. Sometimes there is honey with urbech for dessert.

You can book on messengers or through your tour operator. Ask about heating in winter, and whether there is a hot shower, since water can run out.

Chokh is a mountain village about 20 km from Gunib, one of the Dagestani villages that cling to cliffs and ridges, like Gamsutl and Kubachi. Tour listings call it out for its terraced fields. The houses are stone, and the village is still lived in.

Walk the lanes and ask before photographing people. Women and older men may refuse, and you should respect that. The road in is narrow and slow after rain.

Gamsutl is a village on the slope of Mount Gamsutlmeer at around 1,400 to 1,500 meters. The name is Avar for below the khan's fortress or the king's fortress. People left over about four decades, and the last permanent resident died in 2015. Nobody knows its exact age, and estimates run from 2,000 to 5,000 years. The ruins show the layers: Christian crosses, gravestones with Persian inscriptions, Arabic script on house fronts and a door with a Star of David.

It is a steep climb on foot from where the road ends, and you can pay a local UAZ driver for a lift. The path is steep and slippery in the wet. Wear boots, carry water and tell someone when you plan to return.

Eat before the long drive. A guesthouse near Salta or Chokh serves the same mountain table as last night, and that is fine. Order kurze if you haven't, the Dagestani cousin of Russian pelmeni, shaped as a braid.

Salta, about 20 km from Gunib, has a gorge and an underground waterfall in many tour listings. It is a possible detour, but it adds time you don't have today.

Khunzakh is the old capital of the Avar Khanate, at 1,600 meters. The Tobot waterfall drops over 70 meters by operators' numbers, into a canyon that tour sellers say is more than 600 meters deep and that has a second fall, Itlyatlyar. The river is called Tobot too.

Khunzakh has a history museum, listed in a 2021 entry as open Tuesday to Saturday, 09:00-17:00, for about 50 RUB (0.50 EUR). Friday is fine, but Sunday and Monday are closed. It is not one of the stops above, so add it only if the road has gone faster than planned.

The Matlas plateau is the open high ground west of Khunzakh, at around 2,000 meters, used by tour companies as a viewpoint, with an adventure park (zipline and a bungee-style swing) for those who want it. In winter, two frozen rivers dropping off the plateau are said to form the Matlas ice falls.

Stay for the light on the edge and leave before it fades. The road down in the dark is the part of the day you won't enjoy.

By the time you arrive it is dark and tired is the right word. Dagestani cafés stay open late, so order a hot dish and a lot of tea, and sit. A glass of kvass from a shop fridge is the other option if you simply want something cold.

If your flight is the next morning, the airport is 21 km from the center. Book the taxi the evening before.