Mountain Ingushetia is amazing! Mountains, tower complexes, nature—it's all absolutely incredible. I'll post pictures later.

But there was a small catch thanks to border guards and some weird laws. Turns out you can't fly a drone within a 5 km zone near the border without special permission (honestly, I still don't get why—enemy satellites get just as good pictures anyway). The border guards kindly let me know this when they happened to drive by while I was launching. We worked it out so I'd stop flying and they'd go on their way. There was also the option of me riding along with them to file a report, but neither of us were really into that idea.

You'll often spot various monuments or plaques dedicated to Uastyrdzhi, a deity of the traditional Ossetian religion, in Ossetian parks and along roadsides. Yet officially, most representatives of the people practice Orthodox Christianity.

Christianity reached the noble ancestors of the Ossetians back in the 10th century. But ordinary people continued to practice their traditional religion. After joining the Russian Empire, missionaries from the Russian Orthodox Church came here and began converting the locals to Orthodox Christianity. To simplify the process, they decided to replace the traditional deities with corresponding Christian saints. So Uastyrdzhi was equated with Saint George. But it's safe to say this didn't really help much.

Ossetians may call themselves Orthodox, but alongside Christian rituals, they continue to perform traditional ones as well. For example, one of the most widely celebrated religious holidays is the Week of Uastyrdzhi.

There are lots of small villages in the mountainous regions of Ossetia. In most of the tiniest ones, there are practically no permanent residents left—urbanization is spreading across the planet. But wherever people do stay, yellow gas pipelines are everywhere (look carefully at the end of the video). Even for just 1-2 people. At least around popular spots, I kept running into these utilities all the time. Hopefully, connecting to the pipeline doesn't cost a fortune for the locals.

P.S. Telegram really crushed the video quality last time. I'll try uploading with a slightly larger file size.

I found the best bathroom in the world )

The Dargavs cemetery looks incredibly Instagram-worthy. But these charming structures are actually family crypts where generations of the same family were buried. Bodies were simply stacked inside on wooden boards (sometimes in boat-shaped coffins) in 4 layers. When space ran out, mummified bodies were just thrown down below and the cycle repeated.

In the 19th century, after a plague epidemic, this cemetery was abandoned and burials stopped. People generally thought it was best to avoid the place altogether. During Soviet times, scientists came and declared it safe, said tourists could visit, and opened it as a museum.

Everything is remarkably well-preserved. The only thing missing is the covers on the openings where bodies were placed. That's why you can see the boats, boards, and bones through them.

In recent years, there have been incidents where visitors moved bones around for nice photos and even tried to take souvenirs. In response, officials seriously discussed closing the museum to visitors. But for now, it's still operating.

The mountains are beautiful! (and no internet)

All around Vladikavkaz, you'll find these mobile coffee kiosks. They seem to be open 24/7 (or at least stay open very late). The coffee is really good. Prices are reasonable.

Overall, the city is very pleasant. Lots of old buildings, plenty of lush greenery. In the evening, the center feels very cozy, with crowds of people strolling around. Tons of cafes and eateries with delicious food. But I'll tell you more about the food separately.

But at least you can taste ready-made dishes in stores :)

I was hoping to snap the perfect postcard-style photo of the main street with a streetcar and mountains in the background, but I suddenly discovered that everything here has been dug up and the trams aren't running yet. Plus, the mountains are hiding behind clouds :)

PS in case you haven't Googled it yet, Дзæуджыхъæу is Vladikavkaz in Ossetian, though the city was officially called this in Russian too for almost 10 years during Soviet times.

I think it's time to wrap up my remote work travels. Made it to Dzaujikau. It's great here: sunshine and +25°C. The weekend forecast looks just as good :)

Since I happened to be near Sergiyev Posad, I decided to check out Gremyachy Waterfall too. From the descriptions, it looked really intriguing. In reality, it's not worth making a special trip out there. But if you're passing by, you can definitely stop in.

The wooden buildings are relatively new. About 20 years old. Although, the main temple actually burned down this year. They're planning to rebuild it.

The last 1.5 kilometers of road to the place is an absolute nightmare — terrible dirt road. I managed to get through in my sedan, but only because there hadn't been any rain. Just before the turn, there was a nice sign about the governor's paved roads program :)

In descriptions of the waterfall, they write "the highest waterfall in the Moscow region," "a quick alternative to Caucasus waterfalls." In reality, it's much more modest, though crowds of pilgrims do fill bottles with water from it. And they even argue about which stream has the most healing properties.

The Moscow region has lots of amazing estate museums. They really put in the effort and are eager to welcome visitors. They offer not just house tours, but all kinds of activities (looks like weekends only): painting masterclasses, pottery workshops, and all sorts of other stuff. Not just for little kids, but for adults too.

I checked out Muranovo and Abramtsevo yesterday and I really recommend them.

There's an surprisingly huge number of people wanting to see the city. Some museums require you to book in advance. If you just walk in off the street — there are no spots available. On Saturday afternoon, they're offering reservations for Sunday evening. Apparently that's when all the weekend tourists leave town.

The café situation isn't much better. I tried a couple of decent places and they said I'd have to wait an hour and a half. On the fourth try, I managed to find a free table.

Kolomna has bike lanes! And pedestrians don't even walk on them.

The city center has some really charming old buildings. Wooden houses, little fences, carved shutters. Beautiful.

I stopped by Lazhechnikov's estate. Almost nothing has survived from the original, and the restoration only roughly shows how everything used to look. But the tour guide was absolutely colorful and engaging. You could tell he's really passionate about the subject—he lives for his work.

He also told us that a couple of hundred years ago, healthy teeth were considered almost improper. Unmarried girls, especially from less wealthy families, would stain their teeth black with special soot. Cavities showed that there was plenty of sugar at home. And where there's sugar, there's wealth in the household. And a dowry :)

Good thing we don't do that anymore.

As summer was coming to an end with the weather still nice, I finally decided to explore something that's been right next to me all these years, but I just never managed to get around to it.

I went to Kolomna. Either I was unlucky, or people here react strangely to directions. The few people I asked answered in such a condescending tone, as if I'd asked them "is it really true that 2+2 equals 4?".