Caucasus to Debut in 2014

The 2014 Winter Olympics are going to introduce travelers to a part of the world that most of them know very little about, the Caucasus Mountains. Let's begin with the first question that people may ask: What continent is it on? If Istanbul is a bridge between Europe and Asia, then it must be in Asia, right? Wrong. Istanbul connects the Roman definition of Europe to Anatolia, a province they called Asia Minor. In other words, the Bosphorus seperates Europe from Europe. The EuroCentrics who run popular Geography tell us that a continent is a large body of land surrounded on all side by ocean and then they tell us Europe is a continent, but the Continent is not a continent at all but a very large peninsula off the mammoth continent of Eurasia, that runs from Shanghai to Normandy. That's right, I count six continents. Sticklers will list five, saying North and South America are one land mass since they are connected by the Isthmus of Panama. The Eurasia controversy may rear its head when the 2014 Winter Olympics find themselves in Sochi, a city at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains and overlooking the Black Sea.

Sochi, a city and resort area in the Krasnodar Kray that stretches along the Black Sea Coast at the foot of the western part of the Caucasus Mountain Range is attracting all kinds of investment these days, as Russia sees an opportunity to add some sorely needed dimensions to a tourism that is basically stuck in Moscow, St. Petersburg and on Volga River cruise ships. The Black Sea Coast has long been popular with Russian travelers, but hasn't really attracted outsiders to its beaches. Ski resorts in the Caucasus could be an attraction that puts the Black Sea on the map for foreign tourists. I've travelled the length of the Black Sea in Turkey. That part of the sea won't be attracting swimmers as the water is pretty murky. Don't know about the Russian shoreline.

According to reports Russian, South Korean, German and French investors are moneying up to build $15 billion worth of resorts in the North Caucasus. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev had already announced plans to build several resorts spanning the several republics of the region (Krasnodar Kray, Stavropol Kray, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Dagestan and the only one that 99% of non-Russians have heard of Chechnya, and therein lies a whole other can of worms). All of them in combination with Georgia separate the Black Sea from the Caspian Sea.

Resorts are planned for Lagonaki, Mamison, Matlas and Arkhyz among others. A fifth resort is planned for Mount Elbrus, a mountain taller than anything in Western Europe. When completed, the Russians believe these resorts will attract 5 million visitors per year.