22:27, 3 May 2014

Sochi-Kerch bus trip now takes 15-20 hours, says bus station ticket office

Regular-route bus "Sevastopol - Sochi" at the Sochi bus station. May 2, 2014. Photo by Svetlana Kravchenko for the "Caucasian Knot"

Due to long queues at the ferry crossing, a bus trip from Sochi to Kerch may now take from 15 to 20 hours, the ticket sellers at the Sochi bus station report. Sochi residents hope for opening of direct sea links with the Crimea.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the ferry crossing between the ports of "Kavkaz" and "Krym" cannot cope with the flow of those who want to spend the May holidays in the Crimea. Thus, on May 1, the queue to the ferry was five km long. On May 3, the Russian Defence Minister ordered to organize an additional ferry between the above ports.

Employees of the new seaport of Sochi, which worked during the Olympic Games, said that "the port is not yet completed and not put into operation; and when it may happen – nobody knows."

According to employees of the bus station, "many workers, Cossacks and just tourists" are moving from Sochi to Kerch now.

Many of the passengers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent at the bus station in Sochi expressed their wish of opening a direct "Sochi-Kerch" sea route.

Author: Svetlana Kravchenko

Source: CK correspondent