Stephen M. Bland
Senior Editor and Head of Investigations at The Times of Central Asia. Journalist, Award-Winning Author, Travel Writer, Researcher and Editor specialising in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Abkhazia Gallery
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Front line in the war with Georgia, much of Gali still lies in ruins
Not a town to get stuck in at night, this scrap metal collector's far pocket bulged with a handgun
You can't beat a Soviet bus stop
Derelict pier on the Black Sea Riviera
In this highly militarised land, monuments to the war dead abound
Abandoned Soviet-era building on the Sukhum seafront
Shoreline of the Abkhaz capital as seen from the burnt-out pier
A placard of Lenin haunts a seafront park
Dilapidated block of flats, used by a guidebook as a landmark
An opportunity to be serenaded Abkhaz style
A Soviet era statue of heftily-built, scantily-clad women stood in front of the half burnt-out Hotel Abkhazia. When I searched the internet for the place, the only listing I could find detailed the building as the “Ministry of Corrections,” which explained a lot
Covered in Led Zeppelin and Motorhead graffiti, the upper deck of the burnt-out pier erratically opened as a bar
Party amidst the ruins; Russian holidaymakers on the Black Sea Riviera
Rusting statue on the promenade of a girl with a gramophone
Shell of the former parliament building, where in September 1993, Abkhaz fighters backed by Chechens and Circassian mercenaries with Russian weaponry killed the remaining Georgian parliamentarians
Old men playing checkers on the promenade shortly before curfew
The monastery at Novy Afon, founded by Russian monks during the Nineteenth Century
Stalactites in the vast underground cave network, a big hit with Russian tourists
Stalacmites in the underground cave network
Eerie crumbling statue on the seafront at Ochamchira
Having had a large ethnically Georgian population before the first Abkhaz War in 1992, 60% of the buildings in Ochamchira remain derelict
Ochamchira Vokzal. With most of the track and overhead lines from here to the border with Georgia having been looted, the station remains abandoned
The waiting room at Ochamchira Vokzal
With all industry in the town having long since shut down, the derelict Oil Extraction Plant is one of numerous abandoned factories
All images copyright Stephen M. Bland