It must have been about the early eighties, in the summer when I first arrived in the Crimea. We brought with a tent and lived in settlement Malorechenskoye. We also hitch-hiked here two consecutive years, staying the whole summer. We pitched our tent above the sea. It was there that I wrote both "Platan" and "Watchman Sergeev", not realizing at that time how much the Crimea had influenced on me.

When I meditated on why I had a longing for Crimea - I realized that body itself remembers, while the mind may have forgotten, the memory of body says, "Here is the best place of all!" By virtue of something unique in its conditions, by the strength of ancient spirits, the energy doesn't seem to be similar at all to that which lies on all sides.

Here, all is as it ever was. Here, in Soviet times, this place wasn't completely Soviet, and even in our modern times, it isn't quite modern. It is, simply, what it is. It feels as though the old Ghosts that dwelt within this place still hold it in their grasp. And with Ghosts, everything becomes much cozier :-)

As for me it has become so clear now, - Crimea was, Crimea is, and I hope, it will ever be, the place, where, thanks to the isolation from continental landmass, intercourse between it and the people who live here is much more evident. Here everything seems to me to be the utmost of reality. Besides, such places are worth their weight in gold. Though I have the opportunity theoretically, to go anywhere in the world, for I have acquaintances all over the world, where all is good, on the land or sea… I long only for the Crimea.

That is what I need. From this point of view, I'm ready to recommend this place to all people for whom it's important to live in the present reality, a place not reinvented to confirm to the contemporary, nor spoiled by a fabricated history. Here is reality. Here Gods are in no way ancient history. Here you will find something still "wild" and untamed. Climbing the mount, you will find: here's the bay on one side, and to the other a town, but the rest remains "wild".

This fact sets the Crimea apart from other places I have known. Here all is alive. The more places like this on the planet, the better. As for me, the only place that can compare to the Crimea is Crete, where everything is still alive as well, and yet, here is wilder yet - here is closer to my heart.

For the last 12 years, strictly speaking, I have been knocking about the world. I have been in MEGA - comfortable places, and yet, but despite all, we are staying here in Coktable and not in Florida. To be honest, here is a hundred times more comfortable, not because I'm used to "soviet life". Here, "soviet life" neither was in the past, nor is it in the present. Here is real life.