PROVAL LAKE

Proval, in Russian, literally means... "crevice". It's a kind of natural tunnel that leads to a small underground lake of sulphurous blue water... beware of the smell! The place is very curious even if the "lake" (actually the size of a pond) is a bit dirty. In front of the entrance stands a bronze statue representing the mythical Ostap Bender, a character from the book adapted by Leoni Gaïdaï Les Douze Chaises, a classic of Soviet cinema. Russian tourists are systematically photographed in front of it.