Over the Lower Volga and Kuban

When I checked in for the morning Turkish Airlines flight at Koltsovo airport, as usual, I asked for a window seat close to the tail - there the wing does not block the ground. From the bow, the view is certainly not worse, but there is a business class cabin. After climbing, our plane was above dense clouds, and I was deep in reading a travel guide, planning an evening in Lisbon. After about an hour, I looked out the window and realized that I was missing something interesting. Under the wing was the Volga, or rather, the island of Desolate just below Balakovo. On right from the dam of the Saratov hydroelectric complex with the hydroelectric power station of the same name is also clearly visible.

Volga river. Pustynny Island, Saratovskaya HPP

Further down, on the right bank, you can see the town of Volsk , the oldest center of the cement industry. The city is surrounded by quarries where limestone is extracted - the raw material for cement plants.

Volsk

A winding tributary of the Volga, according to the map, the Tereshka River.

Tereshka River

There are neat rectangles of margins at the bottom.

Fields in the Saratov region

The Volga is higher than Saratov.

Volga is higher than Saratov

Tsimlyanskoe reservoir.

Tsimlyansk reservoir

And this, as I think, is the Manych River basin, full of dams and branches.

Manych River

In flight, I'm guided by the OpenStreetMaps map in the tablet, GPS from the starboard side (north) does not work, so I can't guarantee the accuracy, but it looks like the Proletarian Reservoir on Manych.

Proletarian reservoir

Stavropol region. Circular fields - a method of irrigation, invented in the 40s of the last century by the American farmer Erich Siebach. The pipe with sprinklers is mounted on wheels and moves like an hour hand around the well.

Stavropol region. Circular fields

Some big village, it is clear that the building is low-rise.

Krasnodar Region

Once again, endless farmland.

Krasnodar Region

I couldn't tell what kind of city it was...although high-rise buildings are clearly visible. Krasnodar should be here somewhere, but the water surface at the top is confusing.

Krasnodar Region

The Krasnodar Region, thanks to its climate and soils, is a fertile place for farming. Here, the fields take up all the available space.

Krasnodar Region

A small river with wide sandbanks.

Krasnodar Region

Below is the Main Caucasian Ridge.

Black Sea Caucasus

This part of the ridge, stretching from Anapa to Sochi, is called the "Black Sea Caucasus".

Black Sea Caucasus

The range begins with low hills south of Anapa,

Black Sea Caucasus

Then the ridge stretches along the Black Sea coast to the southeast, gradually rising.

Black Sea Caucasus

In the Tuapse region, the mountains are already 1000 meters high.

Black Sea Caucasus

A little north of Tuapse, the plane crosses the coastline. Then the air route passes over the waters of the Black Sea and comes ashore in Turkey.

Black Sea coast north of Tupas