Khunzakh sits on a high, windswept plateau in the heart of mountainous Dagestan, at roughly 1,700 metres, and for centuries it was the capital of the Avar Khanate, the most powerful state in the mountains of the eastern Caucasus. The Avar khans ruled from here, and the village played a central part in the wars of the nineteenth century: it was the home of Hadji Murad, the Avar commander whose shifting loyalties between Imam Shamil and the Russians inspired Tolstoy's last great novella. A Russian fortress, built after the conquest, still stands on the edge of the village.
The plateau around Khunzakh is a surprise after the narrow gorges below. It is broad and open, with meadows, hay fields and villages of stone houses, and on its edges it drops away suddenly into deep canyons. The most famous is the canyon near the village where the Tobot waterfall plunges over a cliff into a narrow gorge, a sight that draws visitors from all over Dagestan. The air is clean and cool, the light sharp, and in early summer the meadows are full of flowers. Avar is spoken everywhere, and traditional crafts, especially carpets and metalwork, survive in the surrounding villages.
The road to Khunzakh is one of the great rides of Dagestan. From Buynaksk or the Gimry tunnel it climbs through gorges and over passes, with tight hairpins, steep gradients and long drops beside the road, then levels out onto the plateau. The surface is mostly paved but can be rough and broken, with rockfalls and landslides after rain. Watch for livestock, slow trucks and local drivers who know the bends and take them fast. The best season is from late spring to early autumn; snow can close the roads in winter.
Khunzakh is a village of about four thousand people, with shops, cafes and guesthouses, and fuel may be available, but Untsukul, about twenty kilometres away, is the nearest larger town. Top the tank down in the valley and pack a lunch. Mountain villages here keep traditional manners, and a modest outfit and a polite greeting go a long way. Then stand at the edge of the canyon, watch the waterfall, and feel the wind across the plateau that the Avar khans once ruled.