Georgia
Chkheri

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    • Day 8

      Auf zur Georgischen Heerstraße

      October 5, 2019 in Georgia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

      Da der Sommerpalast der russischen Zaren in Borjomi renoviert wird, müssen wir auf eine Besuch verzichten und verlassen den Kurort, folgen wir der Kura flussabwärts und erreichen mittags das auf einem Felshügel gelegenen orthodoxen Kloster Dschwari. Voll ist es hier, genauso wie in Mtskheta, eine der ältesten georgischen Städte. Der Ort ist Weltkulturerbe mit eindrucksvollen Gebäuden. Besonders eindrucksvoll die über 1000 Jahre alte Swetizchoweli-Kathedrale mit der „Lebensspendende Säule, in der die Hochzeitspaare quasi im Viertelstundentakt verheiratet werden. Arsen und Vahe kennen glücklicherweise ein etwas abseits gelegenes Cafe, in dem wir Pause machen können.
      Auf der Georgischen Heerstraße fahren wir anschließend nach Norden Richtung russische Grenze. Wir passieren den türkisfarbenen Zchinwali Stausee, der der Strom- und Trinkwassergewinnung auch für die georgische Hauptstadt Tiflis dient. Eindrucksvoll die an ihm gelegene Wehrkirche Ananuri. Auch hier geben sich heute die Hochzeitspaare die Kirchenklinke in die Hände.
      Dann quälen sich vor uns die Lastwagen die Steigung hoch, bzw. schleichen uns entgegen. Immer wieder kommt es zu spannenden Überholungsmanövern. Wir passieren den Wintersportort Gudauri am Berg Kudebi. Etwas oberhalb von Gudauri befindet sich das Denkmal der Georgisch-Russischen Freundschaft. Gudauri war ursprünglich eine Poststation unterhalb des nahe gelegenen Kreuzpasses, an der die Postkutschen zwischen Tiflis und Wladikawkas die Pferde wechselten. Die Passhöhe liegt bei 2.379 m.
      Schließlich erreichen wir an langen Lkw-Schlangen vorbei in Stepantsminda unser Hotel und haben beim Stiefelbier einen großartigen Blick auf die berühmte Gergeti Dreifaltigkeitskirche und den 5.033 m hohen Kasbek, den dritthöchste Berg Georgiens und den achthöchste Berg des Großen Kaukasus.
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    • Day 369

      Mt Kazbegi, Georgia

      May 12, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ 🌫 7 °C

      Gergeti Trinity Church is a popular name for the Holy Trinity Church near the village of Stepantsminda in Georgia. The church is at an elevation of 7120 feet sitting under Mount Kazbek. Just 6 miles from the Russian border this is a very peaceful refuge for religious travelers looking g to do the 90 minute trek up the mountain to the famous chirch from the 14th century. This indeed is a beautiful part of Georgia not to be missed. Apparently the road to Russia is lined with 18wheelers in the hundreds which we passed. Many have to wait 3 weeks to cross the border from Georgia to Russia with their goods. We saw over 100 pulled over on the high mountain roads waiting their turn. In the nearby village of Stepantsminda sit many hotels and rooms for hikers to rent. We stopped at the 5 star hotel Rooms for a coffee and a scenic view. It was pleasant to watch the thick smog roll down from the mountains and cover the base of the valley.Read more

    • Day 47

      Kazbegi Berg

      September 28, 2023 in Georgia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      Fahr zu einem der berühmtesten Orte in georgien

      Teil der Seidenstraße und Tor im Kaukasus zw Asien und Europa

      Seen und Burgen auf dem weg

      Gergeti Trinity Church (orthodoxe Kirche vor dem Berg panorama)

      Unglaubliche landschaft

      Ein alter Schäfer begrüßt mich auf deutsch

      Habe mir ein Zimmer genommen und mal einen Tag allein zum sinieren

      Die Zeit vergeht so schnell und ein auf und ab der Gefühle und Erlebnisse.

      Ein Fläschchen georgischer Wein hilft 😜
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    • Day 21

      Kazbegi

      July 21 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Taxi'd back to the airport to pick up our rental car and headed due north high up into the caucasus mountains. Stopping several times to take in the beautiful scenery and lakes and high lookout points. Much colder in this part of the country and a tshirt definitely wouldn't be enough.

      Finally arrived in Kazbegi, and drove up to picture perfect Gregeti Trinity church and its amazing panoramic views. It was really hard to leave. But i was getting super hungry. So we drove down the mountain and to the town for food. Super yummy stew type meal. And then found a small hotel to crash at for the night. Early to bed to recharge our batteries.
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    • Day 155–156

      stepantsminda

      February 21 in Georgia ⋅ ☁️ -4 °C

      the next day, i met up with the three people from the day before. the malaysians had a rented car, which we took to a monastery an hour away from tbilisi together. the two guys returned back to the capital, while me and uyiun started hitchhiking deeper into the mountains.

      the first car brought us to the ski town gudauri, where i was tempted to stay because of the georgian lift prices. a guy took us five minutes further to a better waiting spot, from where we caught a ride with a super nice chap. he not only drove us all the way to stepantsminda, but also made a stop for us to visit a beautiful mosaic memorial and explained to us the whole history of georgia.

      also, we fed about 1000 stray dogs. i don't know if i have mentioned this here already, but i bought a bag of dog treats in turkey and i keep it on me at all times, just in case.

      driving into stepantsminda was something else. the mountains surrounding the town have giant prominences, mountains as far as the eye can see. i haven't been to nepal, but uyiun confirmed that you couldn't tell the difference if you had to.

      we checked into our hostel for an amazing 15 lari (~5€) and went for a hike up to the holy trinity monastery before dark. the way down was buried in thick snow, so we just decided to take a shortcut and slide down the snow through the forest, which worked surprisingly well. because the day had been so inexpensive, we even treated us to some nice georgian wine along the daily pasta.

      the next day, it was already time to leave again. after a bit of starting trouble, we caught a ride with the most daring driver in georgia, and later got into a car with a bunch of guys from tbilisi, who took us all the way to the hostel. 10/10 experience, will definitely revisit.
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    • Day 47–49

      Kazbegi; The mountains near Russia

      April 14 in Georgia ⋅ 🌫 0 °C

      📌 We travelled to Kazbegi/Stepansminda with a gotrip driver (super convenient) named Vano who was Russian but was able to use hand signals and understand when we wished to stop. We drove a couple of hours through beautiful landscapes of snowy mountains on some sketchy roads. There were tunnels through mountains pitch black or avalanches that had closed off parts of the road. This was a main highway between Russia and Georgia also, so there were heaps of trucks from Russia and central Asia.

      📌 We arrived in Kazbegi, a quiet town with many trucks waiting to cross the border, surrounded by huge mountains on both sides. The accommodation was a really nice guesthouse that we basically had to ourselves.

      📌 We started day 1 with lunch at a local place, it was basically a little shack with a guy bringing us home made wine and delicious khinkali dumplings. We then walked into the square where a taxi driver soon approached and asked us in broken English where to go, we suggested some waterfalls nearby and off we went. As per standard he was a crazy driver but he was nice and he kept pointing at things saying "it's nice, it's nice". The waterfalls were beautiful, it was nice to be in rugged nature. Interestingly, the falls were not far from the Russian border so trucks lined the side of the road as only 50 or so can pass per day and some trucks can line the road for days.

      📌 Day 2 was our full day and the weather was perfect, the day started with a hike to the UNESCO Trinity Church up high on the mountain. The hike was tough but worth it, we admired the views then started the hike to the glacier behind the church. This gave us an even better view but unfortunately we couldn't go too far along the 10km track as snow would have stopped us. The views were incredible and we even ran into a aussie guy from Richmond.

      📌 Day 2 continued with a adventure, we went back down from the church around lunch, found out taxi friend in his beaten up x-trail and asked to visit one of the highest villages in Europe, Juta. He was keen and enthusiastic and we drove off through some awesome valleys, so far, no problem. We started ascending up a very sketchy road and at times a narrow one where old mate driver was saying "no problem, no problem", despite being basically on the edge of a crumbling dirt road. At one point we got out and walked whilst he went over snow half covering the road. Eventually we made it to an impassable spot, despite him thinking he could make it, we translated walking is better from here and he says "walking is nice". We made our way a few kms up the road but eventually got stopped by an avalanche over the road near the town. We ventured back to a happy taxi driver who was enthusiastic to show us more spots on the way back down plus a nearby waterfall. Our near death adventure was one not to forget, the driver was a reflection of Georgian drivers and his car just made it even more hilarious.

      📌 Overall, Kazbegi was incredible, a very unique place in the world and very friendly people.
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