Day 12 Tbilisi to Stepantsminda
Our whirlwind stay in Tbilisi came to a premature end, but we’d be back. The city had a youthful vibe to it that we didn’t experience in more conservative Türkiye, and I suspect it will change a lot over the next decade with development in the name of “progress”. Today, we would pick up our rental, a brand-new Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, and drive up into the Caucasus Mountains.
I gingerly maneuvered the shiny beast out of the city, which was much less chaotic than driving in Türkiye, and onto the E117 highway, which would take us up into the mountains to the village of Stepantsminda, formerly known as Kazbegi, near the Russian border.
The scenery of snow-capped mountains and valleys as we climbed was spectacular, and it was difficult not to stop every ten minutes to take photos.
We took our time and arrived late in the afternoon at our accommodation, an A-framed cabin on the outskirts of the remote village, offering a stunning view of the looming Mount Kazbek, which stands at over 5,000 meters.
The little town was a cluster of these cabins and hotels, and the rest of the buildings were in a state of semi-construction, as were all the roads. This place will be unrecognizable in a few years.
We wandered into town, about a kilometer away, for dinner at a local restaurant that sold wine by the liter and offered free shots of the local spirit, Chacha. We felt it on the hill climb back up since we were at an elevation of around 1,800 meters, and the cold was a bit of a shock – it drops below zero at night. A few shots of local Jimsher whiskey on the terrace soon remedied that, though.
Day 13 Stepantsminda
A bright, crisp morning involved a drive across the valley and up to the 800-year-old Gergeti Trinity Church at an elevation of 2,200 meters. This is one of the most photographed sites in Georgia, but fortunately, the selfie-seeking Gen-Z crowd was thin, so I could get a few pics of the scene.
It was extremely serene and peaceful inside the ancient structure, which was adorned with images of Mother Mary and filled with incense smoke, a far cry from the gaudy gold of Thai temples and the noisy speaker-blaring mosques.
It was time for a hike in the afternoon, but we wasted an hour beating through the bush to find the trailhead, which wasn’t far from our cabin. Around 2 kilometers later, we were up at the foot of Mount Elias, taking in the solitude and serenity of the surroundings. The path back took us past lonely shrines overlooking the valley and wild horses grazing in the fields.
We were rewarded with a spectacular sunset that evening, and enjoyed a bottle of Georgian wine in the golden hour before it got too cold to sit outside.
Day 14 Stepantsminda, Juta
Today would be a bit of a challenge, as all online information indicated that the road to Juta was dangerous. We set off in hope that these reports were overstated, drove through the tiny hamlets of Sno and Akhaltsikhe and onto the gravel, deeper into the valley and higher as the surface became more moon-like. The Mitsu had an AWD ‘gravel mode’ which was engaged as the road narrowed and we hit a landslide warning sign indicating that further travel may not be possible. Another couple of tourists had already stopped there and were considering walking. I scouted ahead, and the road seemed clear but a little precarious, so decided to carry on, taking the couple with us. The final few kilometers were pretty hairy as a landslide had recently occurred, but I’ve driven on worse roads.
We parked up in the tiny, isolated mountain hamlet of Juta and began the hike to the Fifth Season resort, which was closed in the off-season, and up the valley. Four kilometers later, we arrived at the 2,500-meter elevation Chaukhi Lake, which was more of a frozen pond, but the surrounding mountain vista was spectacular.
Usually, a hike like this would be no problem, but blisters on my feet were forming, probably because I’d donned crappy socks. The hike back was a little painful but bearable, and the risky road return was easily negotiated.
We spent another night on the terrace watching another splendid Caucasus sunset with a bottle of Georgian red and achy legs and feet.
Day 15 Stepantsminda
Today would be a take-it-easy day to let my feet recover after two days of hiking at elevation. I wanted to travel as far north on the Georgian Military Highway as possible, which was another 15 or so kilometers to the Larsi Checkpoint at the Russian border.
The road, which was mostly used by freight trucks, clung to the side of the mountain and was single-lane in parts, with one section of totally pitch black tunnel. I was accosted by a very aggressive police officer at the border for trying to take photos. You become a bit of a magnet walking around with a big DSLR.
After I’d deleted them, he lightened up and wanted to talk football, it turns out the prick was a Man-U fan. The whole area felt moody, and on edge, there was a car park full of what appeared to be confiscated vehicles, and a few shady-looking blokes wandering around. Other than that, nothing else at this border checkpoint.
On the way back was the deserted Dariali monastery and the Tergi Valley viewpoint. I skipped the hike to the Gveleti waterfall to give my feet some respite.
The afternoon was spent on the terrace, savoring a few beers while taking in the vista and ever-shifting mountain weather and light. We returned to the only open restaurant in town that night, which meant another cold hill climb to get back after we had our fill of barbecue and khachapuri, a very filling Georgian cheese and egg bread.
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