17/08/2018 - 22/08/2018
Our time in Georgia was nearly coming to an end but before we said our goodbyes we had two more places to tick off our list, one of them being the valley town of Stepantsminda in the region of Kazbegi. It is situated near the end of the Georgian Military Highway close to the Russian border where the silhouette of the Gergeti Trinity church and the snowy top mountain of Mt Kazbek tower over the town below. Eyes lit up from other travellers who we met along the way when we mentioned we were heading next to Kazbegi so from the positive vibes we received about this region we couldn't wait to get back into nature and explore more of the immense landscape this beautiful country had to offer. We managed to hail a taxi share with two German sisters we met in the hectic bus terminal instead of the nasty Marshrutka buses so we could stop at some of the must see sites along the way such as the picturesque fortified church complex of Ananuri and the large colourful mural of the Russia-Georgia friendship monument constructed in 1983. Of course we happened to get another inpatient nutty driver who couldn't wait just 1 second behind the car in front before he had to beep the horn and over take on a bend....but hey, that's routine Georgian driving for you! Thankfully all four of us got to the town of Stepantsminda in one piece.
We reached the picturesque town that afternoon and upon arrival we were immediately met with the breathtakingly beautiful snowy coned shaped top of Mt Kazbek peering through the clouds with the silhouette of the Gergeti Trinity church in the foreground. We couldn't wait to get hiking it the next day, despite that fact it looked just a tad bit scary!
As it was still quite early in the day upon our arrival but too late to start the 7 hour hike to the Gergeti glacier of Mt Kazbek which we were planning on doing the following day anyways we decided to undertake the Artkhmo Gorge hike, a shorter easier hike with a starting point slightly out of town in the village of Akhaltsikhe to get us warmed up for the next days hiking venture. This pleasant hike saw us pass through the deserted village of Artkhmo aswel as several small waterfalls and, my favourite being the copious amounts of wandering cows!!
When we arrived back down through the valley after getting slightly lost we were met with a deserted road with no cars or people about. Our guest house was all the way back in the town of Stepantsminda so we had no other choice but to wait it out and hope that a car would eventually drive by in the direction we needed to go. It was either do that or take the 6km walk back to the main military highway road where any number of cars would be whizzing by but after already hiking for 4 hours and getting lost, the thought of that was just not fun. Maybe hiking out of town wasn't such a good idea after all!
Thankfully lady luck was on our size as after about 15 minutes of waiting and eating the remainder of our few nibbles we had left, a large black 4x4 jeep cautiously pulled up along side me as a stuck my thumb out. As I peered in the window to request our drop off point, I could see a jeep full of 3 men with big long black beards and black cloaks, the dress of Orthodox monks. The driver seemed hesitant at first but after a friendly exchange of smiles and seeing that we were clearly tired and haggard he let us in. Only the driver spoke to us and straight away curiously asked us where we were from. When we told him we were from Ireland his eyes lit up and his smile grew wider uttering the words 'I love'. He continued to tell us he loved the game of rugby and of course Johnny Sexton. He then went on to ask us did we like Georgia and of course we happily told him we loved the scenery, the landscape, the wine and of course Cha Cha. At the moment I mentioned cha cha he lent down at his feet in the drivers seat and pulled out a fancy looking bottle of the booze and handed it to us. Thinking it was just to let us have a quick glance at the expensive looking bottle he then proceeded to say to us 'gift for you'. We both looked confusingly at each other wondering why was he giving it to us, where it came from and simultaneously thinking that there was no way we could accept this bottle as it looked way too fancy and expensive. We shook our heads to him saying 'we cannot except' but he absolutely insisted we take it, continuing to say 'gift for you'. We had no other choice but to accept this monks hugely generous offer merely for, what I presume, us being from Ireland, a country he clearly loved.
So, if that gesture wasn't crazy enough he told us he had to stop at his monastery for 5 minutes on the way so of course we told him that would be no problem. He pulled up on a dirt road into a pleasant red brick building which was under construction and where other monks pottered around. A few exchanges were made with one other and after a while he got back into the van and proceeded to hand us a really cute little fridge magnet with the picture of his monastery painted on the front. Another gift for us! We were both just in shock and in awe of this guy who went the extra mile for us. My one regret is not getting his name or asking for a photo of him but that night we thought of him as we enjoyed a few shots from the bottle and talking about how so far it was definitely one of our most memorable experiences on the road!
The following morning after our adventurous activities of the previous day we were excited to get going on our hike but as I peered out from the window the day looked dull. The church in the distance could still be seen but no site of the snowy mountain top was visible. A bit disappointed as the previous days weather was so clear we decided to go ahead and begin the hike, rain jackets in tow, in the hope the clouds would clear by the time we reached the mountain pass. We began the hike at 9am that morning and made the steep 1 hour forest walk up the side of the mountain where finally through the trees a magnificent view of the 14th century Gergeti Trinity church appeared in the distance. With heavy panting and sweaty brows we walked the church grounds and admired the views of the city below.
We didn't hang around too long as the weather still looked ok...ish and we still had another 3 hours to hike if we were to make it over the mountain pass towards the Gergeti Glacier of Mt Kazbek. Some really long and steep walking ensued. I don't think we were really prepared for the difficult task that was ahead of us from the church but the one thing that gave us some grace was at least we didn't have to struggle up the mountain pass with huge heavy backpacks like some other hikers we passed on the way up who were heading to summit Mt Kazbek the next day. Slowly but surely our fears started to appear with the weather as a blanket of fog came down in front of us and the rain started to pour... and pour.... and pour and if that couldn't get any worse, it then started to hurl thunder and lightening, scarily close to us too it sounded like! At that point Paul was keen to give up and head back down the pass like a few others had decided to do as struggling to hike all the way up to top of the pass to be greeted with a view of fog would be a huge waste but I wanted to continue to get to the stone cairn at the top of the pass. I asked a guy who was on the way back down how far it was to the top and he said we weren't far, about 15 minutes so I turned to Paul with rain dripping down my face and the flicker of lightening in the distance and said lets get to the top of the pass at least to say we got that far. So off we trodded on the wet mucky ground and rightly so after 15 minutes the stone cairn greeted us. We had finally made it to the top of the Arsha mountain pass at an elevation of 2900m. Here you can get a magnificent view of the Gergeti glacier but alas for us, we got a glorious view of a-lot of grey fog! Paul joked that we could google image it to see what view we should be looking at! After staying for about 30minutes in the hope that the clouds might just disappear for even a second to give us a glimpse of what lay beneath, it was wishful thinking as of course that never happened and we made the long decent back down in the lashing rain which had now delightfully turned to hail stone! Although the weather was utterly atrocious and my legs were like jelly, I felt elated that we had actually managed to push though and make the strenuous hike up to the mountain pass instead of giving up and turning back, a good successful days work I think!
After our tiring yet strangely satisfying few days in Kazbegi we certainly deserved some booze so decided to head to the famous wine region of Georgia, Kakheti. I couldn't wait to chill out with a glass of wine in hand and bask in the sunshine while enjoying some more Georgian views. That is exactly what we did with a just a little bit of step climbing thrown in for good measure! We stayed in the cross roads of the great silk road, the quaint little town of Sighnaghi also known as the 'city of love' for our final few days in Georgia and other than drinking lots of Georgian deliciousness in the form of wine, we walked the ancient city walls, offering sprawling views out over the Alazani valley and the Georgian Caucasus.
The next day we took the short walk outside the walled city of Sighnaghi to Bodbe Monastry. This monastery holds the remains of Saint Nino, a Christian Princess who brought the religion of Christianity to Georgia. It is now a convent to many nuns who continue to run the monastery, keeping the grounds in pristine condition with many delicately coloured flowers. From here you can take the 600 step climb down to the holy spring where you can dunk your head under 3 times in the water and as legend has it, be cleared of all ailments. We didn't fancy getting our hair wet in the freezing cold water as we could hear the painfully brutal gasps of people behind the curtain carrying out this ritual so instead filled our water bottle with the spring water (maybe that would at least clear are hangover) and took the long climb back up the 600 steps.
Our time in Georgia had sadly come to an end and it was quite frankly amazing (except for the utterly reckless drivers!). One of the less discovered countries of the world, once many even would have even struggled to locate on a map or even mistake it for the US state of the same name but I can assure you it should be hot on your travel list. It offers endless sites, both old and new. Sandwiched between the Caucasus mountains to the north and the black sea to the west this astounding country has something for everyone from endless days of trekking to chilling with a glass of fine Georgian wine. See you again Georgia!
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