Snapshots of Georgia

From Gori, we drove up the Georgian Military Road to Stepantsminda near the Russian border, a suitably romantic-sounding name for a road which, to quote Wikipedia, ‘follows the traditional route used by invaders and traders through the ages’. Its full length is 212 kilometres, running from Tbilisi to Vladikavkaz, just across the border. Its highest point, the Jvari pass, is at an altitude of 2379 meters (7815 feet). It skirts the disputed/occupied territory of South Ossetia for much of the time, although there was no sign of conflict from the road. (We did drive past a large camp for internally displaced persons on the main Tbilisi-Batumi highway, however). 

Many trucks ply the route through Georgia from Russia to Armenia, so there was often overtaking to do, but other than that it wasn’t a particularly tricky route to drive (as a passenger, haha) and offers some beautiful scenery as it winds through the Caucasus mountains. Most of the photos below are from our return journey, starting in the north, since I was sitting on the better side of the car for photos on the way back.

An otherworldly landscape on the side of the road near Stepantsminda with... cow?

I actually like the whatever that wooden thing is in the foreground, sort of gives a scale to the majesty of the mountains and river valley

The Russia-Georgian friendship monument (ironic), near the highest part of the road

We happened upon a large flock of what I think are turkeys (?) on a very rough back road on the way to the Kakheti wine region




A lonely outpost in the mountains

I like how this little gangster looks like he’s wearing a donkey disguise

Ananuri Fortress. I wished we would have stopped here, but we thought we wouldn’t have time to fit it in along with our visit to Alaverdi Monastery later in the afternoon. It turns out Alaverdi took hardly any time to see, so we could have done both, or just Ananuri, which has a beautiful location on the Aragvi River. Next time, I suppose.

The Zhinvali Reservoir, a beautiful man-made lake. I was surprised there wasn’t any sign of developments for camping around here. I suppose the beach on the left of the photo is pretty inaccessible.

When the Georgian roads weren’t busy being beautiful or gravelly pits, they had another key feature, which is the abundance of roadside stalls selling all manner of goods. The interesting part was that different villages or regions along the side of the road seemed to specialise each in their own product. You’d have a couple of km of watermelons, then further down a stretch of pottery, followed by bread. A lot of these goods (like pottery, bread or hammocks) don’t seem to be obviously region-dependent, so I’m not quite sure what kind of economic explanation lies behind these. They were pretty popular, too. We didn’t stop at any, but it was quite common for a car in front to suddenly veer off or on to the road from one of these stalls, usually without signalling.

Most of the next photos are from the Tbilisi-Batumi highway.

Stop here for woolly hats

“There’s hammock hut, that’s on third. There’s Hammocks R Us, that’s on third too. You got Put Your Butt There. That’s on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact, they’re all in the same complex, it’s the hammock complex on third.” “Oh, the hammock district!”

Seriously, there were a lot of hammocks for sale. Not going to lie, I kind of wanted one.

One town was full of these “5+1” bread offers (I think it’s bread, at any rate). We never stopped, because what would we do with 6 loaves of bread. Along with the 5+1s, there was the occasional 6+1, which was surely an attempt at tomfoolery

A Georgian coffee shop that is definitely not infringing on any trademarks

2 fast 2 4tresses

After Vardzia, there was some debate about whether to call it a day or push on to make the most of our time in the region. We reached the compromise of just driving back up to Khertvisi Fortress and having a look from the outside. A look from the outside led to a short walk up a steep hill, which led to going into the fortress. Luckily it’s small and free and is indeed worth the small outlay on your calf muscles on the way up.

Khertvisi is one of Georgia’s oldest fortresses, originally dating back to the 2nd century BC. Legend has it that it was destroyed by no less than Alexander the Great (pretty neat). It was rebuilt and laid waste by Mongols and Turks over the years, going into decline before regaining some strategic importance in the 19th century as a base for Russian and Georgian troops. It sits high on a hill in the ancient Meskheti region of Georgia, overlooking the Mtkvari River. (I met someone who said I had very good pronunciation of Georgian place names, but damned if I know how to pronounce that either.)

After the fortress, we crossed over the world’s wobbliest footbridge for a sit down and an ice cream beside the river. 

We were amazed to see someone make the crossing on motorbike (!)


Cold on the piggies!

That night, I was struck down by the dreaded Delhi Tbilisi Belly, from sources unknown. I privately blame the beef dish that appeared on our dinner table for the second night in a row, but I suppose it could be anything. I’m a bit annoyed though. I’ve survived the likes of Albania, Ukraine, Russia, Thailand and Morocco without turning a hair, only to be laid low by Georgia! I was pretty sick for the next three days, but we bravely soldiered on, not least because we had another hotel to get to in a city 4 hours away. 

Jules still persuaded me to visit Rabati Fortress on the way, but I’ll put the fact that I look a bit wan and am wearing the same clothes as the day before down to feeling a bit under the weather. Anyway, fortress #2 was originally built in the 9th century and called Lomisa Castle. However, after surviving attack by Tamerlane in the late 14th century, it was given over to the Ottoman Empire after the Treaty of Constantinople in 1590 and completely rebuilt. Today, its style offers a delightful little slice of the Ottoman Empire in Georgia, including a central mosque. 

The fortress was extensively renovated/reconstructed early this decade. This usually bothers me quite a bit, but in this case it seems to have been sensitively done and the site is so pretty that if you take it on its own terms as a reconstruction, it’s still well worth a visit, even if not quite authentic. You can see pictures of the works in progress  here (Fun fact for Francophiles and maybe people of a certain age - the reconstruction was inaugurated with a Charles Aznavour concert, as his father was born in the town!)

Midnight plane to Georgia

By the time we arrived at our hotel in Tbilisi, it was around 3 in the morning, Georgia time. Only 1 am Brussels time, but still, it had been a long day of travelling. A 3-hour flight to Kyiv, a couple of hours to change planes and then another 3 hours to Tbilisi. Funnily enough though, we were quite energised, so when the hotel guy suggested we go up straight away to check out the rooftop terrace, we took up the invitation for our first good look at the capital.

The Narikala Fortress overlooks the city

The new Bridge of Peace. I can see why it’s not a favourite with everyone, but I think saying it resembles a maxi pad, as some people apparently do, goes a bit far.

We didn’t want to waste too much of the next day in bed, so after a shortish sleep we were up in time for a 10 am breakfast at the hotel, which was a huge and delightful array of eggs, bread, cheese, fruit and something that looked like pilaf. We ate so well, we didn’t need any lunch! As usual when I visit a city, Day 1 was more or less reserved for walking around - we clocked up almost 12 kilometres. This was our main sightseeing day in Tbilisi though, so we fit in quite a lot of the main sights as well.

First up, we visited the Sioni Cathedral, a more-or-less 13th century building with pretty, mostly 19th century frescoes.

It’s definitely wedding season in Georgia - we’ve been unwitting guests at like 3 of them already.




We stopped at the Anchikhati Basilica (no photos allowed) before heading to the national museum. We only saw the ground floor, which houses golden treasures from Georgia’s early history and pre-history. The legend of the Golden Fleece was actually supposed to have taken place in Georgia, which has long had a reputation for its gold deposits. The museum offered several different explanations for the legend, one of which is a possible technique for dredging small particles of gold from the rivers by dipping a sheepskin in the water. Whatever the truth of it, there were some gorgeous objects on display, many of which wouldn’t look out of place if worn these days.

Stele of Daniel in the lion’s den. Georgia is one of the oldest countries to have Christianity as its state religion (after Armenia, I think).



A carving of an early Georgian king presenting the church he had built. Jules made me laugh way too hard by calling him monkey man.

I loved the way the fine arts museum, next door to the national museum, almost seemed see-through with its reflections of the sky.

A patriotic Georgian street

From the museum, we walked back downhill a bit to the river, where you can catch a funicular up to the fortress on the hill. It’s a pretty fun short ride which costs less than a euro.

The cable car plying its trade up the hill above Old Tbilisi

View from the top. Our new camera is a wee bit over-enthusiastic with the blurred background effect

The hill also hosts a statue of Mother Georgia. No disrespect, but the one in Kyiv is still #1. (I climbed 91 metres up inside it - this one is a mere 20.)

Selfie on the fortress walls




We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel, so we chilled a bit on the roof terrace, watched the F1, and then headed out in the evening for some delicious khinkali dumplings. There is a special khinkali etiquette - you grab it by the ‘handle’ up top, bite into it a little to suck out the juices, and then eat most of the rest. Apparently, Georgians will laugh at you if you manage to spill any of the juices (luckily there were none scrutinising me, although Jules did a decent job) and eating the ‘handle’ is seen as a mortifying display of extreme financial distress. We had meat, potato and cheese flavoured varieties, they were delicious!