We headed out of Tbilisi this morning, again bound for the mountains. This time we headed north.
The drive was beautiful – a mixture of winding rivers/streams, green valleys, and mountains.
Our first stop was at Ananuri Fortress. This was built as a combination defensive fortress/palace and included an Orthodox church.
Heading on, we encountered a slow down as we approached one portion of the mountain, to find there was a snow shed starting (a partial tunnel, open on one side, to protect the road from snows), and a semi appeared to have gotten stuck in the entrance. Luckily there was one lane width to get around them, although both our traffic and on-coming traffic had to share it, thus causing a bottleneck and slow-down.
A mile or so after coming out of the “tunnel” we noted an odd site along the road way, semi after semi (coming towards us) were lining the roadway, parked one after another. Jay counted (on our way back, which the picture below is also from on our way back), and there were 204 semi’s parked head-to-tail along the road. They were waiting for permission to use the tunnel, which evidently will be in off hours so that they don’t create traffic problems (like the one going our way had done).
The next stop was the Russia Georgia Friendship Monument near Gudauri (a ski resort town). At first glance, it looks like graffiti but it’s actually a monument built in 1983 to celebrate the ongoing friendship between Soviet Georgia and Soviet Russia. (little did they know that in 1991 the friendship would end with the fall of the Soviet Union….) The art depict scenes of each country’s military history. And the views from here…… stunning!!!!!
Onward and upward. Literally. We headed for lunch in the town of Stepantsminda which afforded us a view of the highlight of the day (up on the mountain side). At this point we were about 10 miles from the Russian border.
The highlight after lunch was Gergeti Trinity Church, as well as the experience of getting there. We piled into “jeeps” (4×4 vehicles) and headed up the mountain on 13% plus inclines and vicious switchbacks. Gergeti sits at 7,120 feet above sea level which is about 900 fee above the city. It was a crazy drive!
Once at the top, we trudged up the steep walkway to the church. Again….stunning views!!! The church sits in the shadow of Mount Shani, which is 14,000 feet above sea level. So, looking 7,000 feet up we could see the mountain (as clouds allowed) and looking nearly 1,000 feet down we could see the town.
What goes up must come down…. And it was a fast trip back down the mountain! On one of the switchbacks, there was an accident which could easily happen with the hairpin turns. It appeared that only the cars were injured, thankfully.
We hopped back in the bus and headed for Tbilisi. What we didn’t mention earlier is that part of the road between Gergeti and Tbilisi was under construction (i.e. there wasn’t a road, we were driving on clay that wasn’t always smooth). It was bumpy and rocky and made for a crummy drive. What added to the return trip is that it had rained, so it was extra bumpy and rocky making for a nearly miserable drive.
Regardless of the long drive, it was an AMAZING day! We are so thankful we had the opportunity to visit the area and Gergeti Trinity Church!
That evening we walked down to a pedestrian street with shops, where they had setup small wooden booths selling various things. We didn’t visit any booths tonight (we’ll come back for that), rather just had some baklava from a regular shop for a night cap.
See you tomorrow.
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