Up at 7am to pack and prepare brekkie for the truck with my cook group. This would be the last for a while given there were now 5 cook groups. We rolled out of town at 9am and headed for our very first high-altitude stay for the next two nights. The first few hours involved very green fertile valleys with rolling green hills. This brought us 145km to Gori (Pop 42,596), the city that brought Joseph Stalin into the world in 1878. He died in Moscow at age 74. In 2.5hrs I visited the following places: Church of The Dormition of The Mother of God Church, Gori Fortress, The Second World War Museum, Stalin Park, Stalin's Birthplace, Stalin Museum. The highlight was the Gori Fortress given the terrific 360- degree views of the city and surrounding mountains. Gori is not the best-looking city and full of older Russian style buildings. Nevertheless, I am glad we stopped here.
Still a long 189km left to reach Kazbegi nearly all of it uphill and through absolute mountains. From Zhinvala we encountered the huge Zhinvali Reservoir with a wide valley. We made a 15min stop at the Ananuri Monastery which actually started life as a fortress in the 17th Century and then two Georgian Orthodox Churches added with living quarters to create the Monastery. The Monastery has views of the Zhinvali Reservoir and worth the stop.
From here we hit the snow-line at 1800m and it was a white blanket all with rugged peaks all the way to our destination. We topped out at 2387m before reaching the drama for today. At about 530pm we stopped with deep snow all around. All the trucks in front of us were also stopped. After 15min Adrian turned the engine off. And here we remained for almost 2hrs !!! At 720pm we got moving again, albeit slowly in a parade of large trucks. There are three mountain passes that have tunnels next to the road just in case the road gets blocked with snow or ice then you can use the tunnel but it is only one way. It turns out that the road for one of the three passes was blocked so we had to wait for a long line of trucks to pass coming from the Russian border and carrying goods to the capital – this is the only road connecting the capital with Russia hence the long wait. Despite our delay, I kept busy with my blog but was starving and dying for a wine or two !!! The scenery was dramatic. Huge mountains everywhere covered in snow with dark brown earth exposed here and there. After only 30min of slow driving we got stuck again at around 745pm. By now it was dark and once again a whole long line of trucks were stuck with us. We got started again at 820pm in total darkness and with only 13km to go. Shear relief when we saw the lights of Kazbegi (Pop 3,889). The truck stopped in the centre of town around 845pm and we all scrambled off to our respective guesthouses. It was bitterly cold and rainy so you can imagine my relief when our host Marika welcomed me to a warm room inside a small house with two other bedrooms and a kitchen. A family run affair. It was dark and cold so I decided to skip a cooked dinner and rely on an extra dose of olives, cheese and wine…
The following morning Tue 8APR was a welcome relief. The sun managed to pour through the scattered clouds and no rain. Most welcome for my trek up to the famous Gergeti Holy Trinity Georgian Orthodox Church. Slept in to 9am and off at 930am on the trek. Started at 1765m in Kazbegi Square. I decided to take the path through Gergeti village which is on the opposite side of the river from Kazbegi. The Church is named after this village. Gergeti saddened me because most of the houses were abandoned. It must have thrived in its hey-day. After passing through I lost the path so decided to take the road instead so I could run some of the way. I did not go for a run this morning because the sunshine was forecast to disappear at noon and I wanted to shoot the Church in sunshine. So glad I did because the sun did disappear at noon and it started to rain.
I arrived at the Church in 55min total time at altitude 2170m so a total rise of 405m. The trek up was nothing short of spectacular as you could see three distinct mountain ranges covered in snow just looming above you as if they were going to grab you !!! There were a few other tourists at the Church so it took me a while to find some good people-free spots to shoot pics and film. The Gergeti Trinity Church was built in the 14th century by an unknown architect. The separate belltower dates from the same period as the church itself, but built somewhat later. Its isolated location on top of a steep mountain surrounded by the vastness of nature that has made it a symbol for Georgia. During the Soviet era, all religious services were prohibited, but the church remained a popular tourist destination. The church is now an active establishment of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church. You will see just how iconic this Church is from the photos below.
I ran and walked back the way I came arriving at my guesthouse around 2pm. Just as well. The clouds and mist poured in and it started sprinkling. I took the opportunity to shop for dinner before it got heavier and colder. I spent the rest of the arvo blogging and opted for 2 films that night.
The following morning was to unravel into high drama. Cloudy and rainy we converged onto the truck in the town centre at 8am and by 830am just 16km down-road towards the capital Tbilisi (204km away) the news came. A huge avalanche had completely blocked the road ahead at Kobi Pass just before Georgia-Russia Friendship Monument. The police set up road blocks and told us that the road would not be open until “at least” tomorrow morning. Thank goodness the avalanche had occurred overnight. Lucky for us we were only 16km from Kazbegi so we turned around and went back to the same guesthouse. Thank goodness no one else had booked it. Marika welcomed me again and I took the opportunity to shop for that night. Strange, as I walked out of Marika’s guesthouse I thought as I always do, thank you kind lodgings as I will never see you again but here I was – back in the same place !!!
The rest of the morning and afternoon were spent blogging, preparing attractions for Armenia and Iran and watching movies. Outside it kept raining and never climbed past 9C. A great opportunity to relax but it would cost us one less day in Tbilisi, which is supposed to be a great looking capital and our wine tour would possibly not happen.
I woke up to a white wall of snow outside my bedroom window on the morning of Thu 10APR. Snow had dumped down all night and there was a blizzard outside. It was obvious we were not going anywhere today. The news came fast. So it was another day of rest and relaxation. My blog was up to date so I turned my attention to researching all future countries on this trip. I extracted the major attractions from Madventure, Google Maps and Lonely Planet and dropped pins (bookmarks) for each attraction into the ORGANIC MAPS app on my iPhone. I then exported these pins from my iPhone and imported them into my Samsung - perfect. I usually drop pins on my Samsung since I use it to guide myself and take photos and film with the one device but on day 3 of my trip the ORGANIC MAPS app on my Samsung disappeared - gone !!! So I downloaded it again onto my Samsung but do not trust it so I feed it from my iPhone. I managed to complete all research including potential truck jumps (leaving truck to see other attractions not in our planned itinerary). I was now ready to watch just movies on the truck to the capital Tbilisi...
Until then, please enjoy the incredible images of Kazbegi and the Gergeti Trinity Church and covered in heaps of snow on the morning of Fri 11APR when we left for Tbilisi...
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