Mountains, Tbilisi and Stalin

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We move east in the Caucases, calling in at the town of Gori on the way. Gori is famous for being the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. Thousands of towns in the former Soviet Union had a statue of Stalin in their main square, now Gori is the only one.

A museum is dedicated to his life, well, dedicated to the positive parts of his life and glossing over the rest. It's our first time in a museum covering the life of a mass murderer and it is difficult to know how to react. We ask our young guide whether the local people still see him as a hero. The old do, she says, but we young do not.

We climb into the mountains. Our hotel in Gudauri is at 2100 metres and there is a scattering of snow on the ground. The mountains are well covered, even this early in the year. In the morning we head further north, over the Jvari Pass and on to the last town in Georgia, Kazbegi. About 15 miles north down the valley is the Russian border and we meet many heavy trucks heading for Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and even Turkey. Due to the Russian occupation of South Ossetia, this road has the only border crossing that is still open.

The Holy Trinity Church sits high on a ridge over Kazbegi and the snow covered peak of Mt. Kazbek, 5,047m, provides it with a dramatic backdrop. Thankfully we are only walking up to the church at 2,170m. The walk is a tough 800m climb but the views are spectacular, snow covered peaks in all directions.

The Russians did build a cable car to the church but the Kazbegis repeatedly sabotaged it. That it is tough to get to the church is the point, in their opinion. The rusty ruins of the cable car station are all that remain.

A local family cooked us a lunch typical for the Caucuses. This included cucumber and tomato salad; grilled mushrooms; warm flat breads; cheese; hot veal stew; cold vegetable stew; coleslaw and chicken salad; cheese pie; meat dumplings; shredded beetroot; whole trout with herbs. The dishes kept appearing. Finally, black tea or coffee with homemade biscuits. Phew!

Going south once more, we call in to see a lovely old church - and a christening is taking place. Each time we enter a church we have to adjust our dress. Gentlemen remove hats. Ladies cover their heads and put on "skirts" over their trousers. Trousers are not acceptable in Georgian churches.

We finally arrive in the capital Tbilisi and find, bizarrely, the city to be full of Welsh football fans, Wales are playing Georgia it seems. We stay in the old city which is well preserved, with old churches, a mosque and many buildings with ornate wooden balconies, . The new city is a mixture of modern, angular architecture and square Soviet buildings. Both halves of the city are full of traffic.

We spend some time wandering the old town, finding good coffee, bars (full of Welshmen), and interesting shopping. Our baggage is increased by the addition of a small but lovely Georgian carpet.

Tomorrow we head south east on the overnight train to Baku in Azerbaijan.

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