Blogs from Eastern Georgia, Georgia, Asia

Day 21 Udabno to Sighnaghi, Georgia. Vines, Nuts and Religious Nuts. After a breakfast of coffee, bread and Mars Bar, we paint sketches of Udabno towns stark buildings and landscape here within a moorland plain, in pleasant isolation. As we drive north away from Udabno for a day’s outing in our hire car, we notice landmarks which we failed to spot on our entrance to town. There’s a miniature Svaneti tower build above the sign board for the town at the side of the road. It’s relatively new, as a monument to the eco migrants who came here. It is clearly the right shape, like those we saw in Mestia in 2016, but with lighter construction as a monument rather than a place to retreat to in times of attack. Over the next range of hills ... read more

At the end of the Georgian Military Highway, my stop was at Stepansminda (also called Kazbegi). At an altitude of 1,700 meters, the climate was much cooler than the hot weather in Tbilisi. Named after the Saint Stephan, who helped people in the area from avalanches by moving them further south, this is an area close to the Russian border (about 10KM). The town is famous for the Gergeti Triniti Church, an icon for Georgia. At an altitude of 2,100 meters, this church is a sight to behold and presents a panoramic view including that of Mount Kazbegi. The hike up to the church is definitely worth the experience of seeing the views. The next day, I hiked the Truso Valley. Situated next to the Terek River, the valley is a bit away from Stepansminda and ... read more

Today was a later start and we didn’t have to meet our guides until 8.15am, so what a lie in. We were first to arrive at Europe Square (that’s actually a roundabout) and met a guide AND a driver. We are going up in the world!The vehicle was an 8 seater that we shared with George from Italy, Christine from Switzerland (the third single female traveller I’ve met here) and two people from Germany, they may have been mother and son. Things of note that I’ve learned today is that scenes from the 9th Fast and Furious film were filmed in Georgia: the bits that they wanted to look like Russia. I’ll not be surprised to find out that our driver from yesterday had a starring role.As noticed before, people get up late in Georgia and ... read more

Day 5 Georgia. Wednesday 14th Sept. Getting out and about in Georgia for the first time. When we go on holiday we usually travel around and don’t stay in one place, but this time is different . Our base remains in Tiblisi while I have booked a few day trips so we can get out and see more things. Today was the first of those trips and I booked it through getyourguide.com. Doing so many things would be really difficult using public transport, particularly fitting all the below in in one day. Plus you wouldn’t learn as much. We set alarms for the first time on this trip and headed to our meeting point which was a metro station only one steep hill away. Oh and an underpass as Claire was worrying I wouldn’t be climbing ... read more

Tsinandali is a tiny little village in Kakheti, Georgia surrounded by vineyards and peach orchards. The village has become popular because of the historic vineyards that continue to work to ensure the preservation of Tsinandali’s legacy as the cradle of Georgia’s classical winemaking. This and it’s beauty is why we felt compelled to add it to our itinerary. Historians assert that in the early 19th century, Prince Alexander pioneered classical winemaking and European winemaking and turned Tsinandali into the wine capital of the country. To this day, Tsinandali stays true to it’s history by utilizing ancient qvevri and modern techniques to produce premiere wines of Georgia. Tsinandali Estate is made up of a sprawling and well managed park that features the Tsinandali museum and the boutique hotel by Radisson Collection. All of it maintains the historical ... read more