georgia on my mind

It turned out to be relatively easy to organise a driver from Sheki in Azerbaijan to take us all the way to Tbilisi in Georgia. It made the border crossing very easy.

The drive from the border was through some lovely agricultural and rural areas where I saw what appeared to be quite a lot of tobacco drying in the sun.

A few short hours later and we were checking into our guesthouse in the middle of the old town in Tbilisi, right outside the old sulphur baths in the shadow of the castle up on the mountain side.

Tbilisi:

About 20kms north of Tbilisi we visited Mtskheta - a 5th Century UNESCO heritage site. A small old town, we stopped to visit Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Jvari Church on top of a hill overlooking the town from across the river.

Mtskheta:

Further north we stopped en route to Stepasminda to have a look at Ananuri Church overlooking Zhinvali Reservoir.

Ananuri church:

Just a few kms south of the Russian border and 160kms north of Tbilisi we spent a couple of days at Stepasminda. Set high on a hill outside the town lies Gergeti Trinity Church built in the 14th Century.

Road to Stepasminda:

We opted to skip the 2-4 hour walk up and took a 4W/D instead. The church was fairly ordinary inside and out but the setting was quite spectacular.

Gergeti Trinity Church and Kasbegi mountain:

Small church back down in Stepasminda: