Monday 10th October


We started our day by heading north on the Georgian Military Highway to our first stop at the fortress at Ananuri. The trees were in their full autumn colours so on one side of the road was a fabulous display of reds and oranges and yellows in contrast to the brilliant turquoise of the river flowing on  the other side of the road.

The fortress,

overlooks the Zhinvali reservoir

and within the fortress are two 17th century churches, the larger of which, the Assumption Church  has 17th and 18th century frescoes on the south wall.

From here we gravelled to the ski resort of Gudauri, highly rated apparently by many foreign skiers. There was a brushing of snow on the highest peaks but the season does not begin until December. On the way we passed a viewing platform, jointly erected by Georgian and Russian bodies and depicting stories from both countries.

 

At this point we were. 2000m above se level so were feeling distinctly chilly!

 

 

 

We continued to climb, well above the tree line and the clouds began to swirl around us. We were making for Kazbegi in the High Caucasus just ten miles from the Russian border, to visit the Tsminda Sameba Church  sitting opposite Mt Kazbek.(5047m). Unfortunately we couldn't see the top because of the clouds but the ride to the church in four wheel drive vehicles was memorable as indeed was the interior of the church. (No photos allowed). In 1988 the Soviets built a cable car line to the church but he people of Kazbegi felt it defiled their sacred place and destroyed it.

 

 

 

As we returned to Tbilisi we went down below the clouds to a lovely sunny autumn evening.

 

 

The evening was taken up by a cultural show and dinner. The former was very loud but quite diverting but the latter proved a disappointment as, after serving half the party they announced that the others would have to wait two hours! We consequently shared what we had already received and returned to the hotel!

 

Tuesday 11th October

 

I should have saved my exclamation marks for today. We set off for Armenia bright and early for a jour and a half's journey. Busy chatting and socialising we didn't notice anything was wrong for a couple of hours, but when questioned, our driver said we would be another half an hour. This went on for some time but began to be seriously worried when the driver kept stopping to ask the way. A few calls to the agency later and we were told we were on the right road and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the sign saying border. This was short lived as we then realised it said Azerbaijan border! To cut a long story short we had to go all the way back to Tbilisi (it's in the mountains so only one pass) and start again to the Armenian border. Having spent all of our money in Georgia we were forced to use cards to buy  sweets and ice cream from a local garage to substitute for lunch. Our visit to the winery, with lunch, was cancelled but when we did eventually get to Armenia a good dinner was waiting for us at a hotel near the border. (Arranged by the agents.) So, a long day, but we didn't lose spirits and managed to see the funny side of it.