It took us a bit longer than we expected, because once we got outside of Tbilisi, we had to share the road with tons of shepherds leading their flocks to summer pastures. It was incredible to be driving through hundreds of sheep, goats, and cows. I also enjoyed the dogs attempting to attack our van when we got too close to an animal.
About 2 hours into the drive, we stopped for everyone to stretch. There happened to be a few old ladies selling homemade hats, socks, churchkhela and fruit roll-ups. They were literally homemade fruit roll-ups made out of anything from grapes, to apples, to apricots. I snuck a few pictures of them, but luckily my friend Ashley got a picture of me bargaining with the lady for my fruit snacks. She was a pretty aggressive dealer, but I talked her down : ) Thanks to the summer I spent in Moscow, I've learned to haggle in Russian pretty well.
After our stop, the road pretty much ended. We climbed to an altitude of 3,000 meters and drove down a "road" that was closed half of the year. Because people come out and shovel off all the snow, the road is just completely destroyed. There are no lanes, people just swerve around to miss the giant potholes. I was soooooo glad I was in the front seat so I could have a seatbelt. Luckily, besides the shepherds and us, the only other people on the road were Russian truckers transporting energy resources from Vladivakaz to Armenia. Despite the terror of these roads, the views were unbelievable. I've traveled alot of places, but this may be the most beautiful place I have ever been.
Here are two short videos of what the "roads" were like
After about 4 hours we hit Gergeti village, which literally is a village just a few miles from the border with Russia. We were met by some locals who insisted that our van would not make the hike up the mountain of Kazbekhi BUT that they would be willing to drive us up for a ridiculous amount of money. We did convince one of them to drive a picnic up there, but we chose to make the 7km walk ourselves and enjoy the nature.
The hike was pretty intense - especially since I was in TOMS shoes since I did not pack tennis shoes. I realize I just blogged 2 months ago about having to hike in snow in these very same TOMS in Turkey and I should have learned my lesson. BUT, in my defense, hiking was not on the very detailed schedule originally, and if the Abkhaz president hadn't suddenly died, I would not have had to hike at all. So... it's not my fault. Anyways, it was still nice to be out in the fresh air.
Right about the time you think you aren't going to make it, suddenly around the corner, the most unbelievable view appears. You see magnificent mountains in the backgrounds, you are up at the same level of the clouds all around you, and then there is an ancient church. The church was so old they actually would not let us take any pictures and girls had to put on make-shift skirts (no trousers allowed, oops!)
When you look the opposite direction from the church, you actually see the peak of Mt. Kazbekhi. Legend has it that this is the mountain where Prometheus is chained for a vulture to come eat out his liver every day as punishment for stealing fire from the gods. Pretty cool! Caleb actually asked me last night if I had seen any relics while I was in Georgia (to add to the other "relics" I've seen overseas - the crown of thorns, John the Baptist's right hand, the jars where water was turned to wine, a sliver of the cross, etc.) I did not actually see these things, but legend also has that another church on Mt. Kazbkehi holds Abraham's tent and Jesus' manger. I think proximity is good enough, so I'm adding them to my list of weird things international people have attempted to convince me are real. I mean come on - why would Jesus' manger be on a mountain in Georgia, bordering Chechnya? Either way, the mountain was beautiful.
Unfortunately, the weather started to turn on us as soon as we got to the top. So instead of enjoying a leisurely picnic at the top, we threw down some bread and water and had to start down the mountain very quickly. The guys took the hard path and the girls took the easier path so that we could have a sing-a-long. I mean come on, is it really possible for a group of girls to climb a mountain and not start singing Sound of Music songs... and Disney songs.... and hiking songs?
Once back in Gergeti village, we headed to a cafe for a bit more food before heading back to Tbilisi. The villagers took their sweet time making our kinkhali dumplings and the sky fell out. I mean it was completely POURING and lightening. It was bad. We knew that the "roads" were not going to be passable for long, so we ended up throwing our dumplings into plastic, grocery store style bags, hopping in the van and eating on the way home. I'm glad we got out of there when we did, because the "roads" were already disappearing.
We made one more stop on our way home to look at one more church. It was pretty, but to be honest, we were all so tired and cold and wet that we were kind of over it. I think the picture with me in it sums up how I was feeling best... don't judge!
We made it back to Tbilisi about 8pm, and we had the rest of the night off. A few of us were still cold and sore from our hike, so we headed back to the sulfur bath banya. No massages or scrub, just hot water, sauna, and hot tea. It was sooooooooo nice just to relax. And, on our way home, my friend Ashley and I snuck off to a little cafe by the hotel to enjoy some french fries and soda. French fries have NEVER tasted so good.
Unfortunately, I woke up on Friday feeling extremely under the weather. Everyone pretty much had an off-day, and Friday was mine. So sorry, nothing to report for Friday : )
Check back later for our last day and the journey home!!
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