Kazbegi 'n Georgian family

Kazbegi was the next stop 150km north of Tbilisi and 15km to the Russian border. In fact, the town of Kazbegi has been renamed to Stepantsminda in 2006 but the locals still call it Kazbegi.

Hitch hiking to Kazbegi shouldn't be as hard as to David Gareja since it is a much touristic place and as so a lot of people would be going up. With this in mind we left Tbilisi around 4pm. Again it didn't take long for a truck driver to pick us up - I have to say that they have been fantastic so far; in fact I'll be making a post by the end of trip with pictures of all the truck drivers. It was a smooth trip as we just got rides from 2 trucks and 2 cars. Well.. As smooth as possible as Kazbegi is 1740m above sea level right in the middle of the Caucasus mountains which means that we had to go through a very rocky and serpentine road. On the plus side the landscape was breathtaking. A not so funny but still quite cranky episode was when the engine of a bus started to get on fire just in front of us while our truck driver was dealing with some parallel business. The passengers from the bus got out safely and quickly put the fire off with dirt and stuff..

After 4 and a half hours hitch hiking we finally got to Kazbegi where we would stay in a guest house recommended by Giedre's Lithuanian friends. It is said that to have the full Georgian experience you have to stay a couple of nights with a Georgian family which I couldn't agree more. Staying with Vano's family was quite pleasant. We have actually stayed for 2 nights when we're only planning to stay for one. They live in a house with a small farm where they grow and plant everything they eat.. From tomatoes, potatoes, all sorts of vegetables, to cows, chickens and pigs . Also they produce they're own cheese which for me (I have to be honest) was only good with jam (also homemade).

Kazbegi is known by the huge Kazbegi mountain on the west side of the town and the Gergeti Trinity Church sitting on the the top of a big hill on the east side. Climbing to the Church takes about 2 hours but is totally worth it. There are no words to describe the view from the top.. I hope the pictures can do some justice!

Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned.. Next post is going to have some more action! ;)