MIR Corporation's Travel Blog:
Treasures of the Trans-Caucasus
Follow along with MIR Corporation Tour Manager Devin Connolly as she accompanies MIR clients on MIR's Treasures of the Trans-Caucasus small group tour.
View what other past MIR travelers have had to say about Georgia.
Days 6-8: Tbilisi, Gudauri, Kazbegi
October 4-6, 2008
The following morning, rested and ready for a full day's exploration of Tbilsi, we set off to see the sights. We caught several of the capital's highlights, then we made our way to the Dry Bridge Market to view some more modern treasures. The Dry Bridge is an outdoor art market with an attached flea market offering a multitude of used goods. Though there is beautiful art to be found at the market, the flea market is my favorite part. Strolling down the rows of vendors, I feel like I could find just about anything for sale. There are vendors who sell nothing but used TV remotes, others have stalls stocked with rusty samovars and musical instruments, and still others who offer incomplete tea sets and all kinds of old books. Laden with Dry Bridge purchases, our group boarded the bus and headed back to the hotel to enjoy some down time before going out to dinner that evening.
We departed Tbilisi the following morning for a trip up the Georgian Military Highway and a one-night sojourn in the Caucasus Mountains. We stopped for the night in Gudauri, a ski resort town about halfway between Tbilisi and the Russian border. Gudauri bursts at the seams with skiers during the winter months, but it's eerily quiet when there isn't any snow on the ground. I went for a walk up the long, steep hill behind our hotel and took in views of the Greater Caucasus Mountains before the sun set behind them.
The next segment of our journey had been modified due to the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia. While our previous Trans-Caucasus tours had returned to Tbilisi by way of a western detour to the town of Gori, we headed even further up the Georgian Military Highway to Kazbegi, a mountain town just 11 miles south of the Russian border. Though the town has now reverted to its original name, Stepanstsminda, it is still popularly known as Kazbegi. Despite the recent upset in neighboring South Ossetia, Kazbegi felt remarkably quiet and unassuming. Upon arrival, we immediately set off for the hilltop church of Tsminda Sameba (Holy Trinity), also known as Gergeti Church. At an altitude of over 7,000 feet, the views from Tsminda Sameba are remarkable. But the best feeling comes from making the descent back to Kazbegi, looking back up at the frighteningly high church and saying, "we were just there!"
Photos from this leg of the tour (click to enlarge):
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