Up at 8.00 am for breakfast. I had fried eggs, sausage, while R had cereal. On to the bus at 9.00 for the ride to Kazbegi. Several stops on the way up there to admire some views. Some of the places we stopped at were:

• The Russian monument build in 1983 to celebrate 200 years of Russian rule
• The highest point on the Georgian Military highway 2379 meters.
• Taste the mineral waters, these were fizzy with a strong metallic flavour.
• A view of a village
• Kazbegi

On the way, we stopped at the 1983 Russian Monument. This looked a little like some kind of modern Bus Shelter. The Monument celebrated 200 years of Russian Rule. How little they predict the coming world events.

We were heading towards the highest Mountain range in Europe. The Caucasian range. There are several peeks over 5000 meters in height. The one we were heading to was Kazbegi which is 5033 meters high.

The small town of Kazbegi, we were able to buy beers when we returned from the walk. The town was known as Stepan-Tsminda (Stepantsminda). It is now named Kazbegi after Alexander Kazbegi (1848-93) a local noble who became a well-loved poet. Imagine a town, a mountain and a beer named after you.

The Hike

At Kazbegi, we hiked up to the Gergeti Trinity church. Once upon a time, there was a cable car to the church. This was now ruined. The remnants of cable and a tower were still be seen. The walk took a couple of hours and we split up very much into the slow and fast group. We had good views of the mountains, the town and the valley. The weather was fantastic, the grasshoppers abounded in the grass. On the way up we passed a cemetery. Small individual plots with very ornate metal railings and often picnic benches. The cemetery was high up above Kazbegi village.

In all the valleys around, we could see stoops of hay. Some in the most impossible of positions. At this time of year, there were some still being made, and others were being carted into storage by horse and cart. We were told that many of the spooks did not come down until winter when they would be slid down the mountain on planks of wood. over the snow.

Back to Gudauri 

After the walk, we revived with a few beers and then continued up the road towards the Russian border. Here we were not allowed to take photos. Nino negotiated with the Georgian guards to allow us to cross into no man’s land to view the Russian side. Clare was not so keen, so we were not allowed. No photos of the border, as we were not allowed to take any. With the number of guns, I was not going to take the risk.

So it was back to Gudauri for some beer and supper at 8.00

• Soup to start
• Mixed dishes for the main meal
• Chips
• Chicken dish
• Meat dish with rice
• Shredded Beetroot
• Chilies including arcacia flowers
• Picked tips or buds of some plant
• Salad
• Tarts with cream

We also drank a bottle of red wine, not too bad followed by beer at the bar and some good vodkas. We also met Tomba a Georgian Sheep Dog. Ken made great friends with the animal. It was a large dog kept on a long chain. His name was Tomba and was the nephew of the world champion.