Month: May 2026

Dits had arranged the car rental to be dropped off at our apartment at 9am so we were up nice and early to pack up and be ready.   We waited curbside for about 10 minutes before the car arrived.  When we went to pay, we had a problem – he wanted $600 when we were expecting half the amount.  Turns out it was the car rental that Deryn had cancelled a month earlier.  The guy took it very well.  We then had to grab a Bolt to the car rental place that was expecting us at 10 (and whom Deryn thought was dropping off the rental).  When we got to the address, we could not find the rental.   We got a different location every time we put the address into Google Maps.  Very odd.  Finally, we got hold of someone from the rental who sent us a gps link – the rental was literally 100m around a corner. We went and grabbed some breakfast from the café chain Paul’s before heading off at 10am.  Interestingly the car was nearly empty – much like all the scooters in Sri Lanka that we rented.  We filled up (similar to Aus) and off we went.

The roads were OK although the drivers were very aggressive in their passing.  We drove to the outskirts of Tbilisi before stopping at a Carrefour to grab some essentials.  Then it was into the worlds.  We stopped at Ananuri Fortress which was a bit of a tourist trap – a Saturday outing for the locals me thinks. The fortress was OK but a bit too busy to enjoy so it was back on the road.  The road we were travelling on is called the Georgian Russian Highway, the only road link between Russia and Georgia.   We were warned that the traffic could be really bad and that the roads were full of potholes.  So far it hadn’t been that bad. There were a lot of restaurants on the side of the roads – certainly a lot more than petrol stations.  We stopped at a lovely café overlooking a river for a feed.  Some beans and the local favourite of mushroom Khinkali.  Quite delicious.  While sitting on the deck, a convoy of massive trucks passed us heading in our direction.  Damn. 

Damn indeed.  We were now locked into a nightmare.   It took us nearly 2.5 hours to travel the 65km to Stepantsminda.  The convoy of trucks was endless – thankfully only coming in 1 direction.  This wasn’t coincidental – trucks are only allowed to travel one way during set times to prevent gridlock at the many hairpin turns.  The state of the road was unbelievable – potholes big enough to destroy any car unfortunate to drive into it.  I have no idea how they are going to repair or upgrade the road.  Then there were the overtaking locals in cars who had the view that they had the right of way over anyone including oncoming traffic.  I was driving so would duck behind an overtaking car and hope like hell that we didn’t meet anyone coming the other way.  Some of the tunnels – used only winter – looked even more damaged than the summer roads.  Passing through the ski resort of Gudauri was interesting.  Loads of new hotels etc so it looked like it would have been busy in winter.   How the hell did people get there thought??  The hairpins bends were a nightmare for the big trucks. We finally made it to Stepantsminda, exhausted.  We pledged to do the return journey early to avoid the trucks.

Stepantsminda was a cute alpine village at 1800m.  There was a mix of run-down buildings and new builds.  The highest peak was Mount Kazbek (5033m) and Mount Shani (4,451m) so there was plenty of snow around which made it a chilly 6 deg in the village.  Our AirBnb was a cute little place – once again looked better inside than out.  We unpacked and then set off for a wonder around the village. The peace of the village was destroyed by the endless stream of trucks.  The Gergeti Trinity Church silhouetted by the setting sun looked amazing and something that we looked forward climbing to tomorrow – weather permitted. We had a lovely meal at the most popular restaurant in the village – Samani. 

Thankfully the weather was fine when we go up at 630.  The early starts are the benefit of our early nights. We grabbed a quick brekkie at home – not before I burnt all the hair of my left arm trying to light the gas heating stove.  We walked through the village of Gergeti to get the the start of the hike.  There was 2 ways up – we decided to take the steep way up and the less so down.  First stop was the Gergeti Tower (2100m) halfway up.  The views were stunning including spotting what looked like Griffon vultures ring the thermals.  We met a group of Japanese ladies on the path – have noticed a lot of younger Japanese tourists; and to a lesser extent older Chinese tourists, in Georgia. 

The views from the Church (2250m) were amazing. The church itself was beautiful.  Inside a monk was chanting – virtually all the churches we have visited have monk chanting continuously.  Must be hard work.  The journey down was less impressive than the walk up – we should have gone down the same way – but we were escorted by a couple of local dogs.  The dogs in Georgia are mostly wild, or cared for by the community, tagged with yellow tags and also castrated / neutered.  They are all big dogs and look pretty healthy.

We headed home for a snooze and then it was back to Samani for several hours to play som cribbage and have an early dinner.  We decided to see what the weather was like in the am to see if it was worth doing the hike to Juta as if it was raining there was no point.  When we woke at 6am it was miserable to that made the decision easy.  Off to Kutaisi.  We left at 730 am to clear pothole ridden roads.  Fingers crossed it remained that way!!

Day 1

This trip was a bit of a weird one because we really didn’t know until the last moment whether the trip would happen – thanks to the temperament of the US president. Thankfully the heads of the other Gulf states talked him out of it. So, after a short sleep due to an amazing Split Enz concert at the Tik Tok centre, we flew out to Dubai at 6am on the 19th of May. 

We had a 12 hour stop over in Dubai so headed to a hotel for some sleep before getting a taxi back to terminal 2 for our budget (Dubai Air) flight to Tbilisi. The airport obviously served the Middle East and Sth Asia as the crowd matched the destinations. Our flight got called so Dits and joined the queue. I asked Dits about the religion of Georgia – Orthodox Christian was the reply. We both wondered why so many of our fellow passengers wore turbans and veils.   Something wasn’t right.  I checked the board again – the queue we were in was a flight to Amman, Jordan.  Wrong gate!  By the time we got to our gate (thankfully only one over) they were calling our names.  Well, the easier one of the two – Bliss!!   Dodged a camel there.

The flight to Tbilisi was just under 5 hours.  Looking out the window, we could see a lot of snow in the highland of Georgia, but it was very green in the valleys neat Tbilisi.  It’s not mandatory to prove that you have travel insurance before entering the country – we were a bit nervous whether our bland Amex note would suffice but the very friendly customs girl just waived us though after the obligatory photo. Dits had pre-sorted the Bolt app, so we did not have to haggle with the dodgy locals trying to sell their cheap taxi rides.  The ride into the old town and our AirBnB took 30 minutes with Liam Lawson behind the wheel. It’s going to be fun driving around this country later in our trip. 

We had a bit of trouble finding our apartment – insert url.  We had a photo of the entrance however upon eventually finding it, it looked like it had aged 20 years.   While the building was decrepit – like a lot of buildings in the old town – the apartment itself was lovely.

We decided to try walk off some of the jet lag by getting our SIM cards and some cash. We headed into Liberation Square, a mere 100m from our apartment to sort. There was a lot of activity in the square – flashing lights on cop cars and a whole lot of building going on.  Preparation for Independence Day on 26 May when Georgia became independent from the Russian Federation in 1917.  It was ‘retaken’ by the Soviet Republic in 1922 and then reestablished independence in 1991.  They had another stoush in 2008.   Interestingly there were quite a bit of “Fuck Russia’ graffiti around the place.   We grabbed a couple of MAGTIC sims (about $30 for unlimited data over 1 month) but could not find an ATM. Every Bank of Georgia ATM on google maps didn’t exist. It was fine though as eftpos was everywhere.   I eventually found one while Deryn was browsing a local market.

We walked for about 14km exploring the old town. We were amazed at how many of the buildings appeared as is if they we about to topple over and yet people were still living in them. I would hate to think what would happen to the old town if an earthquake hit.  Fingers crossed.  There was also quite a few old, mostly tagged dogs sleeping everywhere, cared for by the local communities.  The highlights of the afternoon were the leaning clock tower in Shavteli Street; the Anchiskhati Basilica – Tbilisi’s oldest church built in the 6th century and the Bridge of Peace.  We stopped for a coffee in the very cool vegan called Café Leila.  It was so good we returned there for dinner.   

On the return home from dinner, we encountered a lot of soldiers preparing for the upcoming celebrations.  What struck us was how young they appeared and how all the tall soldiers were in front and the short arses at the back.  Interestingly they were all in camouflage fatigues.    

Day 2

Had a better night sleep so were eager to go but unfortunately nothing opens in Tbilisi until 9 am.  We had breakfast at Paul’s – a recommendation from the AirBnB host. Great omelettes and coffee. It was then up the famous Betlemi Street Stairs and 340 steps to the aluminium (formerly wooden) statue of the Mother of Georgia – she holds a bowl of wine to welcome friends and a sword to defend her homeland.  You realise that defending the homeland is a constant theme given the yoke of the nation to the north.  It was a relatively leisurely walk and was great for enjoying the view across Tbilisi.  Unfortunately, the famous Narakila Fortress was closed for renovations.  So, we grabbed the cable car down ($3.50 for 2) and after wandering around the very touristy Metekhi Church we decided to hike up the hill to check out the impressive Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi.  Also known as the Semeba Cathedral

The cathedral certainly was impressive.  It was constructed between 1998 and 2004.  The grounds are impressive although I hate that walking into the Cathedral you run a gauntlet of beggars.  On that note we have come across very few beggars in the Old Town.  Apparently, it’s a policy to move them on in areas where there are plenty of tourists.   We headed back to our apartment for a well-earned rest before heading down to the famous sulphur baths. We grabbed a couple of chicken Lobiani (pasties) for lunch.  Cheap and cheerful.

We tried to find the cheap public baths but decided to spoil ourselves with the private version.  For 150GEL (about $80) you got a private bath plus showers and an adjoining room for an hour. Also meant you could do away with togs. It was lovely although spending an hour took a little bit of effort.  Dits grabbed a 30 min massage after ($30).  We had a lovely early dinner at Makmani afterwards.  Eating out in restaurants here is a fair bit cheaper than Sydney if you keep away from the touristy areas. For example, our meal at Makmani – a shared starter, a couple of mains and 2 glasses of wine for Dits was GEL107 ($55). The food was particularly good.

We headed away early the next morning to walk to a famous backpackers called Fabrika which had been a conversion from a warehouse.  It was certainly very funky and looked like a fun place to stay. $30 for unlimited wine and shots for party games night.  We then took the scenic route to the Georgian National Museum.   

The museum was interesting – Georgian fauna was once remarkably diverse and included hyenas, wild cats and some massive boars.  The degree to which the country had been dominated by the Russians was confronting.  Since the 2008 exchange, 20% of Georgian territory is still occupied by Russia.  Russia is supporting the separatists in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia and has a lot of military bases there.  We head up to Stepantsminda tomorrow morning which is close to South Ossetia.  Let us hope the Ruskies behave.