Tbilisi to Kazbegi

From the streets of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and heading north on the Georgian Military Highway, a view inside the Mtskheta monastery, passing the lakeside monastery of Ananuri, the odd round-shaped war memorial, the impressively situated Tsminda Sameba monastery overlooking the village of Stepantsminda, the hike to the foot of Mt. Kazbegi (which at 5,800 feet did not cooperate and stayed hidden in the clouds, hence my messing around with silly flower pictures), and back down via the monastery once more.

The last few pictures…well a group of us decided to drive out in an Englishman’s camper van to find the cave monasteries of Davit Gareja south of Tbilisi. After many wrong turns, serious off-roading, and getting stopped by bewildered remote outpost border guards while accidentally driving up to the Azerbaijan border (note the desert landscape), we eventually found the right road…which was impassable with our vehicle and would have been a 15 mile trek on foot in the heat. So no cave monasteries that day, but as with all absurd road trip adventures, some great memories and new friends.