Georgia, Day Three

Driving 

Today we left Tbilisi, later in the morning, to head for our first stop in the countryside. Because we were driving, I was not able to get lots of the scenic and delightful shots of mountains, villages, oooodles of road-side stands with colorful produce and all shades of honey, cows in the road, horses waiting patiently for riders, the sheep butchering down by the river, the washed out roads, and lines of trucks. There were miles and miles of semi trucks parked along the road in our direction, evidently waiting for something so they could continue. Most were from points east, Azerbaijani, etc. A few trucks were heading in the opposite direction.

We got out of the city, by nip and tuck - no lane markings many places, and drivers do whatever they want, whenever and wherever. Then after getting through some suburbs, the navigation voice said “turn right, and go 124 kilometers, and your destination will be on the right.” That was the sum of directions. And so it was. One road only in this part of the country, and it is a military road, crossing mountains and following a river - the Argavi, which was dammed to provide water for Tbilisi.  Quite a number of villages line the way, including ski resorts further along. 

Many little stands offer river rafts to rent and horses to ride. We saw gravel establishments, small stores, lots of car wash sheds, and not much else for businesses. Most people seem to survive on subsistence farming. Cows roam free all over. Some sheep are more closely tended, and a few horses were staked out on hillsides. The cattle are small, and many look like Jerseys. 

We crossed two mountain passes today. The first had an old fortress on it, an important heritage site. Its watch tower is from the 14th/15th c. and the rest of it is from the 17th/18th c. (long after castles had become obsolete in Europe). It is built at the confluence of two rivers, very well protected. It is quite small, mostly filled with TWO churches. They are nicely decorated with exterior relief work. One was closed, the other has its interior paintings damaged by a fire a couple of centuries ago. 

This is my travel journal entry and sketch:

Everything was very close, so it was hard to get any distance for photos.

The bridge we passed over to arrive.

Church door

View through an aperture.

Georgians and tourists.

Marvelous exterior reliefs. 

Somebody dressed for church. There is a dress code after all. You will notice shoulders and head and knees are properly covered, and no shorts are visible at all. Very proper. 

This means you can’t go in here. 

Strange people doing strange things. 

Rock work. 

A crab apple tree by the fortress wall. 

Then we drove, and I didn’t get pictures, except these:

When stopped behind trucks maneuvering around each other.

Wild flowers

Ruins. Arriving in our destination: Stepantsminda.

The view out our room window. The tiny church high up is our goal for tomorrow. A hike. 

Later it was dinner time. No need to order; the menu was a collection of traditional Georgian dishes. Whew!

Everyone was quite hungry, so they were half gone before I remembered to take pictures. 

Khachipuri - filled bread, one with sheep cheese, the other with beef.

Pork, potatoes, and dip

In case we didn’t get enough food….

Now to be fit for mountain hiking tomorrow………

End of Day Three.