8/26: Driving Georgia's Military Hwy, Making Khingali & Hiking to Holy Trinity Monastery!

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As we did in Armenia, we decided the best way to explore more about Georgia than just its capital was through two day tours with Envoy Hostel based in Tbilisi. Evidently we weren't the only ones who thought that as there were 14 others on the tour that took us initially through the lush Caucasus mountain range! On our first stop, our young guide, Misha, explained this reservoir was built during the Soviet times with the plan for it created in Moscow without regard to the effect on the people who were displaced when the villages were submerged.

Ananuri Castle, one of the biggest castles in the country, was named after the Persian language and means “tribe gate” in English. Misha mentioned that there are two parts to the castle, built in the 17th and 18th centuries, and it was a mixture of Greco-Roman styles. 

The type of entry arch was common to Iran.

It was funny to see the stone carving of two lions with mustaches on their cheeks on the facade. Misha said that was because the people had no idea what lions looked like when creating the design! When you click on the photo to make it bigger, you will see carvings of the two archangels, Gabriel and Michael.

When we walked down the steps, Misha explained wine was always kept down in this lower area because the temperature was much cooler. When we asked about the opening, Misha said it was an emergency exit to the village and river down below. 

We learned that each  family would have had a tower next to their homes for security from invading forces. You can just see the small gun openings in the tower.

We climbed all seven levels of another tower, sometimes on hands and knees! From the tower’s highest level, defenders could control access in all directions.

It wasn't so comfortable walking across these logs on one of the levels!

Misha said the castle's church showed more Persian influences.

As the trip continued, we could see the remnants of towers along the road because it was known as the Georgian Military Highway, still the only highway connecting Russia and Georgia since the 3rd century.

The highway ran parallel to the river before going up the high Caucasus mountain range passes which reminded us of our home state of Colorado.

Gaudari and the Jvari Cross Path were popular areas for skiers in the winter with lots of resorts and Georgia’s equivalent of chalets. We didn’t see any sign of lifts so wondered if only cross country skiing was done in this alpine area. 

Photo of the beautiful Kazbegi Valley: 

The almost 5,000 foot high summit of one of the passes looked like a great place for paragliding if you had the nerve. I've tried some pretty adventurous things on our trips but not that sport yet! 

We reached the village of Stepantsminda, formerly known as Kazbegi, located on the Georgia Military Highway about 10kms south of the border with Russia. The area is popular for trekking in the spectacular surrounding mountains, the views of the mighty Mount Kazbek and especially the beautiful view from the town of the Holy Trinity Monastery. We stopped at a local family's home in the village for lunch which is customary for all Envoy Hostel day trips.

There, we were invited to join our hostess making khingali, normally a Mongolian dumpling, but these were original Georgian khingali, she stressed. Once the pasta was rolled out in little biscuit shapes, the hostess demonstrated filling a few with a heavily spiced meat filling or a dollop of mashed potatoes and then tucking the filling in by crimping the sides as you would a pastry crust and then finally twisting the top so the filling would stay in when cooked in boiling water. It was fun having to ‘work’ for our lunch!

Voilà, the final product that I think I made before being cooked!

The finished product, I am glad to say, was delicious! Once again, none of the 16 of us on the tour had any fear going hungry or thirsty, especially with a large decanter of vodka and a bottle of white Georgian wine on each table!

Once our tummies were full, we had a long and steep hike ahead of us to climb the mountain to the 13th century Holy Trinity Monastery on the mountaintop. Misha had given everyone the option to either hike up or take a ride to the monastery but we all chose the hike. Thank goodness, none of us had drunk too much of the wine or vodka at lunch as otherwise it would have been tougher!

See those two tiny blips in the middle atop the mountain - well that was where we were headed!

These were typical Georgian stacked stones, according to Misha. 

This was our view looking back toward Stepsaminda. As we were so close to the Russian border, this area was a particularly dangerous place to be and live during the Soviet control of Georgia, Misha said.

Most of the ascent was pretty grueling for Steven and me as there were no steps, just a steep, rough path over mostly very slippery shale. Luckily, I didn’t fall this time as I did five weeks ago when we were hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains the day before our son, Alexander’s wedding to his lovely Cory. I still have a black eye and bruising on my cheek from that tumble! Steven's ankle was giving him problems but we luckily made it up without any more bumps and bruises!

We so relished the few flat parts of the terrain!

Our guide for the day, Misha, aged 22, was a dear and kindly carried Steven's backpack for a good chunk of the way which made our hike so much easier.

We sure had drop dead gorgeous views but we sure did have to work for them! If you click on the picture t make it bigger, you can better see Steven on the left.

Just twelve monks live at the monastery now in seclusion. Three villages at the base of the mountain are called 'monastery villages' as they take the responsibility for delivering supplies to the monks as the monks never leave the monastery. According to Misha, the villagers’ religion is a mixture of paganism and Christianity.

The 360 degree views at the top of the mountain were some of the most amazing one could ever hope to see. It took us 90 minutes to reach the monastery and that was with lots of photo, or should I say, rest stops along the way!

Misha pointed out that the monastery was only built by hands because, he said, it was considered you then had power. I didn't clarify what he meant by power.

Steven had to cover his bare legs with the provided wrap as a sign of respect before entering the monastery. All women needed to cover their heads, shoulders and bare legs also to show respect. 

Steven and I have generally done a lot of hiking on our overseas trips so weren’t particularly fazed about hiking here. On our 3.5-month long trip to South America last fall, we climbed Huayna Picchu, the mountain overlooking the famous Machu Picchu. At the time that was pretty grueling because of the altitude and the steep ascent. 

However, both Steven and I felt climbing to the monastery was far tougher because there were no steps as there had been for most of that climb in Peru and the slippery shale stones made for a tough ascent. 

After Misha commented he had climbed the 5,000-meter high mountain just behind him last July, a process that took him several grueling days, I felt we had nothing to complain about having climbed the mountain up to the monastery! Misha said he’d lived for six weeks in a monastery not far from Tbilisi when he was 16 as he was curious what life would be like there. He sounded very relieved he was only there for such a short amount of time!

The clouds parted momentarily so I had a glimpse of Mount Kazbek in the distance but I wasn't quite fast enough with my camera so you'll just have to imagine it!

I am sure this woman; who didn't speak a word of English, must have thought I was crazy when I took this photo of her wearing the t-shirt with McGuckin Hardware on it as the Boulder store is very well known to people from Denver! 

It was beyond amazing to think of each one of these stones being carried up the mountain, situated at a height of 7,120 feet, so many centuries ago to create a place of such solitude and reverence for the monks.

I couldn't help but smile seeing this particular design on the facade! 

Legend has it that this was the image of the first monk who inhabited the monastery.

Shots of the interior of the stunning church:

Misha smileded when he told me if an icon has grapes on it, you know it’s from Georgia! It’s impossible to separate Georgian culture from its wine as the two are so closely linked, he said. Without wine, Georgia doesn’t exist!

I think this was the icon I read about of Madonna with a burnt out face. According to the story, it was the only damage done by a fire the Russians set to the monastery.

No doubt the simplest sign to add to my 'collection of bathroom signs' from around the world!

As we walked down toward a waiting car to take us to the van back in Stepsaminda, we looked back for another view of the monastery. It was only from this angle that I noticed the monks’ cells jutting out from the side of the monastery.

Unfortunately, only some of the fabulous people on the day trip made it into the group shot as the others had already gone ahead back to the village. Steven and I had particular fun chatting during the day with Phil, third from left, a fellow from England who had just completed his M.A. at Duke and had also been on another tour with us; and, next to Steven, the lovely Monika and Raul, from Madrid.

I think the whole group was quite relieved we didn't have to also walk down to get the van. As it couldn't get up the extremely rocky road, our driver had arranged for a convoy of cars to drive us back down to Stepsaminda. But that journey was somewhat hair raising and took about 30 minutes. It definitely wasn't a journey for those who are faint of heart or who get carsick!

The road was especially scary when drivers had to drive on the edge to make space for cars coming the opposite direction. 

Photos en route back to Tbilisi:

Misha gave us just five minutes to stop and admire these mineral springs on our way back to Tbilisi! That was enough time to hop out of the van and take a few photos, thank goodness, of the unusual rock formations.

It had been very warm when we were hiking but by the time we left Stepsaminda around 5, it got chilly and was downright cold at the springs.

A photo of Phil who felt safer than we did clambering over the rocks!

Misha explained this mammoth lookout was built by the Soviets in 1968. Everyone on the tour laughed when Misha said we had 'five minutes' here, too, even though we knew he was concerned with making sure we got back to Tbilisi by 8:30 so one couple could get a train at 9.

The murals appealed to me far more than the actual view which wasn't much in the hazy, early evening.

The mural was so immense, it contained so many scenes from Georgia's history, we had too little time there and Misha, wonderful that he was, didn't speak English well enough that he was able to convey the meaning of what we were seeing, that we needed to be content with a few cursory tidbits of information. I gathered the bright red was that perhaps of blood that was shed and also the color associated with Communism.

Queen Tomar, Georgia’s most important queen during the Golden Age of the 5th century, was represented in the center of the gargantuan mural.

 An image of St. George slaying the dragon was why the country received its name of Georgia.

The mural's left hand side represented Georgian peasants and warriors. The trucks indicated the industrialization of Georgia, according to Misha.

 The green figure represented those who won WW II but was nicknamed Georgia’s Superman!

Though it had been an almost twelve-hour day trip by the time we returned to our hotel, we had gotten to explore the intriguing Ananuri Castle, driven a good chunk of Georgia's Military Highway and had been successful hiking all the way up to Holy Trinity Cathedral high above Stepsaminda!

Posted on September 1st, 2018, from Kutaisi, Georgia.

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