Georgia report. Travel to Georgia. Personal report about Georgia. Arrival in Tbilisi
Since we were afraid to go to our beloved Crimea with children this year, we have already been to Montenegro, but we don’t like “all inclusive”, therefore Turkey, Bulgaria disappeared immediately, it was decided to go, or rather fly to Georgia. Of the advantages that influenced the choice of a vacation spot: a direct flight from Minsk, a visa is not needed, there is no need to get permission for the child to travel abroad from the second parent if the child travels only with his mother, and of course the beautiful nature of this country.
Our composition is 3 mothers and 3 children: 14 years old, 10 years old and 4 years old. My husband said that blondes are stolen there and taken to the mountains, but I read enough information about what is safe there and put him before the fact by buying tickets.
Tickets were purchased about a month before departure ($400 for adults, $300 for children). Departure June 20th. It was decided to first fly to Tbilisi, spend 2 days there, then take the night train to Batumi, spend 3 days there. And it was decided to spend the remaining 11 days in Kobuleti. It is natural to fly back from Batumi. If you buy tickets at the Belavia office, then the flight Minsk-Tbilisi-Batumi-Minsk will be considered at the round-trip price. Be careful when buying tickets: when I bought a ticket for my nephew, who is 14 years old, the cashier first calculated at the "child" price, then when I paid attention to this at the "adult" price, only the third time, according to my instructions, she calculated it right (on youth under 25 have a discount).
Airfare low price calendar
I couldn’t buy tickets for the Tbilisi-Batumi train on the Georgian railway website (the payment didn’t go through), so I had to buy on biletebi.ge, the commission is higher there, but the tickets were purchased without problems (you can select Russian at the top of the site) .
About housing. It was decided to look for apartments. I know that not everyone will understand me, someone likes to sit outdoors in the evening, someone likes to chat with the owners, but I needed amenities: first of all, not a common kitchen to feed the children, and I didn’t want to be scattered in different rooms in a hotel (private sector). Searching for housing on the Internet did not return any results. After reading on the forums that many people are looking for housing through social networks, I registered in one of the networks and quickly found a suitable option for us in Kobuleti: a three-room apartment with all amenities on the second line (air conditioning, washing machine, internet, etc.) Price 70 USD per day, no advance payment required. I know that it would be possible to find cheaper housing on the spot, but I didn’t really want to hang around with children in search of housing and spend time on this.
Excursion along the route Uplistsikhe-Gori-Mtskheta-Tbilisi
We depart from Minsk at 23.55 and land in Tbilisi at 2.50 local time. The airport in Tbilisi is small. We have to spend 5 hours here. The airport has several exchange offices with a normal exchange rate, one restaurant, a fast food cafe with expensive prices, as well as a Beeline office, which, according to information on the website, was supposed to work at night. The office worked, but while I went to get the others, the girl disappeared somewhere, the policeman who came up to us showed with signs that she had gone to bed (it was very funny how he portrayed the sleeping girl). Failed to connect. Five hours at the airport went better than I expected: a couple of times we went to a cafe, a couple of times to a souvenir shop, some even managed to sleep. At 8 am a car came for us. I ordered the guide Shoren in advance. She had positive reviews and I was not mistaken in my choice. We agreed on everything by e-mail.
The first day. Our first excursion: Uplistsikhe-Gori-Mtskheta-Tbilisi (cost ~$100). The driver Zura drove us. He drove very carefully, for which special thanks to him.
Uplistsikhe is an ancient cave city.
Gori is the city where Joseph Stalin was born.
Mtskheta is the ancient capital of Georgia.
Be sure to bring appropriate clothing for visiting temples (shawls, skirts), in some temples skirts can be taken at the entrance. We used our beach pareos.
In Mtskheta, there is a large restaurant "Salobio" on the outskirts. Here you can eat tasty and cheap. This restaurant started our acquaintance with Georgian cuisine. We ordered khachapuri, khinkali, pies, barbecue. Paid about $25. They didn’t eat everything, they took the barbecue with them.
The Jvari temple is located on the top of a mountain at the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers.
Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia.
Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi.
Cableway to Narikala fortress. The beginning of the cable car is at Rike Square near the Peace Bridge. To travel, you need a plastic card (our guide had it, you can buy it in the metro and at the cable car ticket office).
There is also a funicular in Tbilisi that lifts Mount Mtatsminda, but we missed this point of the excursion, we didn’t have enough strength after a night flight.
View from the cable car.
View from Narikala fortress.
Turkish quarter of the capital.
The famous sulfur baths.
Waterfall behind the sulfur baths.
In the evening we checked into the Saint George Hostel. We booked a family room through Booking for ~$65. The word hostel scared me, but in vain. Two-storey room with private facilities, very clean, can accommodate up to 9 people. There is even a baby cot. The hostel is located in an old building with stucco molding preserved on the ceiling. The hall is very interesting. There is also a shared kitchen. The children really liked it, they decided for a long time who would sleep where, but two hours of negotiations are better than 5 minutes of war. There was enough space for everyone.
In the evening we walked along Rustaveli Avenue to the nearest supermarket (it turned out to be far away). Tasted wine there. We bought some groceries and went to the hostel. I didn’t have enough strength to see Tbilisi in the evening. Something we did not have time for a lot of things, we must definitely go again.
In Tbilisi, young people walk the streets in T-shirts with an inscription like "if you are a tourist, contact me." There is also a red bus, as in many cities of the world, with an audio guide in Russian, a trip around Tbilisi on it for 4 hours + a check-in to Mtskheta will cost 35 GEL, see most of the sights, and then you can independently come to any of them. The ticket is valid for 24 hours. It’s better to just walk around the old city without any maps, I just walked aimlessly, around every turn there is something new and interesting. The funicular-tram will bring you to the mountain with a large amusement park, a Ferris wheel and an excellent observation deck. Personally, I would take at least three days to Tbilisi, and spend them where I lived this time, in the oldest part of the city. Mtskheta did not impress at all, except for Svetitskhoveli there is nothing to do there.
We go along the route Tbilisi-Stepantsminda (Kazbegi)-Tbilisi
Second day. We load our suitcases in the morning.
Our second excursion along the Georgian Military Highway.
Shorena brought us a Beeline SIM card, which we didn’t manage to buy in Tbilisi in the evening (International tariff, calls are not expensive, we didn’t use the Internet, because we rented housing everywhere with the Internet, you can replenish your account at information kiosks, there is a menu in Russian) and first of all took us to an inexpensive store to buy everything we needed for the trip. Go.
A herd of sheep blocked the road.
In general, there are a lot of cows walking on the roads in Georgia, all of them respectfully go around. Sometimes you can meet pigs.
View from the observation deck.
Ski resort Gudauri.
Reviews of tourists about holidays in Georgia and reports on a trip by car around the country, useful tips that will prepare you for a trip to Georgia, reviews about which are better to read in advance. Many people gradually get rid of the habit of going on vacation with tour operators and begin to do it on their own. But then a lot of questions immediately arise, because before you only had to pack your suitcase and get on the plane, and now you have to develop your vacation in Georgia absolutely independently. Reviews of tourists who have already visited this magical country significantly help in this difficult matter. When reading their advice, do not be lazy to take notes, write down the addresses and contacts of the hospitable hosts who are mentioned with warmth, mark the main sights so that you can definitely see them with your own eyes. Those who prefer mobility and love to turn the steering wheel for a long time are advised to carefully study the reports on a trip to Georgia by car. The reviews of auto travelers who have previously made their way to resorts by the sea (Batumi, Ureki, Kvariati, Gonio) are replete with important nuances, interesting facts and practical advice. It is better to take this matter seriously and devote enough time to prepare the car for a trip and travel around Georgia. One report will not be enough, as you learn something new, you will want to visit more and more places. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to do this for various reasons, for example, due to low vehicle traffic or too short a vacation, so it is worth planning a route taking into account existing opportunities and wishes. To make your vacation and an independent trip to Georgia by car a success - read the reviews of tourists, make notes on the road and enjoy your stay in this hospitable and welcoming country of sun, mountains, wine and the sea!
At the very beginning of my story, I want to say thank you to all those people, without whom this trip, even if it would have taken place, would not have turned out to be so interesting, colorful and successful. I would like to thank our new friends Zura and Zura, who were with us almost around the clock during the two weeks spent in Georgia, took us around the country, told about it, about traditions, people, history, tried to make our stay as comfortable as possible. I also say “gmadlobt” to the manager of the Rusudan travel agency, the owner of a hotel in Tbilisi Tsesana, the winemaker from Kakheti Sandro, the musician from Gori Roma and all Georgians for their warm welcome and hospitality.
The idea to go to Georgia came to me with my girlfriend Nadezhda about a year ago. Break the entire Russian Internet, it turned out that there is almost no information on the country; hardly managed to find a report on the trip of two girls from Chelyabinsk. At first, they did not want to resort to the services of travel agencies, because they did not want to be driven into the rigid framework of the program. Having walked around the network, we roughly decided on the route, with the places we would like to visit. There was one very serious issue that worried almost all of our relatives and friends - security. The problem is that our valiant media are making this country some kind of monster, where it is life-threatening to travel. But the people living in Georgia, with whom I communicated via ICQ, as well as the posts I found on LiveJournal with travel reports, dispelled all doubts. The next day after I received my passport, the Moscow-Tbilisi tickets were already in my hands.
Since before the trip there was no time at all to book hotels, we decided to go through an agency anyway. A tour was created especially for us. In Tbilisi, we were met by 2 guides - Zura and Zura, who during the trip turned from guides into friends.
At the airport in Tbilisi at the customs at the same time we approach with another Russian to the customs officers sitting next door. "Hello!" the companion says. "Hello!" - menacingly answers the customs officer. I tell my customs officer: “Gamarjobat!”. Both with an undisguised smile almost unanimously answer “Gamarjobat!”. So I realized that there is nothing terrible in Georgia.
TBILISI
I will start with Tbilisi, and then I will gradually post stories about other cities
Tbilisi met us with a stuffy night; it immediately became clear that the city was far to the south. Small (compared to Moscow), where the bustling and noisy Rustaveli Avenue borders on very quiet and absolutely non-capital narrow streets, the city immediately shows that it has a mood. It seems to me that the whole of Tbilisi lies in these streets. This is such a "non-capital" capital. But I'll start the story with the "official" places, which, unlike most cities, are not only beautiful, but also interesting.
In the very center of Tbilisi stands the huge Sameba (Trinity) Cathedral. Construction has just been completed, although outwardly it does not look like new. An interesting feature is that under the cathedral there is a small copy of the hall located on the ground floor.
It's the view from the mountain.
In general, the city began with baths built on hot sulfur springs; "tbili" in Georgian means "warm". This is the very center of the city.
Metekhi is one of the most beautiful churches in Tbilisi.
Kura River
Old city. It is very interesting to wander through the old narrow streets of Tbilisi, up and down.
Almost the entire center is built up with such two-three-story houses.
Balcony in the hotel. In fact, this is not a hotel, but a "guest house". It was made from a large apartment 10 years ago. The hostess Tsesana lives here and receives visiting guests. There are a lot of houses with such balconies in Tbilisi.
Grapes grow everywhere in Georgia. You can often see such a picture.
Tbilisi at night. When I uncovered the tripod and began to set up the camera, a policeman came up to me and said that it was not possible to take pictures now. The thing was that Saakashvili came to the baths, which were under the mountain, from where I wanted to take pictures, and snipers were sitting on the mountain opposite. That is, you can take pictures, but the police cannot vouch for the consequences. Come back, he says, in an hour.
In the city center there is a street called Chardin, it has a large number of cafes and restaurants. Looks very European.
If you are accustomed to a comfortable stay in Europe, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and other popular resorts, accustomed to hotels with the “all included” system, and generally well-organized tourist routes, there is nothing for you to do in Georgia. First of all, you just need to want to get into this country and accept it for what it really is. If you look for some disadvantages (more precisely, to notice some inconvenience), then it is better to immediately abandon the trip. Georgia is interesting primarily for lovers of antiquity, but at the same time, one must want to get to know and communicate with the people who live here, they are really very wonderful. Here, for example, is the case that occurred in the city of Gori.
In the evening we went to a restaurant with friends, drank homemade wine, ate, talked about life. About 15 minutes before leaving, a man passed by our table, heard Russian speech and asked me: “Zyoma, where are you from?” "From Moscow" - I answered. "Moscow is the capital" - he threw and left. I did not pay any attention to him, moreover, I forgot in a minute. And a minute later he returned with two jugs of homemade wine and did not let us go until these jugs were empty. Roma turned out to be a musician who had played in our restaurant half an hour before. There were long stories about how he lived in Russia for 15 years, how he loves Russians, and how sorry it is that we are now “not friends”. Roma had a heavy metal band that even performed at the famous Moscow International Peace Festival in 1989 on the same stage with Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Motley Crew, Gorky Park. What kind of people you meet!
In general, everyone was constantly interested in where we came from, asked about life in Moscow. What I really liked was that during the two weeks of our stay in the country, NO ONE ever said anything bad about the Russians, about Russia. All the people treat us very well, and everyone is very sorry that no one is going to them. And all the talk boils down to the fact that politicians are to blame for everything, and the peoples only suffer from this; and during feasts, several toasts are necessarily pronounced for friendship between Georgians and Russians.
By the way, about toasts. It is known that Georgians are very fond of long feasts with a lot of wine, toasts and so on (master of ceremonies, after all - the Georgian word). Every time people gather at the table, they always drink for friends, parents, commemorate the dead. A distinctive feature of the people is the veneration of simple values and common truths. Georgians do everything from the bottom of their hearts and “to the end”: they make friends, love, swear. To be honest, their truthfulness is very “catchy”.
Since we are talking about toasts, we can't help but mention Georgian cuisine. This is something fabulous!
Shish kebab, khinkali, khachapuri, lobio, satsivi, tkemali - all the names are familiar to us from childhood, only in Russia they don’t really know how to cook these dishes (except perhaps shish kebab, but shish kebab is such a thing that you have to do it yourself!). A lot of pepper, various herbs, sauces and seasonings. Eternal holiday! Everywhere there are many restaurants and cafes, and in most of them you can eat very inexpensively (according to Moscow ideas). Each restaurant bakes its own pita bread, often brought so hot that it is impossible to take it with your hands. The most favorite dish among Georgians is khinkali, they can only eat them! Another thing to mention is lemonade. Taste from childhood. I haven't drunk this lemonade for fifteen years, if not more. Tarragon, duchesse, lemon flavored drinks, tangerine and so on - apparently they are still made from natural ingredients, so the taste has remained excellent.
An interesting feature is that you can bring your own wine to almost any cafe, because in Georgia almost no one drinks bottled wine, everyone drinks only homemade wine. And the best homemade wine, of course, is your own. The cult of this drink is felt everywhere - no matter where we come, huge jugs lie everywhere.
The uncle of one of our friends, his name is Sandro, owns a small winery in Kakheti, the area where most grapes are grown. The plant is located a few kilometers from the famous village of Tsinandali. He gave us a tour, told us about how grapes are grown in Georgia, about the technology for making wine at home and in industrial conditions, how Georgian varieties differ from each other. Unfortunately, the ban on the import of Georgian wines to Russia dealt a very serious blow to the industry. Sandro, for example, exported up to 70 (seventy!) percent of his products to Russia. Now his warehouses are filled with products that have returned from our country, and he is urgently looking for access to new markets. At the same time, he is not offended by the Russians. After a tour of the factory, Sandro arranged a wine tasting for us. It was very interesting to try Kindzmarauli from the bottle first, and then compare it with the young, still not fermented from the tank.
Imagine how much wine is here!
Alaverdi. The cathedral was built in honor of Prince Alaverdi in the 11th century. By the way, the tradition of saying “Alaverdy” before a toast appeared in honor of this prince. If someone in Georgia said this word during a toast, this person will be obliged to say a toast in return.
Ikalto Academy. Shota Rustaveli studied here.
Our friends Zura and Zura.
Uplistsikhe
Uplistsikhe, cave city, near the city of Gori (Stalin's birthplace). It arose (just think about it!) in the 16th-15th centuries BC. It is very interesting to climb all the caves and ledges here.
Path in Uplistsikhe
Very often you can see churches standing on the tops of mountains. Jvari.
View from Jvari to the city of Mtskheta. The confluence of the famous rivers Kura and Aragvi.
In general, Georgian architecture is characterized by a certain asceticism, modesty and austerity. All old buildings have a very positive energy. The age of some churches is very captivating, this one, for example, was built in the 5th-7th centuries.
BORJOMI
Georgians have a favorite place for summer holidays - Borjomi. On the slopes of the Borjomi valley, a larch forest grows, which, coupled with the purest mountain air and, of course, mineral springs, makes rest here very beneficial for health. Only here there is absolutely nothing to do, unless the photos are good. By the way, Borjomi mineral water is sold everywhere, the labels are all in Russian and Georgian, that is, they were printed with the expectation of sales not only in Georgia, but also in Russia.
VARDZIA
The Uplistsikhe complex (see above) amazed us, but what we saw in Vardzia is almost indescribable. The cave city was created in the XII-XIII centuries during the reign of Queen Tamara. Over 600 residential, religious and utility rooms are carved into a sheer rock at the level of 9 floors. Of the places I have ever been, this complex made one of the strongest impressions on me.
Vardzia is located near the border with Turkey and Armenia, it takes about five hours to get to the complex from Borjomi along a dirt road, but it's really worth it! On the way to Vardzia, you pass many small deaf villages, where life flows the same way as many, many years ago, no one speaks Russian. In the valleys, shepherds graze cows, sometimes you can meet teams pulled by donkeys; Feeling like you are on another planet.
On the way to Vardzia
Vardzia itself, view from the valley
"Luxury apartment". Imagine, this "room" is carved into the rock!
The church carved into the rock looks very beautiful and unusual.
If you are careless, breaking your head in Vardzia is easy. In general, sometimes I was amazed that in tourist places in Georgia everything is not very well equipped. But on the other hand, there are very few people and no one interferes with enjoying the beauties. All the monuments appear before you "as is", there is no impression that everything is done for tourists. Everything is very real, and it really captivates.
If you do not watch TV and news, if you are not afraid of the lack of service, and you want to see something unusual, you have a direct road to Georgia. This is really a beautiful kind country, which is worth visiting. She will definitely not leave you indifferent, impressions will last a long time. We went, and now we will remember and tell all our friends about the trip for a very long time.
Some time ago, I visited sunny Georgia. Now, I will try to briefly talk about the trip and impressions, for the entertainment of the most respectable public for the sake of and for the benefit of those who are going to Georgia for. Given the especially friendly relations between our countries and the developed tourist exchange, my writings may be useful to someone.
(Asobiy thanks, my wife, who fatagraphed, paka ya taxied the car).
Entry to Georgia for Russians is currently visa-free, according to a passport valid for at least three months on the day of departure from Georgia. Flying by plane from Moscow to Tbilisi costs about 7,000 rubles one way, less than 3 hours in time. We went to Georgia by car, because on the way we had to bring our own child and a cat to their grandmother in their historical homeland. You can enter Georgia from Russia through the Upper Lars checkpoint located south of Vladikavkaz, about 15 minutes away by car. 
(we are approaching the border)
There is no provision for crossing the border on foot at this checkpoint, and in order to travel to Georgia, you need a passport and a car registration certificate. No vehicle inspection tickets or insurance required. At the Russian customs, we stood in line for about 2.5 hours, opened and closed the trunk, stood in line at the passport control window. Then we drove along the road, broken into the trash, to the Georgian checkpoint. We spent about 10-15 minutes on it. This was the first blow inflicted by the Saakashvili regime on my mind. They didn't open the trunk and didn't get out of the car at all. With them, just in case, they took a 20-liter full can of fuel. At the Russian checkpoint, we were warned that the Georgians could get to her ... fight. Due to the lack of inspection, the canister reached Tbilisi safely. On the Georgian side, the customs post is being arranged, something is being built, welded and excavated. In this regard, the road near the post is quite broken, but then it gets better and remains so until the entrance to the Cross Pass. The route from Vladik to Tbilisi is called the Georgian Military Road and passes through the main Caucasian ridge through the Cross Pass at an altitude of about 2400 meters. On the pass, it is expensive and concretely broken and has practically no asphalt surface - only stones. Fearing snow and ice on the pass, I shod my car trough in winter studded tires and did it in vain. Despite the end of November, there was no snow on the roadway. The road, of course, is disgusting, but quite passable. The main thing is not to cheat. Passenger cars scoured the pass back and forth, often with bald tires. Many Armenian trucks and VAZs with Ossetian numbers. Actually, this is how the road to the pass, on the pass and after the pass looks like.
(from the border to the ascent to the pass)
(road on the pass, in the fog)
(road after Gudauri)
Attractions, by the way, begin almost immediately from the border.
Before reaching the pass, those who wish can visit the Gergeti Monastery, located on the mountain to the right of the highway. 
Although ... desires may not coincide with the possibilities. The road to the monastery is a real f…zdets. The rocky dirt road going to the monument of Georgian architecture periodically has a slope of 35-40 degrees, runs along the edge of the cliff and has pits and ditches along its length, passable only for a jeep. But we got in anyway. On the way, they picked up a young guy for ballast - a Czech tourist in a Peruvian cap, with a huge backpack on his back. He sickly climbed this mountain on foot. Maybe by evening he would have arrived. 
(the same Czech)
The monastery is active. After 15 minutes, a local holy father drove up the mountain behind us in some super passable old SUV, chastising us for improper parking. A little about Georgian priests. After 60-70 years old, gray-haired holy fathers have a very aristocratic and fine appearance. But if the ass is 30-40 years old, he looks like a uniformed Mujahideen. A sullen look, a black beard from the eyes, a black cassock. Dress up such a priest in camouflage, put on a pakol (dushmanka) and give Kalashnikov - Osama bin Laden next to him will look like a plush Santa Claus.
The view from the monastery is amazing. 
(Kazbek)
When descending from Gergeti, we picked up another imported tourists from somewhere in Holland. He is a hefty freckled Fritz, she is a narrow-eyed Japanese. They've been hitchhiking for two months now. 
A few words about orientation in the sights of Georgia. The stump is clear, Georgian squiggles are not informative for an ordinary tourist. However, the vast majority of road signs, even in remote places, are duplicated in Latin. Especially delivers the fact that the path to the sights is indicated by very convenient signs. They are brown-orange, unlike the others, with a certain icon corresponding to the type of object (church, spring, etc.) And I want to inform you that there are a lot of such indicators. That is, the sights in Georgia are really at every step. If at first, we turned off at all the brown signs, then in the end we just got tired of doing it.
After the pass, in the Gudauri region, a normal road begins to Tbilisi itself. In Gudauri, according to knowledgeable people, a strong ski resort continues to develop. If the Georgians make a normal road to it from the border through the pass, I’m sure many Russians will go to ride there, spitting on all the “tourist North Caucasian clusters”, which will cause an influx of dough into enemy territory and an outflow of dough from the Russian Federation.
On the way to Tbilisi, in the village of Ananuri, in front of an impressive bridge over some kind of river 
you can see another historical landmark - the Ananuri Fortress. 
Further, before reaching Tbilisi, to the right of the main road is the ancient capital of Georgia - Mtskheta. On the first day, we did not stop by it, as it was already getting dark, but I recommend visiting there. We went there on the third day, but I'll tell you about it now. The following significant sights are located in Mtskheta: the churches of Svetitskhoveli and Samtavro, the ruins of the Bebristsikhe fortress, the Shiomgvime monastery. A little closer to Tbilisi, but already to the right of the highway on the mountain is the Jvari Monastery. 
The area around Svetitskhoveli is ennobled for tourism purposes - tourist footpaths are paved, many shops with souvenirs, parking, toilets. The ubiquitous Japanese with cameras, the Bundes and local pilgrims stagger along the paths. 
The temple is surrounded by an impressive fortress wall with all the options.
The last Georgian kings, representatives of noble families (such as the Bagrations) and other eminent citizens unidentified by me are buried in the temple itself. On half of the tombstones, the inscriptions are made in Russian, native Cyrillic. Next to the temple is the department of the Georgian police, as always glass.
For some horseradish, we went to watch the Shio-Mgvime Monastery. It is located 12-15 km. from Mtskheta. The turn to it is at the Samtavro church.
At first, the road is more or less decent, but then the asphalt ends and rattling on rubble begins. 
Twice we made a mistake with the road and, at first, rested on the sign, along the steepest road along the abyss to some mountain with a chapel on top, 
then we arrived at the military unit and only then did we find the monastery. 
It is famous for the fact that in it, in a pit like a zindan, a certain saint Shio voluntarily sat.
If you leave the Samtavro church on the left, you can reach the ruins of the Bebristsikhe fortress. 
There is absolutely nothing to see inside the fortress, but outside the ruins are quite picturesque. On the way to the fortress, you can visit the excavations of some ancient burial ground, paying either 1 or 2 lari. There is nothing to see there either.
If you leave Mtskheta towards Tbilisi, then after a few kilometers there will be a sign to the Jvari monastery. It's 6 kilometers uphill. The road is tolerable, the view of the monastery and from the monastery is awesome. 
A little about orientation.
On the first day it was quite difficult. We did not understand Georgian squiggles at all, there was no map, it got dark. When trying to ask for directions, to the cheap hotels booked ahead of time, the locals shrugged their shoulders, although they tried to help. In the end, a taxi driver was paid to show the way to a hotel he knew. Naturally, the hotel was more expensive and worse than we expected.
A taxi around the city in Tbilisi costs 5-7 GEL. Taxi drivers have a penchant for cheating, just like everywhere else. You can spend the night in a hotel for 60 GEL for two. If you do not look for anything, then it is very easy to find an inexpensive hotel or hostel. You need to walk along the streets near the Norikaly fortress, Sulfur baths, i.e. in the center. There are plenty of them. Clearly on the street leading to the Norikala Fortress is the Envoy Hostel - all you need to roll the dice after a day of wandering around the city with a camera. The price for a bed is about 15 GEL, a block for two is 60 GEL. Wifi and breakfast included.
What to see in Tbilisi. We drove around the entire city center, visited the sulfur baths, the Norikale fortress, walked along Rustaveli Avenue, looked at the city from Mount Mtatsminda and visited the main temples of the city and, of course, tasted Georgian cuisine in local restaurants.
As for the sulfur baths, here they are, by the way, 
then they are located in the historical center, where sulfuric hot springs are beating from the ground. These sources gave the name to the city (tbili - warm in Georgian). In the 5th century, the specific smell, and even hotter water, so delighted the king of Iberia Vakhtang Gorgasali, who hunted in the local dense forests, that he allegedly ordered the construction of a city here. The bathhouse where we were is a sauna-type room, but without a steam room, with a pool filled with hot (45 degrees) water that smells slightly of rotten eggs. Visitors are invited to sit in it until they get some pleasure, or until they get numb. An hour, it seems, cost 30 lari. Instead of towels, they gave out sheets, but perhaps the attendant and I simply did not understand each other.
Almost the entire city is clearly visible from Norikala, including Saakashvili's palace, the Trinity Temple, the glass bridge, as well as the building, which I called "grebes". The locals also call it "gaskets". 
(toadstools or pads)
Really very useful house. In it, in 15 minutes you can get a passport, any certificate, sell, buy, deregister and register anything. A sort of anti-bureaucratic center. No queues, bribes and mudism of officials. A very useful building. For children who came for information, leisure rooms were organized there and many other wise chips were invented to make life easier for the common man.
I think if a similar center is built in Moscow, the non-rubber economy may collapse. A huge army of lawyers, solvers, officials, lawyers, intermediaries, taxi drivers, offices for filling out and accompanying paperwork in the authorities will die of hunger or come out to rob the people with the use of violence. We do not need such happiness. We have our own Russian path, and we have stood on it and will continue to stand.
To be continued.
This is the second part of my report on a trip to Georgia by car, telling about traveling by car along the Georgian Military Highway with a visit to all its sights, but with the first part of the review, you can.
I woke up exactly on the alarm clock, i.e. at half past five in the morning third day, gladly noting that over the past three days I have slept exactly 10.5 hours, and ahead of the serpentines and, in general, the road to Tbilisi, unusual for a flat dweller. In the rays of dawn, the Upper Lars looked completely different, unexpectedly on both sides there were quite high, almost sheer cliffs with sparse vegetation. The Terek River, which roars so loudly, turned out to be not so scary as it was fantasized in the dark.
Having put myself in order, I began to enjoy the views of the surrounding nature alien to my gaze. Then he looked at the cars lining up one after another and noted that I perfectly saw the beginning of the queue, but its tail was lost from sight, although 3.5 hours ago I myself was the last one. Thus, it turns out that the distance from me to the end of the queue turned out to be greater than before it began. This leads to an obvious conclusion.
It is best to arrive at the border before midnight - this will allow you to sleep and relax after a long journey, and at the same time, you will not be far from the start of the traffic jam.
Passage of the border between Russia and Georgia
While I was awake for 1.5 hours and enjoying the surrounding views, my navigator peacefully sniffed in 2 holes in the back seat. Exactly at 6:00, the line started moving, and at 6:05 the “dispersed” flooded in - they drove straight in a column in the opposite direction, 40 cars went ahead. I saw how they gradually began to be sewn into any gap between the cars, so I didn’t give a damn about personal space, I pressed as close as possible to the Mondeo standing in front. Some of the "dispersers" did not find a shelter and returned back, some found a treasured gap, and some stood on the sidelines, ready at any moment to hit the gas if someone gapes.
My position was quite decent, because I was not that far from the checkpoint, and about a hundred meters from it, a military ZIL with machine gunners and a patrol car with the ceiling turned on blocked the road - not a single "stowaway" could drive further than them. True, there were rather stubborn drivers, they told them their "good" reasons with tears in their eyes, because of which they urgently needed to be let forward, but the border guards were of little interest. But still, some of them stuck, they themselves wedged into the stream. Would you object to a man with a machine gun in his hands?
The closer you get to the military truck, the less illegal immigrants will wedge in front of you, and the further you go, the longer you will listen to the measured rumbling of the Terek.
We quickly passed the armed guards of the border, and I was able to relax - I no longer need to press close to the car in front.
From the moment we started moving to passing the Russian checkpoint, an hour and a half passed, then there was a wait in the neutral zone, because the tourist buses blocked the road, and the customs officers had to check all their clothes. The Georgian border was passed with a whistle - literally in 7-10 minutes. It took us about 2.5 hours to do everything about everything, not counting the fact that for some reason I woke up an hour and a half before the opening. But everything is empty, all obstacles have been overcome and left behind - incredible discoveries, new experiences and an exciting trip await us ahead!
First impressions of Georgia
Oooooh, the impressions just splashed out of our ears, but we drove through the entire mountainous area in the dark, and then again the mountains. We decided to stop at the very first observation deck after the border crossing to take a breath, soak up the first large-format landscape of Georgia with mountains and drink energy, because my lack of sleep was already beginning to give voice.
At the very beginning, there is an extremely bad road, on which there is no coating at all and they do not plan to apply it due to frequent mudflows. Therefore, you will have to be patient and shake at a minimum speed of about 5 km.
We quickly get to Stepantsminda, meeting the first roadside cows along the way, who walk on their own and are going to visit the first attraction on the list - Holy Trinity Church in Gergeti. I will not repeat myself and write about how I tried to storm it in my passenger car - all this, and even more, can be read by clicking on the link above. There I described in as much detail as possible all the information I knew about this temple.
Sitting in our car again, we tried to climb to another church, but on the other side of Stepantsminda, called Ioane Natlismcemeli. However, our attempts were in vain - well, I couldn’t get out on the right road, which, in turn, are lined with large stones and jumping on them on a sedan is never ice at all.
It was close to dinner time and we needed somewhere to eat. We decided to heed the advice of the man who took us upstairs to the temple and went to have lunch at the Tsanareti restaurant, which is located in a neighboring village called Arsha.
There we tried the national Georgian cuisine for the first time: we ordered the largest Imereti khachapuri, which had so much cheese that even you could put it in your pocket, pita bread, kupaty, khinkali, Satsebeli sauce and Saperavi red wine.
I wanted to try some wine (Georgian traffic rules allow a blood alcohol level of 0.3 ‰), but as soon as I smelled it, I began to lose touch with reality and fall asleep at the moment when I blinked.
As a result, my wife blew everything red out of the food, we ate almost half, and the waitress wrapped the rest for us. This whole feast cost 55 lari, or $22 at that time. At first glance, it seems not cheap, but considering that the two of us ate only half, and in the evening and tomorrow we ate the second - it turns out quite modestly. I liked the restaurant itself, the food is good, the courtyard offers a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains, even Kazbek is a little visible.
Sightseeing on the Georgian Military Highway
While we were enjoying the national cuisine, we saw a small waterfall on the neighboring mountain (coordinates: 42.630252, 44.597117 or N42°37"49", E44°35"50") because we are new here and we want to feel and shake everything, we went to look for a way to it. They killed for 30 minutes, driving around the surrounding fields and forcing small streams, until they realized that the entrance to it goes right from the threshold of our restaurant. By car, you won’t be able to drive right there - you will have to walk along the goat path on foot for 500 meters, at a very slight upward slope.
At the waterfall we found an Englishman who was sitting on a stone and drawing a picture with crayons. There was also a shepherd who slept peacefully in a fetal position while his imposing herd of mountain goats and cows was pastured by a guard dog, who seemed to be dreaming of jumping down a waterfall.
Having looked around the surroundings, we go down the slope and continue our trip by car across Georgia towards Tbilisi. While I was galloping between the stones, like a mountain goat, my sleep was shattered, and I again became wheel-twirling fit.
Immediately begins a winding road with sharp turns of 180 degrees - life becomes better, life becomes more fun! Driving there is quite interesting and not scary, but you begin to encounter such a phenomenon as loss of traction. With every meter we climb higher and higher into the mountains and we have to adapt to the new rules of gear shifting. For example, if in ordinary life I stick the 4th at 60 km / h, then here, at this speed, this cannot be done, because. the car starts to shake, and it stops pulling altogether, so there is a shift upwards and I stuck the 4th already at ~ 70-75 km / h.
Soon we come across another interesting place - mineral water outcropping (coordinates: 42.531698, 44.471960 or N42°31"54", E44°28"19"). As a result of certain chemical processes, the soil, on the way of mineral water runoff, was covered with a thick layer of absolutely solid yellowish-pinkish coating.
It is difficult to pass by this place, because. it is located right next to the road, there are always many cars of tourists there, and the local population conducts a brisk trade, on several small patches, national hats and other souvenirs. If you rise a little higher, you can find the source of this phenomenon and even drink it. Walking there is not slippery at all, but wet.
Having circled a little more along the mountain serpentines, we get to the observation platform, on which the monument "Arch of Friendship" is installed. Again, this attraction is described with a photo and a bunch of useful information in a separate article, at the link above.
At the moment we are at an altitude of more than 2 thousand meters above sea level - the surrounding landscapes, with majestic mountains and microscopic villages at their foot, are beautiful. The road begins to wag more and more, sharp turns on serpentines become the norm. My navigator has a severe migraine attack due to the elevation change and is semi-conscious, leaving me alone. I swallow a caffeine pill that helps my eyes open and my mouth finally close.
The Georgian military road is unrealistically beautiful and this is clearly understandable when you enter Georgia for the first time along it, the main thing is to be lucky with the weather. During a trip from Upper Lars to Tbilisi, it will definitely not be boring.
Alpine serpentines are not new to me - I overcame the Alps at night in almost zero visibility due to a heavy downpour with a deafening thunderstorm and traveled most of Italy on my iron horse. In general, I drive along them absolutely calmly and without fear, but no matter how I tried to catch up with at least one minibus, nothing worked, maximum hanging on my tail for about 15 minutes. I mean, impressionable tourists who decided to travel on their own on a Georgian minibus from Tbilisi on, they will get a very big injection of adrenaline and remember all the prayers long forgotten in childhood.
We gradually descend and drive up to the Zhinvali reservoir, on the banks of which stands the ancient, but well-preserved Ananuri fortress. This is a very interesting place where you should definitely stop and wander a little, and a detailed description can be read at the link above.
After walking along the walls of the castle, the effect of the pill begins to gradually weaken. I decided not to drink more than one of them a day, so we began to pay attention to the nameplates of roadside hotels. It was already evening time - the sun was about to hide behind the mountains, and there was some offensive 20 minutes drive to Tbilisi. But what can we do, we find not the most pretentious sign with houses without pretensions to chic and brilliance, but looking brand new and well-groomed, and we stop there for the night, making it the last point of our car trip around Georgia that day. Have you forgotten that in 3 nights I only slept 10.5 hours?
We were given a fairly large room with one double bed, a fireplace, a TV, a bathroom and a separate entrance, costing $20. We didn't have lari, but they took our dollars without any problems. There was free Wi-Fi on the territory and the manager, who practically did not speak Russian, although the woman was already in years. But the language barrier is never a barrier for us at all, so we joined her at a table in a small cafe on the territory of the hotel. First, she gave us coffee, which in Georgia is very tasty and is served in tiny cups for hobbits.
In parallel with this, she told us the story of her life: how she got married, what kind of husband she was, how many daughters were born, what their names are, who is married and where they live now. Naturally, all this was in Georgian, although she tried to insert the few Russian words that she knew, so we caught the essence of the monologue, but no more. We also told something, I specially selected the simplest words, as if you were talking to a child, and she, like us, nodded to us and smiled. Then she offered me a glass of cold home-made beer, and a glass of wine to my wife - we did not resist) After a couple of sips, it seemed that the speech became clearer. But you should not think that the Georgian language is at least somewhat similar to Slavic - no. Georgian writing is considered one of the few surviving unique writing systems in the world. Therefore, having passed a glass or two with Montenegrins, we communicated almost without problems, but such a trick will not work with Georgians - even 100 grams will not clarify their words.
Having consumed intoxicants, chomping on dishes not eaten in the restaurant at lunchtime and talking with an elderly Georgian woman about life, we went to the side. For the drinks provided to us, she categorically refused to take any fee, arguing that we are guests, how is it possible?
Even at the stage of preparation for a trip to Georgia, I met in the reviews of tourists some curious nuances of the local mentality that are alien to our people, so I was somehow ready for them, but at first my wife was looking for a catch everywhere. After all, where has it been seen that in a commercial institution they treat you to alcohol and at the same time are offended when you offer them to pay for it? - "This is Georgia, baby", you have to get used to the fact that the Guest here is not an empty word and not a cash cow that needs to be gutted and released back home again to gain currency fat. I myself, in the depths of my soul, hope that this blessed period will last as long as possible and the time will not come soon when everything here will be on a commercial footing, as can now be observed in the vast majority of tourist countries, this is especially noticeable in the Black Sea resorts of neighboring countries.
I slept soundly, like a brown bear in winter, and woke up only 10 hours later. fourth day our trip to Georgia. Having quickly gathered, we started to the capital.
Arrival in Tbilisi
With curiosity, we examined Mtskheta from the car window, but without stopping we fly to the intended point. Already in Tbilisi, we remember that we have no local money at all, so we began to look for an exchanger with our eyes. We found it, drove up, we read the running line, which states that they take a 2% commission - this did not triple us and we went straight to the place of our potential stop in a warm city.
Potential - because I did not book anything and did not agree with anyone, I only wrote out the addresses and contacts that interested me. The main selection criteria were:
- Positive reviews.
- The presence of owners of Georgians, i.e. apartments, hotels and other housing, in which you will not intersect with the Georgian owners, did not initially interest me.
In Tbilisi, we hoped to settle in the guest house "Tamar" - I read a lot of warm words about it, so I wanted to live there.
We are incredibly lucky, because. this morning the guests had just moved out of the best room of the guesthouse, which, moreover, turned out to be the only free one. In addition, we found the hostess literally on the doorstep, because she was away on business for the day. Rejoiced that we were so lucky, we glanced at the room in which everything suited us and began to listen to what was going on here. Tamara, whose Georgian name is Tamuna, told and showed us on the map where, what is located, where it is better to go on the first day, gave us one plastic card for public transport and one for visiting the amusement park. The concept of a guesthouse was new to us, so we were quickly told the principle of living in such a place. During a conversation, a special uncle entered our old courtyard-well and announced to all the residents that he had brought home-made matsoni - a cross between yogurt, kefir and yogurt, which costs 1 lari. Tamuna explained that it was delicious and asked if we had money or if she could buy it for us with her own (!) - rummaging in my pockets, I fished out and gave my only lari, because my navigator loves any sour milk - let him try it on himself, and I'll watch quietly. Tamuna also sold home-made wine from the village and we decided, on the occasion of our arrival, to buy a liter of white and red.
The introductory briefing was over, and she was about to leave, and we were like, "Wait a second, but what about money, passports?" But she looked at us as if we were stupid aliens who had fallen from the moon, and said that in principle there was no need to present passports, but we would pay for accommodation and wine upon eviction!!! Here, even I had a pattern break. How is it that our brain categorically denies the possibility of the existence of the reverse sequence of the saying "money in the morning - chairs in the evening"! When asked what to do if everyone leaves the guesthouse, we were told "Just close the door."
In general, these are the things, we were left standing alone in the hall with our mouths wide open to the ground. Tourists from the Russian Federation, who settled yesterday, were sitting on the balcony, and somewhere in the city, the French were hanging out, who occupied the remaining room.
Having driven to the exchange office without a commission, which we were advised, and having bought all sorts of fruits from street vendors on the way, we sat down to celebrate our happy arrival and successful settlement in a wonderful guest house in Tbilisi.
After everything was eaten and drunk, we warmed up a little under the warm sun on the balcony of the guesthouse, got acquainted with the guests from Russia, discussed the road to Georgia, thoroughly washed all the bones of the Ossetian traffic policemen, collected our guts and rushed to stare at the evening Tbilisi.
Read the rest of my report on an independent trip to Georgia by car and reviews of trips and holidays in different parts of the country in the following stories:
- Rest in Tbilisi and sightseeing.
- A trip to Racha to the village of Gebi - a description of fishing in a mountain river and climbing Mount Shoda to an abandoned high-mountain village.
- Journey through Svaneti with a visit to Ushguli.
