Stepantsminda
Well, well, well, look who came back ;) Curious about our next days, are you? Then this is definitely the place to be! There might be a slight chance (slimmer than slim) that you might not remember our last (or maybe the first) post about Georgia (the country :D) that's why I linked it for you here (and here).
Day 3
New places to explore, new alarms to snooze. The motto of our days in Georgia. Days 2 and 3 were somewhat special for one simple reason - we were staying in one place, which meant no packing! Quite the opposite, we needed to unpack some warmer clothes because it started drizzling and gone was the sunny weather from Day 2.
We knew the forecast but we had no other option (or, more precisely, no time left) when to go to the famous Gergeti church. I cannot complain - we could see it from our room and that's why we knew it wouldn't be as good as we wished it to be. Despite that (the weather I mean), we needed to leave pretty early on Day 4 so we absolutely needed to go to the Gergeti church, otherwise, we would not go at all.
Our plan was to go to Gergeti, than Juta and then we had some "free time" :D which resulted in going to see Ioane Natlismcemeli - the orthodox church near the hotel. Other than that we managed to nap for solid two hours (looking back, I don't understand how we managed it all).
One step at a time - Gergeti. If you google Stepantsminda, you will most definitely see the picture of this particular church. That, combined with the fact that you can easily reach the church by car/bus, results in too many people being there which again results in me recommending to go as early as possible. When I said "reach the church by car/bus" I meant that literally. In fact, it might be hard to get a good shot because lazy people's cars were parked everywhere - and this is exactly what the Georgians lack in tourism - rules. If you were in Switzerland, you wouldn't be able to drive closer than the car park is. Not in Georgia, though. It's a shame because you let people destroy the beauty that there is.
If you want to see the inside of the church or attend a mass there, you're free to do so, just dress accordingly. And please, do yourself a favour and wear some trainers (hiking boots not necessary), you'd really look weird if you go there in heels (and wearing a dress, when it's not even 10 degrees outside, true story).
Other than that, it was nice, the view is amazing. If you're a keen hiker, you can hike to the top (hats of to those people, it looked quite brutal) but we simply did not have time for that (in truth, time and fitness were two things we lacked :D).
And off we went to the Juta valley. There, our plan was to have a look around and - if it didn't rain - to do a little hike. It took us a bit to find the right way (the one we found at first was much more convenient :D) and then it took us a bit longer to get to the "base camp". This first part of the hike was definitely the roughest mainly because it was muddy and steep (perfect combination :D). After that, we continued up and down but nothing that hard - mind we only went 45 minutes one-way, I guess it might get tougher after that. Anyway, this was BEAUTIFUL.
After the "base camp" there were much fewer people and we got to enjoy nature, wild horses, mountains. Everything. It's so peaceful and calm, you'll want to go on and on. However, there was at least one reasonable person (Telchac, #eyeroll :D), so we started heading back. And we were - both - glad we did! By the time we reached the first/last (the steep) part, it was starting to rain which made it a bit more difficult not to slide down on our butts :D. However, we made it! And with our butts clean :D.
Our last stop for the day was Ioane Natlismcemeli, an orthodox church in Stepantsminda. Again (it seems to be the standard in Georgia) you can drive there or hike there. We even saw some people high up at the hillside returning from the hike. We also saw a couple shooting with the amazing backdrop and horses all around. Georgia - the country of thousand possibilities. To answear your question - no, I am not talking about us shooting since I was not wearing a gown and Telchac did not have all the equipment. However, if you're into that, this place is great - no people, amazing surroundings and you can reach it easily.
We did not sleep a lot the night before because we had been very lucky and had got the best hotel neighbours. They obviously weren't going hiking nor were they getting up early because after the hotel bar had closed, they had brought the party to their room. Only after complaining three times in 2 hours (starting at 2am), they had finally shut up so we could get at least some sleep.
Useful tip: I know one cannot predict what place will attract that kind of crowd. Despite that, try to read TA reviews or at least beware that this might happen to you as well #metoo. We were this "lucky" twice while in Georgia.
Day 3
New places to explore, new alarms to snooze. The motto of our days in Georgia. Days 2 and 3 were somewhat special for one simple reason - we were staying in one place, which meant no packing! Quite the opposite, we needed to unpack some warmer clothes because it started drizzling and gone was the sunny weather from Day 2.
 |
| The morning surprise by Mt. Kazbek |
We knew the forecast but we had no other option (or, more precisely, no time left) when to go to the famous Gergeti church. I cannot complain - we could see it from our room and that's why we knew it wouldn't be as good as we wished it to be. Despite that (the weather I mean), we needed to leave pretty early on Day 4 so we absolutely needed to go to the Gergeti church, otherwise, we would not go at all.
Our plan was to go to Gergeti, than Juta and then we had some "free time" :D which resulted in going to see Ioane Natlismcemeli - the orthodox church near the hotel. Other than that we managed to nap for solid two hours (looking back, I don't understand how we managed it all).
 |
| Gergeti church |
One step at a time - Gergeti. If you google Stepantsminda, you will most definitely see the picture of this particular church. That, combined with the fact that you can easily reach the church by car/bus, results in too many people being there which again results in me recommending to go as early as possible. When I said "reach the church by car/bus" I meant that literally. In fact, it might be hard to get a good shot because lazy people's cars were parked everywhere - and this is exactly what the Georgians lack in tourism - rules. If you were in Switzerland, you wouldn't be able to drive closer than the car park is. Not in Georgia, though. It's a shame because you let people destroy the beauty that there is.
 |
| Cars "improving" the view of Gergeti church |
If you want to see the inside of the church or attend a mass there, you're free to do so, just dress accordingly. And please, do yourself a favour and wear some trainers (hiking boots not necessary), you'd really look weird if you go there in heels (and wearing a dress, when it's not even 10 degrees outside, true story).
Other than that, it was nice, the view is amazing. If you're a keen hiker, you can hike to the top (hats of to those people, it looked quite brutal) but we simply did not have time for that (in truth, time and fitness were two things we lacked :D).
 |
| Juta valley |
And off we went to the Juta valley. There, our plan was to have a look around and - if it didn't rain - to do a little hike. It took us a bit to find the right way (the one we found at first was much more convenient :D) and then it took us a bit longer to get to the "base camp". This first part of the hike was definitely the roughest mainly because it was muddy and steep (perfect combination :D). After that, we continued up and down but nothing that hard - mind we only went 45 minutes one-way, I guess it might get tougher after that. Anyway, this was BEAUTIFUL.
 |
| View of Chaukhi Pass |
After the "base camp" there were much fewer people and we got to enjoy nature, wild horses, mountains. Everything. It's so peaceful and calm, you'll want to go on and on. However, there was at least one reasonable person (Telchac, #eyeroll :D), so we started heading back. And we were - both - glad we did! By the time we reached the first/last (the steep) part, it was starting to rain which made it a bit more difficult not to slide down on our butts :D. However, we made it! And with our butts clean :D.
 |
| Ioane Natlismcemeli church |
Our last stop for the day was Ioane Natlismcemeli, an orthodox church in Stepantsminda. Again (it seems to be the standard in Georgia) you can drive there or hike there. We even saw some people high up at the hillside returning from the hike. We also saw a couple shooting with the amazing backdrop and horses all around. Georgia - the country of thousand possibilities. To answear your question - no, I am not talking about us shooting since I was not wearing a gown and Telchac did not have all the equipment. However, if you're into that, this place is great - no people, amazing surroundings and you can reach it easily.
We did not sleep a lot the night before because we had been very lucky and had got the best hotel neighbours. They obviously weren't going hiking nor were they getting up early because after the hotel bar had closed, they had brought the party to their room. Only after complaining three times in 2 hours (starting at 2am), they had finally shut up so we could get at least some sleep.
Useful tip: I know one cannot predict what place will attract that kind of crowd. Despite that, try to read TA reviews or at least beware that this might happen to you as well #metoo. We were this "lucky" twice while in Georgia.
 |
| Above Stepantsminda |
After the nap, we went to try more of the Georgian food because it was starting to grow on us and also because we were hungry. On our way back to the room, we checked with the front desk if our dear neighbours had checked-out (they had!!! :)) and we went up hoping that there was nobody in the next room. Or at least someone calm and quiet. :)
Surprisingly, in this post, we stayed in one place which seems pretty unusual for us and even more unusual considering our country-crossing itinerary. Anyway, you don't need to be sad, we're going far south and further west in two weeks. C U then and there!