Stepantsminda → Vardzia
Day 4
As promised, the plan for our fourth day was mere 400 km which took approximately 7 hours. One day, two cave cities - Uplistsikhe and Vardzia. We only had little breakfast because we figured the drive might have been better on empty (-ish) stomachs. That allowed us to leave pretty early which was good because we knew Uplistsikhe was really popular - tourist-buses popular.
For the first three and a half hours, most of the route was the same one we had driven to Stepantsminda. Knowing (more or less) the route allowed us to appreciate Georgian unique style of driving. This basically means:
1) it does not matter how many lanes are on the road, you create as many as you need
2) it does not matter that the tunnel along the road is closed, they do not need to "officially close it", it is no use bothering with signs or some other BS. You are wise, responsible driver and they can rely on you not entering the tunnel.
3) there are cows everywhere and it's their road, not yours
4) they don't like honking, they behave like you're exaggerating if you honk. It does not matter if they jumped naked right in front of your car, you're the one who should be expecting that and you're the one who is supposed not to honk hysterically.
5) they drive whatever is functional - is it a card box on wheels? Yes. Does it work? Yes. Does it lack the front bumper? Yes. Is one of the lights/Are both lights broken? Yes/Yes. Absolutely no reason not to drive it.
I hope I did not scare you because that was not the point at all. I'm all about renting the car and driving in Georgia, it's more funny than scary, you just need to be vigilant (constant vigilance! ;)) and you'll get used to it.
We managed to get to Uplistsikhe before 10am which is when they open. The Uplistsikhe parking was already full, we had to look for the spot a minute or two. And yes, there had been some tourist buses.
Useful tip: Have a bottle of water with you. You'll be glad you have it.
After we got out, we stopped at the stands to get a glass of pomegranate juice. This time we had them do 1/2 pomegranate and 1/2 orange juice as we had already learned our lesson in Tbilisi :D. This delicious and refreshing drink gave us the strength to drive on for another 4 hours :D (read in a 50' commercial voice). Somehow (not planned, honestly, total coincidence) we arrived in Vardzia minutes before sunset so we took a few golden hours worthy photos and started looking for our accommodation.
We knew it was sort of tucked somewhere, we just did not know where. The owner had no problem picking us up, the only thing was we did not want to leave the car in the village. So we went up (literally, there was no road at all, just a gravel path and it was STEEP - so I let Telchac enjoy this marvellous driving experience) and then my indecisive ass suggested to have dinner back down at the village. Telchac, with the prospect of returning in complete darkness, had to be persuaded a bit, but he went for it. The dinner was absolutely worth the drive there and back, it was delicious - at this point, we were really hooked on everything the Georgians eat. And after such a day (and few shots of vodka), we slept like babies.
By the way, the drive from Stepantsminda to Vardzia, despite taking such a long time, is a very beautiful one. You get to see the many faces of Georgia: the mountains, the green plains, the gorges, just amazing (and worth every minute in a car).
Day 5
We started the day with typical Georgian breakfast - courtesy of our hosts. We could not wish for anything else, and as a bonus, they even had a little puppy there. Happy, fresh and full of delicious food, we went down (we had planned to leave our luggage there and come back after the caves but considering the drive up and down, we took the luggage with us :D).
It only took some 5 minutes from the homestay to the caves. There are two parking lots, the first (closer one) was already packed with the Georgians who were selling water, souvenirs and everything else you could possibly think of. They were not selling yet, but they were chatting and smoking and parking, obviously. The other parking lot is a little further so we were glad we found a spot there - we preferred to leave the car at a somewhat crowded place, just in case, considering we had all our stuff in it.
Not surprisingly, we were the first to buy the tickets and first to get on the bus. In this case, I really do not see the point in walking up there, bear in mind that if you're on the first bus up it gives you that extra time to take pictures with no people in them. Moreover (and again) the light is softer so (again) we strongly recommend to go as early as possible. Lots of people said they spend a few hours there, wandering up and down and in and out. Well, we did not, we just stuck to the "main" outside path and were "out" in no time (about an hour and a half).
Useful tip: If you're by any chance afraid of heights and are considering exiting the caves using the steep staircase, do not let anyone scare you. It is not the best of the experiences but it's doable. It'll take more time but even I made it. Then, what's stopping YOU?!
Our car (and our stuff) was waiting for us right where we left it. Getting used to the perks of being able to have some pomegranate juice any time, we got some along with several bottles of water because our destination for that day was another five hours drive.
Yes, I will not tell you where we headed because I want you to come back in two weeks and find out by yourselves. We will be ecstatic if we'll see you here again. Countdown begins! C U then!
As promised, the plan for our fourth day was mere 400 km which took approximately 7 hours. One day, two cave cities - Uplistsikhe and Vardzia. We only had little breakfast because we figured the drive might have been better on empty (-ish) stomachs. That allowed us to leave pretty early which was good because we knew Uplistsikhe was really popular - tourist-buses popular.
 |
| Beautiful Georgia |
For the first three and a half hours, most of the route was the same one we had driven to Stepantsminda. Knowing (more or less) the route allowed us to appreciate Georgian unique style of driving. This basically means:
1) it does not matter how many lanes are on the road, you create as many as you need
 |
| Georgian traffic |
2) it does not matter that the tunnel along the road is closed, they do not need to "officially close it", it is no use bothering with signs or some other BS. You are wise, responsible driver and they can rely on you not entering the tunnel.
3) there are cows everywhere and it's their road, not yours
4) they don't like honking, they behave like you're exaggerating if you honk. It does not matter if they jumped naked right in front of your car, you're the one who should be expecting that and you're the one who is supposed not to honk hysterically.
5) they drive whatever is functional - is it a card box on wheels? Yes. Does it work? Yes. Does it lack the front bumper? Yes. Is one of the lights/Are both lights broken? Yes/Yes. Absolutely no reason not to drive it.
 |
| Pass me if you can ;) |
I hope I did not scare you because that was not the point at all. I'm all about renting the car and driving in Georgia, it's more funny than scary, you just need to be vigilant (constant vigilance! ;)) and you'll get used to it.
We managed to get to Uplistsikhe before 10am which is when they open. The Uplistsikhe parking was already full, we had to look for the spot a minute or two. And yes, there had been some tourist buses.
Useful tip: If you read this regularly, I'm sure you knew this was coming. ;) My useful tip for you is nothing else but to be there before they open. Firstly, you can enjoy the site when it's not scorching hot outside (there's basically no shade there). Secondly, if there were 2 tourist buses before 10am, how many do you think there were at 12pm? Too many! Also, you can take much better photos without crowds of people everywhere.
The site itself might be a little demanding, you need to go up, then you wander on the rock and then you need to get down again. The surface asks for some decent shoes, I'd go for hiking shoes (on the other hand, we both wore trainers and we were fine, so suit yourselves). It's totally up to you how long you want to spend here, I'm guessing it took us an hour to see everything we wanted. |
| Uplistsikhe cave town |
Useful tip: Have a bottle of water with you. You'll be glad you have it.
 |
| Uplistsikhe cave town |
After we got out, we stopped at the stands to get a glass of pomegranate juice. This time we had them do 1/2 pomegranate and 1/2 orange juice as we had already learned our lesson in Tbilisi :D. This delicious and refreshing drink gave us the strength to drive on for another 4 hours :D (read in a 50' commercial voice). Somehow (not planned, honestly, total coincidence) we arrived in Vardzia minutes before sunset so we took a few golden hours worthy photos and started looking for our accommodation.
 |
| View of Vardzia cave town in the late afternoon |
We knew it was sort of tucked somewhere, we just did not know where. The owner had no problem picking us up, the only thing was we did not want to leave the car in the village. So we went up (literally, there was no road at all, just a gravel path and it was STEEP - so I let Telchac enjoy this marvellous driving experience) and then my indecisive ass suggested to have dinner back down at the village. Telchac, with the prospect of returning in complete darkness, had to be persuaded a bit, but he went for it. The dinner was absolutely worth the drive there and back, it was delicious - at this point, we were really hooked on everything the Georgians eat. And after such a day (and few shots of vodka), we slept like babies.
By the way, the drive from Stepantsminda to Vardzia, despite taking such a long time, is a very beautiful one. You get to see the many faces of Georgia: the mountains, the green plains, the gorges, just amazing (and worth every minute in a car).
 |
| Swallows on the cord in Vardzia cave town |
Day 5
We started the day with typical Georgian breakfast - courtesy of our hosts. We could not wish for anything else, and as a bonus, they even had a little puppy there. Happy, fresh and full of delicious food, we went down (we had planned to leave our luggage there and come back after the caves but considering the drive up and down, we took the luggage with us :D).
It only took some 5 minutes from the homestay to the caves. There are two parking lots, the first (closer one) was already packed with the Georgians who were selling water, souvenirs and everything else you could possibly think of. They were not selling yet, but they were chatting and smoking and parking, obviously. The other parking lot is a little further so we were glad we found a spot there - we preferred to leave the car at a somewhat crowded place, just in case, considering we had all our stuff in it.
 |
| Vardzia cave town in the early morning |
Not surprisingly, we were the first to buy the tickets and first to get on the bus. In this case, I really do not see the point in walking up there, bear in mind that if you're on the first bus up it gives you that extra time to take pictures with no people in them. Moreover (and again) the light is softer so (again) we strongly recommend to go as early as possible. Lots of people said they spend a few hours there, wandering up and down and in and out. Well, we did not, we just stuck to the "main" outside path and were "out" in no time (about an hour and a half).
Useful tip: If you're by any chance afraid of heights and are considering exiting the caves using the steep staircase, do not let anyone scare you. It is not the best of the experiences but it's doable. It'll take more time but even I made it. Then, what's stopping YOU?!
 |
| Another view of Vardzia cave town |
Our car (and our stuff) was waiting for us right where we left it. Getting used to the perks of being able to have some pomegranate juice any time, we got some along with several bottles of water because our destination for that day was another five hours drive.
Yes, I will not tell you where we headed because I want you to come back in two weeks and find out by yourselves. We will be ecstatic if we'll see you here again. Countdown begins! C U then!