Kazbegi or bust

August 11 2010

We went on an embassy arranged outing to Kazbegi, a town high in the Upper Caucasus. We left Saturday morning around 9:00 with about 25 or so folks from the embassy and a few who do not work there. We were treated to a big tour bus which makes for a much more comfortable ride and a guide, Marika, who does lots of tours around TBS. The Community Liaison Office (CLO) arranges various activities throughout the year for the embassy ‘family’. We participate in many of these: everything from local carpet and art tours to longer out of town and even out of country trips. All are well planned and very affordable. Throughout the trip we had snacks provided: fresh fruit, chips, pastries, candy. Much of it was junk food but it was nice for those who hadn’t brought any snacks as we didn’t eat lunch until 2:00.

Friend Dorthy Bell

unknown Author

We stopped along the way by a small waterfall where a few villagers had gathered to sell their crafts: sheepskin hats, knitted wool socks, hats and classic Georgian snacks of fruit leather and churchela, walnuts on a string covered with fruit leather. The site also had a bust of a famous Georgian author. We stopped later at a hotel for a toilet break. We arrived in Kazbegi, parked the bus and walked to a guesthouse where lunch had been arranged. We are led into a very crowded room where the table had been set with the exact same meal you get anytime there is a preset meal: eggplant, tomatoes and cucumbers, cheese and bread. There was no meat at this meal but a small bowl of what looked like oxtail soup to be shared with four other people. Since we didn’t have bowls or soup spoons, I put a piece of bread on my plate and spooned some liquid on the plate. It was one of the poorer meals we have had on these trips. There was some fresh fruit for dessert. Then we walked back to the bus, got our bags and checked into the hotel. We had a room on the back side that overlooked the glacier fed Tergi River and Mt. Kazbegi and the Holy Trinity Church. It was too perfect. Many of Ron’s photos of Kazbegi were taken from our balcony at the hotel.

Mt. Kazbegi is the third highest mountain in Georgia (after Mount Shkhara and Janga) and the seventh highest peak in the Caucasus Mountains. The summit lies directly to the west of the town of Stepantsminda and is the most prominent geographic feature of the area. The name in Georgian, Mkinvartsveri, translates to "glacier" or "Ice Mountain". It’s current name is for Kazibek Chopikashvili, a local feudal magnate who was in charge of collecting tolls on the Georgian Military Highway. His grandson, Alexandre Kazbegi, whose most famous work, the novel The Patricide is about a heroic Caucasian bandit named Koba, who, much like Robin Hood, is a defender of the poor. Koba has nothing but contempt for authority, a proclivity towards violence, and a firm belief in vengeance. Kazbegi's work was a major inspiration to Iosif Jughashvili, later known as Joseph Stalin, who used Koba as a revolutionary pseudonym.

Most of the group, including Ron, chose to hike up to the church. However seven of us chose to hire two jeeps to take us up. I was still recovering from my fall on the hike two weeks ago and had no desire to walk for 90 minutes straight uphill! I am smarter than I look! Ron said the hike was all work with very little in the way of scenery, other than some wild flowers.  Shortly after we arrived at the church it started raining but before we headed back Marika told us about the church which was built in the 14th century and is at 7,110 feet. Ruins of another church were found in 1913 at 13,000 feet on the slopes of Kazbegi. Go figure! While we were there a service was being conducted in the church. There are always several (4-6) priests/monks involved in the service. Women were required to wear skirts and headscarves to enter and no shorts for men were allowed. Wrap around skirts and scarves were provided.

We rode back down the hill and Ron joined us. We walked around town and visited Alexander Kazbegi’s home which is now a museum of his life. He is a famous Georgian writer who became mentally ill at the end of his life. The town is about three blocks long with about 4,000 residents. The mountain was first climbed in 1868 by a man from London with local guides to help. The mountain is 16,560 feet and it is the highest mountain in this section of the Caucasus range. It is an extinct volcano. The town is at 6,000 feet.

We returned to our room and rested for about 40 minutes then went downstairs for our dinner. We sat in a little corner of the hotel for a few minutes afterwards and decided to go back to our room as both of us were tired. We turned out light out at 9:00! We kept our door to the balcony open and got to hear the rushing river below us all night.

Ron got up at 5:00 and started taking photos of the mountain once it was light enough. The mountain reflects early morning light and casts vivid colors. 

We had breakfast at 9:00 and at 10:00 got back on the bus and were driven to the Dariali Gorge which goes to the Russian border. The Georgians are building a church near the border as a way to claim the area in the event of future border disputes with Russia.  We looked for Sarah Palin’s place since we were right next to Russia but weren’t able to see it. We turned around and headed for Tbilisi.

We stopped several places on the way home.  The first was a naturally carbonated mineral spring where the site was encrusted.  Then we went to a lookout which commemorated the signing of a peace treaty between Russian and Georgia in 1783. The memorial was built in 1983, the 200th anniversary of the treaty, had some wonderful ceramic tiles depicting life in Georgia and the structure overlooked several canyons.

Later we stopped for lunch and it started to rain as we were finishing our lunch outside in the garden. We hurried back to the bus and made our last stop awhile later at the 16th century fortress in Ananuri. Here there were two churches, one built in 1689 with wonderful carved external decorations, with a huge cross that stands on the backs of two dragons flanked by vines being eaten by deer above two mustachioed angels and two lions. According to my book, the pagan elements of the design show Persian influence. The second church was built in the early 17th century. The interior is brick and the remaining frescoes had been marred by graffiti, mainly Russian.

It was a great rip, easy to arrive at our destination. My dear friend James Wall is coming to visit in September and we will do this trip again.