Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Good breakfast for 15 GEL per person.

Took a private taxi from Kazbegi/Stepantsminda to Truso Valley for 100 GEL per car (will pick us up at predetermined time). The weather is cloudy, but it is still a pleasant long walk (6h for returns). The landscape is pretty amazing, flat and vast, flanked by mountains. The end of the trail is Zakagori Fortress, with an army camp at the base. The fortress ruin is on top of a hill, so we get a pretty great view of the surrounding landscape. It started raining on our way back, and it is freezing cold. Luckily we found cover by the path, and ate our packed lunch and wine. Overall it is a pleasant walk with beautiful landscape, definitely recommended.

This is like a cafe restaurant, more expensive than Pikolo, but taste pretty good. We finally got a taste of Adjaruli Khacapuri, the Kachapuri with an egg at the center. We order Kharcho (beef soup) and Chikhirtma (chicken soup) to keep our body warm after the rainy hike.

We were planning to take a Marshrutka from Didube Bus Station, Tbilisi to Kazbegi and skip the sightseeing along the way due to the drizzling weather, but someone we got "convinced" to take the private car with sightseeing included (20 GEL per person, 4 person per car). The first stop is Panaroma view of Zhinvali Reservoir.

This place is a Fortress with a Monestry, and good view of the Reservoir. Definitely worth the stop.

The place looks absolutely majestic, with the beautiful monument wall and balcony surrounded by the mountains. It is very very windy as well, so we couldn't last long out here.

Clean professional guesthouse (so you don't get the warm welcome of small guesthouse), breakfast available for 15 GEL per person, but no dinner.

I believe the Town where most people stay is called Stepantsminda, but most people refer it as Kazbegi (which is the area name).

Here you can get a local delicacies: pig sausage with some intestines (can't say I really enjoy it, but worth a try). The mushroom + potato Khinkali (dumpling) is extremely filling, the Lobio (beans) is pretty good and the usual eggplant with walnut sauce, and some fruity beer.

We hike from the town towards Gergeti Trinity Church. The path is pretty scenic, going through a village and forest.

We continue hiking from Gergeti Trinity Church towards Gergeti Glacier. We bump into a herd of sheep's, which was fun. The path is nice. Soon it started to snow, probably because it was drizzling too much. It starts to get quite cold, and our pace slowed down significantly. Luckily we have enough warm clothing, but it was not easy. After a long while we reach a hut, with heating and food, thank goodness. We order some soup, try to dry some clothing by the fire heater, and enjoy our coffee. The snow is quite heavy near on the path forward, and we can hardly see the group going up in such weather. We decide to give up on reaching the glacier, and turn back to Trinity Church instead.

Visit Gergeti Trinity Church on our way down from Gergeti Glacier. The church is nice, with quite a view. We took a shared van back to to town (10 GEL per person).