When we cross the border from Turkey to Georgia, we immediately notice that this country is different, more Europe in Asia. This part 1.2 describes our journey from Gori to the Armenian border.
For this part of the trip we limit ourselves to part of the north and east of Georgia. We will visit the city of Tbilisi, the Caucasian high mountains and the south of the country later. In part 1.2 we describe, among other things, the highlights of this trip: the covered market of Telavi; the Vashlovani NP and our stay in Udabno.
The map below shows our journey through Georgia (click on the map to see the details).
Uplistsikhe
Driving east from Gori, we pass the archaeological site of Uplistsikhe, an Iron Age town with an Orthodox church. The town is carved out of the rock and with some imagination you can experience how people lived and worked here through the ages, including making traditional Georgian wine.
Mtscheta
We spend the night in Mtskheta because we have agreed again with Filip and Roksana to eat something together here. They are – at a rapid pace – on their way to Mongolia, China and later Saudi Arabia with their Toyota HiLux.
We find a place to spend the night at the paid parking lot in Mtskheta and go out together to eat something and especially to exchange (strong) travel stories.
The next morning Roksana and Filip leave early for Russia and Kazakhstan. We go into the town for a while, the orthodox church is more than worth a visit.
On the east side of the city, on top of a mountain peak, is the Jvari Monastery. The monastery is frequently visited by domestic and foreign day-trippers who enjoy the beautiful view of the city with us.
Telavi Market
As we drive further east, the panoramas widen and the mountains seem to get higher. We encounter fewer people and more cow and sheep herds.
We drive into the city of Telavi to explore the market, the city itself is not very interesting to us.
Sopho’s Winery
Kakheti is the wine region of Georgia, we drive through miles of vineyards and enjoy the views and the blooming poppies and almond trees.
Through the grapevine we got the recommendation to visit Sopho’s Winery. This vineyard was developed by Yvo from Breda and his partner Sophia. They have been busy with their vineyard and the production of quality wines for about 5 years now. Today the red wine is being bottled, so it needs to be tackled. We therefore get a short tour and skip the tasting.
Later we taste the wine we buy here, nice and fresh with a clear tannin aftertaste, a typical Georgian wine.
Vashlovani NP
Our next “stop” is Vashlovani National Park, for us a highlight of our trip through Georgia.
Day 1: permit and a first impression
Before we can leave for the Vashlovani NP, we first have to get a permit to travel in the border area with Azerbaijan. We obtain this permit from the Administration of Vashlovani Protected Areas (41.46264, 46.10379) in Dedoplistskaro. The employee speaks excellent English and indicates a number of landmarks on our OsmAnd GPS map, the costs are 25 Lari (€ 9.50). This way we can plan a route through the park. You can camp at the ranger post and at the campsite at the border river. With all the explanations she gives about the topography of the park and the gazelles that can be spotted there, the employee also indicates that if it has rained, the paths can be slippery. For the time being, the forecast for the coming days looks good, so we leave in good spirits.
The park is only accessible with a “small” 4-wheel drive car, large trucks are not allowed.
When the forms are filled in we have to go to the border police (41.47280, 46.08424) for the real permit, we have to wait outside the gate until the military on duty returns our form.
We drive through the fields and valleys towards the park, everything is in bloom, nature exuberantly welcomes spring.
The paved road to the east turns into a potholed paved road, Milady begins to moan. When I crawl under the car I see that there are sand and stones between the mudguard (mudshield) and the brake disc. A little bending of the splash guard gives some room…
At Kasritskali we turn right to the south into the Vashlovani NP. It is a clear day with a nice sun and we drive deeper and deeper into the park. Undulating landscapes change into deeper valleys.
We then take the trail to the Bear Ravine picnic area (staff recommend: 41.23776, 46.36535), a beautiful route through the dry river bed.
In the evening we look for a spot at the ranger post (41.21555, 46.43341), a primitive camping spot with only a dry toilet as a facility. But, it is extremely quiet and we can find a great spot for our Milady Landy.
Day 2: to the east
The next day is again sunny and we drive deeper into the park, heading east. From the high plateau we look into the depths towards the border river with Azerbaijan. The carved canyons provide shelter for all kinds of game and birds.
As we enter the canyon the path narrows and the scenery becomes more dramatic.
At the border police station our papers are checked, passports and permit, no problem.
At the end of the day we find a nice place to spend the night at the camping site along the border river (41.11109, 46.64690). We are welcomed with a glass of wine by Chiara and Louis, an Italian-English couple we have met before. They work in a ski area in Georgia and are traveling for a few days. In the evening we make a fire and together with Chiara and Louis we cook a delicious stew in the Dutch oven. Later Andrew and his father also join us, we have enough food. Andrew treated his father to this trip for his 60th birthday, dad’s first trip outside Poland.
We have a pleasant evening together and agree to continue driving together tomorrow morning.
Day 3: rain
After our pleasant evening by the campfire, we wake up the next morning with drizzling rain. It also rained heavily last night and everything is wet. We slither over to the ranger and ask if our intended route, along the river to the north, is possible. The language barrier is solved with his satellite telephone, other telephone reception is impossible here. He calls the visitor center in Dedoplistskaro and the employee who helped us earlier tells us that the intended road is not passable in these circumstances. So we go back via the path we took yesterday.
Chiara and Louis lead the way in their little 4×4 Nissan, then we follow with Milady and behind us Andrew and his father join in their rented Toyota Hilux. Closer of the gate is a Polish family with 3 teenage children, also in a rented Hilux.
Driving is going well, until we have to climb a steep slope. The Nissan doesn’t make it and slithers down again. I decide to try and get up so that I can help the Nissan up with my winch. With a lot of effort I manage to get up the slope, in low gearing, with the 4×4 lock on I can get up at full power and with a lot of revs.
Once at the top, the winch cable is still too short to reach the Nissan, so all my towing cables have to be connected together and we help the Nissan up the slope a bit by hand. Then the winch does its job and Chiara and Louis can drive up the slope with the help of Milady Landy’s winch.
The rest of the day we slither through the park, the roads are muddy and it rains all day, sometimes a little drizzle, sometimes a heavy shower.
At the end of the day we decided to sleep at the ranger post of day 1. Unfortunately we don’t get up the last slope, much too slippery. We therefore have to look for a place to stay on the side of the road in the hope that the weather will get better.
Day 4: It clears up again
The next morning the sun is back and it barely rained during the night. The tracks are still muddy, but with steering skills and the power of Milady Landy we can continue our way to leave the Vashlovani NP.
Udabno
We spend the last few days of this first part of our Georgia trip in and around Udabno.
David Garea and Natlismtsemeli Monasteries
We drive through Udabno and visit the David Garea Monastery first. The monastery has been extensively renovated and now houses 3 more monks. We are not very enthusiastic, but still make the effort to climb to the cave church. On the way, the border soldiers show us the way. The cave church turns out to be closed off with a fence, so we can only catch a glimpse.
The Natlismtsemeli (or John Baptist) monastery is much less touristy because difficult – only with 4×4 – to reach. We are warmly welcomed by the only monk who opens the church with beautiful frescoes for us.
Stay in Udabno
After our visit to the monasteries we decide to spend the night in Udabno behind the restaurant Udabno Terrace.
That turns out to be a good choice, apart from the excellent food served at a good price, we can camp for free and use the toilets. We also appreciate the warm welcome from Datchi, he serves the food, provides the drinks and has a nice chat for everyone.
The company is also great, we meet Philip (Scot) and Katja (German) who together run a dog sledding company in Northern Finland. We have a pleasant first evening with them and the next day Sonja goes out with them. They visit Georgia’s rugby final in Tbilisi, the game is between Batumi and Rustavi. Rustavi wins 24-22.
The village of Udabno is mainly populated by Svaneten refugees, who moved here after a landslide a few decades ago. There are a few “markets”, small shops with basic necessities, a regional office and a sports venue. Furthermore, it is actually one large open farm.
Later we meet Jan and Ineke Kruse, they travel with their UAZ camper through Georgia and Armenia, among others. Later we will encounter them more often.
Border crossing with Armenia
At the border crossing with Armenia, which takes about an hour and a half, we meet Ilse and Loes who are on their way to Mongolia with their Toyota Landcruiser. we will also meet them more often.
The border crossing is accompanied by various formalities:
- first get passports stamped in Georgia (Sonja has to cross the border on foot);
- then have it stamped in Armenia, passport and car;
- then pay car road tax at a separate counter and have papers drawn up at a second counter.
All together this takes about 1.5 to 2 hours.
We arranged car insurance for Milady Landy online through Armenian Single Window for Automotive for Armenian insurance companies, https://aswa.am/.
