We’re on Day 4 of the trip. We just arrived at Stepantsminda in the northern part of Georgia (close to the Georgia-Russia border). Our stay for the next 2 nights was at the Mountain House Kazbegi, a beautiful property with a view of Mt. Kazbek and the Gergeti church standing in front of it. Wherever you stay in Stepantsminda, try to get a room with a view of the mountain – trust me, that will enhance your experience multifold!

Travel hack (almost)

It was around 5pm and we decided to go for an early dinner. It was drizzling and there was a light breeze – so we couldn’t walk. We headed to the Rooms Hotel Kazbegi – the most luxurious and expensive hotel in the city. This is a nice travel hack which we’ve used before. Even if you don’t stay in the best hotel (to save costs), you can always go to the restaurant there for lunch or dinner and still experience the place.

Ok, let’s first address the “dinner at 5pm”. When you have toddlers, the ideal dinner time is anywhere between 6-7pm so that they can be put to sleep by 8pm. Also, early dinners are good for adults too as per research – a 2 hour gap between dinner and sleep is considered good for the tummy!

We entered the restaurant and found that there was not a single table available. The people who stayed in the hotel were loitering around in the restaurant having drinks or just sitting there and reading books. This place acted as the lounge and restaurant. So, we just walked around the hotel and went looking for another place. So, the travel hack didn’t work this time!

Familiar food

We did a quick search for restaurants and found only a few options. Most were Georgian food – which meant more khinkhali and khachapuri. We wanted to take a break from that and went for Indian food this time – there were 2 Indian restaurants in this tiny town itself! The one we picked was called Bollywood Masala – a Punjabi dhaba run by a Malayali from Dubai! Yup!

It felt nice to eat Indian food after a few days. The owner of the restaurant gave us tips on how we could plan our next day exploring Kazbegi and even arranged a taxi for us as the roads here were a bit steep. We ended up having two more meals from this restaurant itself!

Day 5

We started the day with a workout with the best view in the world! The snow on Mt. Kazbek (a dormant volcano that last erupted around 700 BC) was shining with the light of the rising sun, the clouds were moving fast and clearing the sky and the sunlight hit the Gergeti church. We could see how the landscape and vegetation was shaped by the volcano. It was a really amazing start to the day!

After breakfast at our hotel, we parked our car in front of Bollywood Masala and waited for our driver. He arrived in a pre-historic Opel Astra. For a second, we doubted our decision – surely our Subaru Forester could climb way better than this car! But we decided to go with the flow – we could enjoy the scenery while someone else worried about navigating towards the destination.

Our driver, Giorgi, was a really nice guy and kept chatting with us throughout. Giorgi (pronounced ghee-ohr-ghee) is the Georgian version of “George” which is also the origin of the country’s name itself. So you will find a ton of Giorgis here. 

He first took us to the Gergeti church – one of my most awaited places in the entire trip. One tip for the self-driving folks – the road isn’t as bad or dangerous as most blogs say – apparently, it used to be horrible about 5-6 years ago (mostly a dirt track) but now it is as good as it can be. If you have never driven in the mountains, it might be a little difficult. But if you can drive on hairpin bends, this road is easily navigable.

The place looked absolutely amazing overall. It wasn’t about the church itself. It was the location – on the peak of a mountain and with the backdrop of the snowclad Mt. Kazbek (sharing the name of the Kazbegi region). We clicked a bunch of photos and soaked in the view (sadly Parth was asleep). We met an old German couple there – they said they had been to many places in India before and were continuing to travel the world. They were easily in their late 60’s – life goals! More reason to keep going to the gym and eat healthy!

Waterfall trek (almost)

We continued our journey northwards to Gveleti in the Kazbegi region. Giorgi stopped at a viewpoint where we could see the mountains and the Tereki valley with the Terek river cutting across its heart. Definitely worth a stop!

There were two waterfalls in Gveleti – the Gveleti Big and Gveleti Small. Both couldn’t be reached by car and we had to trek. The trek started off fine and wasn’t very steep. We decided to go to the Big Waterfall. And very quickly, things got steep. 

We crossed a bridge over a stream, and kept climbing through the rocks and tree roots. The path was full of little stones which made it very slippery. Ashwin and I were holding the kids, which made it even more difficult. Overall, it was a 45 min trek. 

Roughly 77% of the trek was done and that’s when the path got really narrow – a giant boulder wall on one side and sheer cliff on the other. We could see that the route ahead was even more slippery and steep. We could surely climb up but not on the way down – especially with unruly toddlers in our arms. The final decision was to make our way back to the stream and let the kids play around in the water there.

Our verdict – if you don’t have bad knees or toddlers, you can definitely go for it. The views are amazing and the background sound of the stream flowing down from the waterfall is something to be experienced!

The Russian border (almost)

We continued driving north of Kazbegi and crossed the Dariali Monastery complex to reach the border. Giorgi told us that this was the Georgian side of the border and once we crossed the checkpost, there was another 4 kms to get to the Russian border. The mountain pass acted as the buffer zone between the two countries. He told us that it was an open border for citizens of both these countries and they didn’t need any visas to travel – this was meant to promote trade and tourism. However, the Georgians were wary of the Russians – probably fearing the same fate as Ukraine.

Looking for Snow in Sno

Done with our half-day excursion, we got back to Bollywood Masala, had lunch and got back into our Subaru. It had been less than 2 days, but this was now “our car”. In the comfort of our car, we went on a drive. The roads were good, the weather was amazing and we were in the most beautiful landscape with green meadows and snowy mountains all around us.

About 8 km to the south of Stepantsminda was the village of Sno. We had read about giant stone head sculptures randomly strewn across the valley – something like the Easter Island heads. It was not even close – in fact, we didn’t even feel it was worth stopping to take a look at them.

Going remote

We kept driving along the road. There were wild horses grazing in the valley. We stopped along the road and sat there watching them. These are the unexpected travel moments that really elevate things to the next level.

We crossed a village called Akhaltsikhe and another one called Karkucha. These villages were the tiniest remotest places – with hardly 10-12 houses, mostly farmers. It felt surreal to imagine living in such a place – definitely worlds apart from the super-crowded and chaotic cities that we lived in. Kazbegi was turning out to be an amazing experience!

After Karkucha, the road turned into a dirt track. This one would lead all the way to a town called Juta. It was a place that was meant to be accessed by 4×4 and a base location for treks. We surely couldn’t go all the way in this car.

So, we headed back to Stepantsminda, bought some snacks and yogurt. We also asked around for a local fruits shop and found one with an old lady. There was no common language for us to communicate. So, we pointed to the fruits we wanted and used sign language to communicate. We managed to get some really fresh apricots and strawberries there!

Pro tip: always look for the local markets and shop for the freshest produce. You will never be able to find stuff of similar quality at a supermarket.

The next day, we would say goodbye to Kazbegi and move to the wine country of Georgia, Telavi and Sighnaghi in the Kakheti region. Subscribe to the blog to stay updated when the next part releases.

Check out all the Georgia blogs here:

• The Georgia Itinerary – your guide to planning the perfect Georgia trip
• A Rainy 2 AM arrival in Georgia – avoiding scams and a rainy adventure
• Celebrating Independence Day in Tbilisi – a unique experience in Georgia
• Tbilisi Travel – Hidden Gems and Local Experiences
• The Georgian Military Highway – A Georgian road trip
• Discovering Kazbegi – A Travel Guide to Georgia’s Northern Mountain Escape
• The Romantic Towns of Sighnaghi and Telavi – exploring the Kakheti region
• A deep-dive into the Wine Culture of Georgia – Saperavis, Rkatsitelis and Chacha
• An Exciting End – Dirt road, petrol scare and upcoming floods