Our trip to Kazbegi _ Gergeti Sameba

Kazbegi

Well,  the trip continues, and after some time we got to Kazbegi. You know, the nature changed during the road and there were less trees and more bushes and then the bushes became smaller, too. The landscapes around were really wonderful and it was a great thing for photographers or painters. They could just stop the car and get out and take pictures or just paint some of those landscapes. There were some rivers flowing nearby and there were all those stones and rocks around them, and then there were tall mountains far away, which didn't really seem that far away, if you want to know the truth.

So, after some driving, we got to Kazbegi and there were some small markets around and some buildings and signs and restaurants, etc. You know, when you are in the mountains in Georgia, you think about their dishes, and mostly people eat Khinkali in the mountains of Georgia, because they have different type of Khinkali, than in the cities, which they call Kalakuri Khinkali (City khinkali), and there's a really big difference between them, I must say. That's why when getting to Mountains in Georgia, people usually look for some places to eat some good Khinkali and should know those places from people, otherwise, when you just get into some place like that, you can end up with eating some  Khinkali prepared from that frozen khinkali, which you can easily buy at the supermarkets and prepare it yourself. 

Gergeti Sameba

Well, as I have already mentioned, it's a necessary thing to go to Trinity church when going to Kazbegi, because, otherwise it's not a good trip, I think. Other than the greatest view from the Trinity church, it's a historical building and an important one, so that anyone interested in architecture, religion, history, sightseeing, taking pictures, etc. should visit this place.

I must say, that it's really difficult and time-consuming to get up to the Trinity church on foot. I think, it takes one hour and a half or something like that to get up there and it all depends on your walking pace and the weather and all the other things, that may slow you down. Usually people go up to the Trinity church with some jeeps or those cars and the villagers have made this great thing to earn some money  and they have those cars and they are parked in the village of Gergeti _ just below the mountain, where Gergeti church is situated, and they offer their service to the tourists and people wanting to get up to the Trinity church. Though, I must say, that it doesn't cost cheap andit was 50 Laris a car when we went to Kazbegi.

Since our car couldn't get up to the church, we hired this one guy with a car, who took us there for 50 laris. To be honest, I didn't really think, that there would be that kind of road up there. It was really bad and I was very surprised, when they told us, that it was not in as bad condition as it is usually during bad weather.

The road to the Trinity church was really bad and narrow and there were some places, where it was so narrow, that there couldn't be two cars placed and sometimes we had to go a little back or the other car had to go back, because we both couldn't fit on the road. It needed 30 minutes approximately to get from the village to the Trinity church  and soon we were there. When the church was seen, it was an amazing view from the car, however, I couldn't get a picture of it and that was pretty sad. Then there wouldn't be such view of the church when we got closeby, so that if you want to take a good picture from far of the church, you should stop the car and get out and take a picture and then continue your way to the church. You should continue the way by car, because it's still quite far till the Trinity church from that place. When we asked the driver, he told us, that he usually waited for the tourists for half an hour or so. It's fair enough, because, there are other clients waiting for the cars down in the village, too, and it's not up to you how much time you stay up there in the church. However, you can just let the driver go back to the village and you can get down on foot, which is not as difficult as getting up to the church.

When we got up to the church, first thing that we wanted was to go to the toilet, if you want to know the truth, because we had been in a car for such a long time and we had drunk too much water and drinks and everything. So that, we asked for the toilet. Well, they told us, that there were two toilets there and one of them was free and it was in a good condition and it was down on the left side. The other ones were those mobile toilets or whatever they are called and you could see them around and they were light blue. Well, we went down to those toilets, which were build especially for the tourists there and they were really fine. Though, there was a huge line in front of those toilets. There were some closer asian people in the queue and most of them were women, so that me and my sister had to be in that long line of people. One of those women had this stretching chair and she was sitting on it and she was moving little by little towards the toilets with her chair. The toilets were for one people only , though there was a very large area in each of them. And it was relatively clean considering the amount of tourists ,that visited the toilets during the day. So, finally we got out of the toilet and went up to the church. There was a fresh cold water coming out from the pipes just nearby the church and we poured that water into our empty bottles, that we brought with us to the church.

Well, now it was time to get to the church. There were two roads to get there, I guess, the first one was just straight upwards, which was not a very good idea and the second one was a more normal one, I guess.  We went with the straight one and then we had to go to that normal one and get to the church that way.

Gergeti church is located on a top of a mountain in Gergeti village and it's a 14-th century church in Kazbegi. It's a really beautiful church and it's not very damaged or destroyed or something like that. During the enemy attacks, some people brought our country's treasure to the church, so that it would be safer there. And during the Soviet era the church was not really functioning and there were no services there during that time. However, now it's rennounced and people go there. The church is on 2170 metres above the sea level, if you want to know the truth.

Getting into the church was a really great deal. Everything there was pretty wonderful and amazing. The view from the church was fascinating, not to mention the inside. Many people just go there to take some great pictures and we did took some good pictures, too. It's a very strange place, too, I must say. It's like you are in the sky, it's so high up there with no other mountains or something like that around and it's like this church is standing all alone without anything around it. It's the most beautiful in winter, when it snows, or in that weather, when the snow is on every part of the Trinity church. I always wanted to visit this Gergeti church during snow or during the weather when it rained, because everything's covered in white, when it snows and everything is very beautiful ,, and when it's raining, everything around is in vivid green and it's like you see the nature refreshing itself with the rain.

Well, it was not snowing or raining when we got there, rather, it was really hot and, perhaps, unusually hot there, because it's still the mountains and it's high up there and there should be kind of cold there in summers  ,too. To be honest, it was a very hot summer this year and everyone said, that they didn't remember summer to be that hot in Georgia.

Anyways, being in Georgia Gergeti church is a must-see, if you ask me, especially if you love mountains and trips in nature. Of course, it's really dangerous to go to Kazbegi when it snows, however, it's very beautiful during that snowy weather as I have seen it on the pictures on Internet. When it's a heavy snow, the roads are closed and once, when my cousin went to Kazbegi, it was snow the following day and they closed the roads and she had to stay there for a couple of days, until there was as good road to drive a jeep or something like that. So that, if you are going to Kazbegi to visit, you should plan your visit very well and consider all those surprises of nature, that you can meet during your trip. And you should always be careful when going to the mountains anywhere in the world!

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