Georgia is famous for its beauty, so there you will find a lot of tourists, even though for those traveling by car, the trip there won’t be easy (due to reconstructions and usual two-lane roads).

On the way there, you will come across villages and cities which names are familiar to you and evoke bad memories… Beslan, Budennovsk.

It will take you less than an hour to go through the customs which is very good, given the red tape inherent in these two countries.

Above, you see the view which will welcome you in Georgia.

Pushkin and Lermontov admired the beauty of this country for a reason! By the way, enjoying the views, don’t forget to find a place to stay overnight.

Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov, Soviet prose authors of the 1920s and 1930s, called this place “the most beautiful in the world”. The Terek River is so strong and loud that you can hardly hear each other.

Local people, seeing tourists, treat them to wine and khinkali and invite them home to have dinner. Amazing hospitality of officials and locals produces an impression of a slight shock.

In the mountains, you perceive sizes differently, like that church that seems tiny if compared with Mount Kazbek.

Serpentine roads and hight raise your adrenaline level. After the sunset, it gets cold so you have to put on a warm coat and eat something warm too. Drinking liqueur, while enjoying the view of the church with the sky in the background, shining stars and glowing snow… make you feel absolutely happy.

In the morning, it’s cold and you may see a fox or other wild animals prowling around.

Sunbeams touching the mountains change their color dramatically.

Gergeti Trinity Church.

The church, located near the village of Gergeti, is situated on the right bank of the Chkheri River (the left tributary of the river Terek) at an elevation of 2,170 meters. It was built in the 14th century, and is the only cross-cupola church in Khevi province. Its isolated location on top of a steep mountain surrounded by the vastness of nature has made it a symbol for Georgia.

Surrounded by the mountains, they pray to God in this church for the past 7 centuries, and the time seems to not exist here; you feel the presence of holiness and sincerity.

The view of Gergeti and Kazbegi from above.

One of the cars that you may come across on your way.

A monument along one of the roads runs, “We took the rightful cause. We have won. J. V. Stalin”.

There are a lot of tunnels in Georgia which are either abandoned or used by people in wintertime.

Mountain mineral water forms deposits of lime. Tourists fill their plastic bottles with this water.

This Arch of Friendship was built in 1983.

This is what you’ll see from the observation desk.

These views make your heart sink!

A retro car cemetery by one of the houses in another village.

There are all kinds of autos here, from retro cars to new expensive luxury brand SUVs, and the closer to the capital you get, the more expensive cars you see. By the way, drivers are extraordinary polite here.

Ananuri is a castle complex on the Aragvi River in Georgia, about 45 miles from Tbilisi.

It was built in the 16th century and was the scene of numerous battles, so a lot has been lost.

Entrance to the castle is free.

Zhinvali water reservoir supplies Tbilisi and other cities with water.

This place is one of the most beautiful in Georgia.

It’s difficult to describe with words how wonderful this waterfall is.

Military facilities built in the Soviet time.

The river turns into a thin thread and the view from the window of your car reminds you of that from a plane.

On the way to Shatili Village, you’ll see flocks of mountain cows standing on the road and they are not afraid of beeping cars at all.

Height: 2,700 m.