Will the mountain pass be closed?

Malene decided to spend the night on the sofa in the warm living room our own room was simply too cold.

We got up very early to take a walk around town, What can we say; deserted, ghost like, icy cold...maybe a nicer place in the summer time.

We had an early start since we had to cross the mountain pass before 11 am after that it would be closed again until 6 pm like the day before. No problem this time and we even had time to stop at a monument. with Georgian and Russian frescoes. There a several  monuments on the road between Russia and Georgia with this being the biggest.

In Telavi we're having two nights in a homestay. Since we're quite a lot we're staying in two houses. And wow they certainly don't look like much from the outside - but don't let that cheat you - inside they're beautiful old houses with stucco, mahogony like furniture, parquet flor, fine china in and very high to the ceiling.

Does anybody actually live out here?

Gergeti Trinity church in the morning

Crossing thee mountain pass again

Monument with frescoes

Old building - need a bit of concrete reparations

Home stay from outside

Beautiful inside the house

On the road to Kazbegi

This morning it was back to the truck giving the drive to Kazbegi a new go since we couldn't go there Saturday because of snow on the mountain roads. A drive of some 150 kms, straight north almost to the Russian border.

Leaving Tbilisi going through the suburbs we saw a lot of communist leftovers including endless building blocks that looked like they were ready for demolition.

We quickly hit the foot of the mountains and had a few stops on the way to the top of the mountain pass before we hit THE stop. The road was closed by the police until 6 pm, so what to do when you have sunshine at 2100 m? Head for the nearest gondola, pay 5 GEL (15 DKK) for a return ticket, enjoy the ride and the views from the top of the hill, take gondola back again, find beanbag and order cold beer while enjoying the sunshine. Mikkel got a little sunburned/roasted, but it was good to just relax. Ski resort wasn't busy at all.

Police opened the road as promised at 6 pm and apart from the usual chaos when more than ten cars are trying to pass each other on narrow mountain road (yes, they drive like crazy down here), we were also allowed to go through 20 km of wonderful mountain pass including missing parts of the road. The views were spectacular though.

Lots of trucks were waiting to cross the mountain pass they have to wait until all the cars have passed. This road is very important for freight from Russia to Armenia. Armenia being a poor country depending on goods from Russia. A lot of other roads and borders are closed so this road is very busy.

Arrived at 19:30 at our homestay just in time to see the daylight disappear over the mountains. Got a good but very cold room, temperatures dropping to minus during the night. Before dinner the mother in the homestay showed us how to make bread with filling and dumplings. Didn't make it to the Gergeti monastery though. We could see it from a distance and it looked impressive on the top of the mountain.

Will be exciting to see if we can make it back through the mountain pass tomorrow.

Cathedral in a nice mountain setting  - the Ananuri monastery

Bill enjoying a Glintvein (Glühwein)

Our view from the homestay  - a cathedral on a mountain top - Gergeti

Making dumplings