Georgia & Armenia 2024 Day 8: Stepantsminda To Dariali Monastery

Monday, December 30, 2024

Georgia & Armenia 2024 Day 8: Stepantsminda To Dariali Monastery

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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Georgia-Armenia 2024 Day 8:

Stepantsminda To Dariali Monastery

Georgia-Armenia 2024 Day 8 : 24th September (Tuesday)

Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Georgia & Armenia:
Day 8 - Stepantsminda to Dariali Monastery:
Stepantsminda (Hotel Kazbegi 1963)>Gergeti Trinity Church>Tergi Valley Viewpoint>Dariali Monastery>Sno>Akhaltsikhe Village>Stepantsminda.

This is page 8 of a 14-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D7: Stepantsminda | Go to Other Days | D9: Kutaisi >

Route recommendations, here're some tips on travelling in and around Tbilisi (Georgia):

1. Traffic Directions!

Driving in Georgia is left-hand drive, with a speed limit of 60 km/h in cities and towns, and 80 km/h in other areas unless indicated otherwise. Armenia is also left-hand drive, so in both Georgia and Armenia drive/cycle on the right.

2. Immigration & Customs Requirements

For Georgia, citizens of Malaysia do not need a visa to enter for travel purposes and can stay in the country for 365 days without a visa. The travel passport must be valid throughout the whole period of stay in Georgia. A blank page is necessary for an entry stamp. Click here for a list of countries that need visa entry. Click here for the Georgia E-visa application portal and click here for guidelines on the E-visa application which costs USD20 (30 days validity).

For both countries, after clearing immigration, one will have to go through customs. We had to carry our luggage personally through. They are green lanes for those with nothing to declare; for duty-free good exemption, click here for Georgia's regulations, and here for Armenia's. Our vans had to go through the vehicles' lanes.

For those bringing in personal medication (up to 31 days usage) into Georgia, do get a prescription from your doctor; click here for guidelines.

3. Getting to and around Georgia & Armenia.

Major airlines serve both Georgia & Armenia. We flew from KLIA Terminal 1 into and out of Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport via Qatar Airways, with transit at Doha. It would have been time-saving into Armenia via Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport; but we naively erred on the side of caution. Our airfares were bought during the MATA Travel Fair via promotions by the RHB Debit Card, the return fare cost us between MYR 2,800 to 3,200.
We got around both countries by using a local long-chassis Mercedes Sprinter Van with an extended rear luggage section for the 16 of us, and a Mercedes V-Class 7-seater van for another four of us who enlisted later. The rides were generally comfortable as most were on tarred roads with some stretches of gravel roads.
For harsher rides we used smaller local vans with drivers familiar to the rougher, steeper roads - this was to the Gergeti Trinity Church, Ushguli Village, Koruldi Lakes and Chalaadi Glacier.

There were a couple of free days to explore Tbilisi by ourselves, but it is possible to use the Uber Georgia app to get further around. Other ride-hailing alternatives are Bolt, Yandex and Taxi Maxim.

4. Places & Things of Interest

Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):
a. Gergeti Trinity Church (გერგეტის სამება) (GPS: 42.66220, 44.62025).

b. Mount Kazbek (GPS: 42.69722, 44.51491).
c. Tergi Valley Viewpoint (GPS: 42.69358, 44.64096) of the Terek River.
d. Dariali Monastery Complex (დარიალის სამონასტრო კომპლექსი) (GPS: 42.73554, 44.6314).
e. Dariali Wine from the Wine Cellar at Dariali Monastery (დარიალის სამონასტრო კომპლექსი) (GPS: 42.73554, 44.6314).

f. Stone Sculptures (მერაბ ფირანიშვილის სკულპტურები) (GPS: 42.60726, 44.63211) by Merab Piranishvili at Sno.
g. Akhaltsikhe Village (GPS: 42.59154, 44.66488).

5. Food

a. Breakfast:

An excellent inclusive Western/Georgian Fare at the Hotel Kazbegi 1963 (GPS: 42.65766, 44.64758) in Stepantsminda.
b. Lunch:
Georgian Fare at the Dariali Monastery Viewpoint Restaurant (GPS: 42.7362, 44.63168).

c. Dinner:

Georgian Fare at Restaurant Tiba (რესტორანი თიბა) (GPS: 42.65164, 44.64932) at Stepantsminda.

6. Accommodations

Second of two nights at Hotel Kazbegi 1963 (GPS: 42.65766, 44.64758). The alternate hotel for the second group was Ketino's Home. This cost was included in the overall ground arrangements.

7. Tour Costs & Arrangements

Return air tickets bought during the MATA Travel Fair/RHB Debit Card promotions were between MYR 2,800 to 3,200.

The ground arrangements tour package included a 10-passenger van to take us around, starting from & returning to Tbilisi. It also included 3-star hotels/homestays. The charge per pax for this ground arrangement was at MYR7,400. This excluded meals (other than hotel breakfasts & 3 dinners at Mestia), airport transfers, most entry tickets and tips. This allows for individuals to have meals according to their own liking & budget. Allow per meal should be adequate.

On average, the overall tour cost worked out to be around RM950 to RM1,000 per day. For those interested in this tour, contact Eddie at +6012-6122600 for more details and updated costs.

For out-of-pocket spending, we exchange some Georgian Lari (GEL) and Armenian Dram (AMD) in the respective countries. Some brought along their Wise debit cards to use; one can pre-load the card with the local currency. Or let it auto-deduct the currencies existing in the card. We found that it deducted other currencies first before deducting Malaysian Ringgit.

8. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. Georgia pre-paid sim cards are easily available and cost 5 GEL to 20 GEL, depending on the provider and the included benefits. While Armenian pre-paid SIM cards range from AMD 1000 to AMD 3000. Those in our tour group pre-ordered their SIM cards through our Georgian guide.

Those who use Maxis as their telco can purchase the Maxis Roaming Pass. The RM89 15-day Multi-country Roaming Pass covers many countries including Georgia, Armenia and Qatar.
The Pass can be bought before the trip with a designated starting time/date, BUT DO TURN OFF your data roaming just before the Roaming Pass expires OTHERWISE any subsequent usage will automatically trigger off the 1-Day Roaming Pass costing between RM29 to RM38 per day!

9. Communicating with Locals

At favourite tourist destinations, locals may speak fairly good English. In the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, and our local guide was most helpful in translating for us.

10. Weather

The average day and night temperatures at Stepantsminda were 26°C and 15°C respectively.

Useful weather forecast sites for Georgia & Armenia is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

11. Navigation

I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.

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PRELUDE

A day earlier, we said Goodbye again to Tbilisi and headed out to the cooler highlands of Gudauri, to spend a couple of days at Stepantsminda. The cooler air and quieter, rustic atmosphere made this an enjoyable stay.

Today will be our second night here and we head out to visit nearby places - a place with giant head sculptures (Easter Island Moai Statues in Georgia?) and a monastery that makes wine!

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DAY 8: STEPANTSMINDA-DARIALI

Guided Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Georgia & Armenia:

Stepantsminda (Hotel Kazbegi 1963)>Gergeti Trinity Church>Tergi Valley Viewpoint>Dariali Monastery>Sno>Akhaltsikhe Village>Stepantsminda.

(Click here for the Georgia-Armenia Day 8: Stepantsminda-Dariali Monastery Route Map)

Most posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post for more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out from your Facebook first)

Good morning from Stepantsminda.
Formerly called Kazbegi (ყაზბეგი), it is a townlet in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of north-eastern Georgia. The morning brought a wonderful view of snow-capped Mount Kazbek; on the other side was Mt. Shani, right on the border with Ingushetia, Russia.

Breakfast at Hotel Kazbegi 1963, our host was a friendly, jovial lady. Together with a helper, she cooked very yummylicious dishes, in fact, we would have had dinner at our hotel the previous evening, but she was booked for a large group of other tourists!

We were supposed to hike up to the Gergeti Trinity Church, but it was raining, so we hired vans. It was a nice ride on winding roads through the rustic countryside.
Click here for a guide for hiking up to the Gergeti Trinity Church.

At the Gergeti Trinity Church.
The church was built in the 14th century by an unknown architect and is the only cross-cupola church in Khevi province. The 18th-century Georgian author Vakhushti Batonishvili wrote that in times of danger, precious relics from Mtskheta, including Saint Nino's Cross were brought here for safekeeping. The church is now an active part of the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church.
The church is a popular waypoint for trekkers in the area and can be reached by a steep 1.5-hour climb up the mountain.

Great views from the church: of Mount Kazbek, Stepantsminda and the valleys below.

12:00pm - at the Tergi Valley Viewpoint .....

..... said some prayers here. Below can be seen the Terek River, here at its start it's just a narrow stream but further downstream it powers several minor hydroelectric power stations dam, flowing through the North Caucasus region of Russia, before draining into the Caspian Sea.

2:30pm - at the Dariali Monastery Complex.

The complex is situated in picturesque Dariali Gorge at the narrow canyon of river Terek River (Terek), an elevation of 1300 meters above sea level and is just a kilometre from the Georgia-Russian Border.
The construction of Dariali Monastery began in 2005. It was partially completed in 2011 and opened by the Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia. The complex is comprised of various buildings. The main church of the complex is the Church of the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel. The initial plan is to eventually build 12 different churches.

The unique feature of this monastery is that the monks here have been producing Dariali Wine for centuries.

Presently within its Wine Cellar are stored bottles of their unique wine including their speciality, Rkatsiteli Wine. These are made from the Rkatsiteli grapes which is supposed to be one of the oldest grape varieties. Some of us bought several bottles of the to take bake home.

A quiet sojourn before lunch, admiring some cute cars at the monastery compound.

Lunch at Dariali Monastery Viewpoint Restaurant, some Georgian bread, Georgian Cheese Salad, Chakhokhbili Chicken Stew, etc.

My favourite, is the Nigvziani badrijani (Georgian Stuffed Eggplant Roll), which is seen here together with some Georgian dips. These are probably the green spinach Pkhali and reddish beetroot Jarkhlis pkhali. The dips went very well with the Georgian bread.

I took a break after saying prayers at the monastery to admire the artwork - including the large murals on the ceiling and paintings hanging on the walls. There's a souvenir shop at the entrance for those interested in buying paintings, icons, rosaries, etc.

A large mural at the dome above the altar.

3:15pm - We turned around, headed south, and are at the village of Sno. Nearby are the Giant Stone Sculptures by Merab Piranishvili, a self-taught sculpture. These statues are on a small field with the green & snow-capped mountains and sky as a backdrop.

The statues are of Georgian eminent people like Ilia Chavchavadze, Akaki Tsereteli, Vazha Pshavela, Shota Rustaveli, and Jesus Christ etc.

An opportunistic photo with the man, Merab Piranishvili, himself.
"Years will pass, but these sculptures will remain forever", he quoted.
His dream is to make a museum in the open air and plans to create the history of Georgia here, in Sno, with about five hundred sculptures.
He makes these sculptures at his own expense, there is a small collection box near the entrance for those who appreciate his hard work, and to contribute to his future efforts.

Five kilometres and twenty minutes away in the quaint village of Akhaltsikhe Village - an old abandoned, rustic village.

We parked at the main roadside and took a short walk to the village. It's such a nice place, the quiet, abandoned houses, and green hills. Further away were snow-capped mountains and blue skies. A lonely cow walked by adding to the mysterious air of the place.

4:30pm - We're back at Stepantsminda, popped into the local Spar Supermarket for some light shopping before heading back to our homestay.

Dinner at Restaurant Tiba, about half-an-hour walk away, part way along gravel roads.

The place has a cosy, up-market feel with a great view!
But we found the food we had yesterday at BeBa Bar much better.

"მშვენიერი დღე იყო!"

(That's "mshvenieri dghe iq’o!" - "It's been a great day!" in Georgian)

(For more photos of Day 8, Click Here)

This is page 8 of a 14-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.