Overland to Stepantsminda

Long bus ride today. There are two mountain ranges in Georgia. The southern Lesser Caucasus split Georgia in half—east and west. The much taller Greater Caucasus are sometimes snow covered and form the border with Russia for Georgia, Azerbaijan, and part of Iran.

We have been in the Lesser Caucasus but today we first drove through the valley in between the two ranges. Then we drove north on the Georgian Military Highway which weaves through the Greater Caucasus through the Jvari Pass (7,800 feet) to our hotel on a mountainside at 5,900 feet. This road follows the path that the Roman soldiers took, also the Silk Road, and the way the Imperial Russian army took in 1801 when invading and conquering Georgia. The actual highway was built after WWII by the Soviets using German POWs. It is heavily used by trucks transporting goods from Russia to Armenia.

Winding narrow roads, amazing switchbacks, construction where Chinese are building a 6 mile tunnel through a mountain and others are fixing roads after landslides. Thank goodness for an excellent bus driver. Semis line the highways waiting for permission to get to the Georgia/Russian border

since the war stopped the usual route through Ukraine. Truck wait time is down to 2-3 days rather than weeks. Police allow ten semis at a time to proceed when getting the OK from border control.

Stopped at a scenic vista a few minutes before the pass. Our hotel is high above much of the town and resembles a ski/backpacker resort. Quite a change from our high class hotel in Borjomi. Filled with people, most quite young. Rooms are fine with basic furniture. Dinner for all was a buffet.

Rained after we got here so hoping it clears up for tomorrow.