Kazbegi

30 September 201

I have just spent the weekend in the beautiful mountain town of Kazbegi, situated on the Georgian Military Highway near the Russian border.

The highway is actually a normal tarred road except for the dusty track which you take over the main pass. The road passes across the Caucasus towards Vladikavkaz in Russia, so we passed many trucks making their way from places like Poland down through the mountains towards Azerbaijan.

I stayed at Marina's guest house with incredible views over the valley towards mount Kazbek, which was covered in snow. The mountain has always been considered sacred: when Russian engineers decided to build a cable car up it's southern slopes, the local people, Georgians and  Ossetians, rose up and destroyed the works. The wreckage can still be seen . I have hiked to the Tsminda Sameba Church, positioned high on a hill top and up to the glacier in the lower altitudes of mount Kazbegi. The valley is full of silver birch trees now covered in yellow leaves giving a very autumnal feel to the place. It's been great to be out in the mountains again and to have the chance to visit these areas that get cut off during the winter months.

Back in Tbilisi, the excitement is rising  as the people prepare for the elections tomorrow. The campaigns have been mad and there are very varied views  on who is the favourite candidate. We are expecting huge crowds in Tbilisi tomorrow.