Travel from Ukraine to Georgia by car. Part 2 of 5. Georgian customs, Stepantsmin
Continuation. Start here:
We arrived at the Georgian border in Upper Lars on August 9 at 2-30 am. The border is open from 5 am to 7 pm. The queue was huge. The road is uphill, every couple of minutes I had to start the car and drive up a couple of meters. Customs cleared in 4.5 hours. And then such BEAUTY began!!!!!
We looked around and gasped and groaned. The first Georgian village not far from the border is Stepantsminda. It has a right turn (before the bridge) at the Gergeti sign. There is a Trinity Church on the mountain. You must go there, no matter how tired you are. We climbed as far as we could in cars, and then went on foot. There is an easy but long trail, and a short but difficult one. We climbed for a short 35 minutes. In the village, the height was 1700 meters above sea level, and at the top in the temple 2100 (approximately). This handy feature of viewing the height is in the navigator. There are many tourists, people are not afraid of the rise, there are both elderly and obese people. Before the ascent, taxi drivers in jeeps offer their services. For a certain amount, they can take you upstairs. If on the road - then the distance is 4.8 km. A very important point is the weather, we were lucky, there was a clear sky and we were able to enjoy Kazbegi. If the weather allows, be sure to get to this temple, take the time and effort, it's worth it! By the way, in Stepantsminda, at the turn to this temple, there is a forest on the right and there are tents (this is for campers, I think they will be interested, before leaving I searched on the Internet where you can stay in tents in Georgia, but this information was very little) .
We go further, about 100 km of mountain serpentine. We fix our altitude record at the pass - 2465 meters. We have not been higher by car yet. In Romania on Transfagarash 2048 meters. The roads are excellent (as well as throughout Georgia). In a roadside cafe, we finally try khinkali, barbecue and Georgian lemonade. I liked all the food, both here and in further establishments, everything was always delicious. True, our smallest ate badly - the food is all spicy.
The cost of gasoline in Georgia is the same as in Ukraine, 1 liter - 20-21 UAH, diesel 17-18 UAH, propane gas 15-16 UAH. By the way, there are not many gas stations, and most of them are methane (12 UAH). Very little propane. We refueled in Russia in Vladikavkaz, not far from the Georgian border. That's what everyone does. In Georgia, if possible, no one refuels. After lunch we arrived in Tbilisi. We are here for 2 days.
Found a McDonald's with free wifi. A very convenient application on the MAPS. ME phone. Detailed drawing of streets, shops, cafes, etc. , and works without the Internet, but you need to download a map of the country you are going to in advance, in general, I advise. Through www. airbnb. ru we rented a 3-room apartment in the center for $45 per day (for seven people). The apartment is ordinary, without frills, but with everything you need (air conditioner, washing machine, hot water, kitchen, stove, wifi), located near the stadium where Barcelona - Seville are to play tomorrow! There is a telephone number of the hostess, if someone needs it. We went sightseeing, I won’t describe it, there is a lot of it on the Internet. The exchange rate of the Georgian lari to the dollar is 2.30. (1 GEL - 10 UAH, it is convenient to convert prices into hryvnia). I liked the Georgians, they are very kind, sympathetic, sociable.
The police is generally a topic for another discussion. They patrol in a Ford Interceptor. It's hard to imagine a more police car. The policemen are slender, fit (ours immediately come to mind). Several times they turned to them for help - they told everything, showed it. In the end, we can no longer get rid of them, but they tell everything, tell....I was surprised that there are no morning posts on the roads, such as “breathe”. They don't just stop cars. The police are constantly on the move. But if you violated, and they noticed it, punishment is inevitable. Attached behind, include flashing lights. Bribes are out of the question. Don't take risks, don't offer. The driver does not have to carry a license and registration certificate with him. The police have all the data in the computer.
