I am back from one of the best trips in my life. You will not believe but I even cried at out last dinner. Probably it was just too much wine and not because of the last day in Georgia.)))) But I was crying.
But I will start with the beginning.
Long way from Moscow to Tbilisi
To go to Georgia was a last minute decision as there were too many obstacles against it. We planned to go there by car (FYI Moscow - Tbilisi - 2000 km). And one of problems was a mechatronic unit in the car. Before the trip we made annual check-up of the car and they said that the mechatronic unit needed to be replaced. So, it was too risky especially with all those serpentine roads in Georgia. But who doesn't risk, doesn't drink champagne (in our case it was Georgian wine.))) So, we risked and we had many many adventures but they were not connected with the car. Thank you, my boy.
The beginning was fine. Good roads and we really enjoyed the trip.
But suddenly we stuck in the traffic jam. FOUR HOURS! That traffic jam became the reason for all our adventures before we got Georgia.
First adventure
As we stuck in the traffic jam we couldn't get the town we planned to stay for the night. And at 9 pm we started to look for a hotel. We even didn't have dinner as the hotel was more important and we thought as soon as we found the hotel we would have dinner. The daughter felt into sleep and we were looking for hotels along our way. And everything was fully booked!!!!!!!!! EVERYTHING!!! We were checking www.booking.com, we stopped at the hotels along the road. NOTHING. At 1:30 AM we , hungry and angry, stopped somewhere in the parking along the road with other cars and slept in the car. There were 3 of us in the car. The daughter had the most comfortable seat behind. And we slept in the front seats. It was not much fun I would say. There was one advantage. We woke up and started at 7 am and didn't lose time on shower and breakfast.)))
I can say that my daughter behaved very well during al three days of driving. But, of course, I found some surprises on my phone. I didn't tell her about the programs I had on my phone but later I found these photos and many others. She also installed tons of games. How? She is not even 5!
Second Adventure
Next day was good and we stayed at a very nice hotel at Pyatigorsk. In the morning we went to the center to drink some mineral water from the spring. But it started working later. There we met a nice couple and they told us what we needed to visit in Pyatigorsk. We had big seduction to go around but we needed to go as the border was waiting for us. And we were told that we could stuck there for hours.
But I would like to come back to Pyatigorsk as all those places were familiar to me from the books I have read. And it was really painful to leave without visiting them.
Third Adventure
My friedns who visited Georgia before recommended us to stop at Vladikavkas at the cafe Fyddjinta and try a real Osetian pie (not like we have it in Moscow) which was called fyddjin. And it was worth to try it!
They had a very short menu: just that pie and salad with cucumbers and tomatoes. But the cafe was full. And, of course, we ordered famous pear and tarragon lemonade.
Those 4 hours traffic jam and, may be, that delicious lunch became the reason for our next adventure. Happiness (Georgia) was very close (we were about 40 km from the border) and suddenly we were stopped by the police. They said that the road was closed a half hour ago due to threat of mudslide. AAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they didn't know how much time it could take. They said from 1 hour to 5 days. All the hotels in Georgia on our route were booked (most of them with no cancellation). We drove 2000 km to hear that. Not looking forward to sleep another night in the car I booked the hotel in Vladikavkaz just in case but we stayed there on the road with other cars. By the way, bad mudslide happened in Kabardino- Balkaria not far from that place recently. And some tourists suffered.
We started to think about another border point but it was 1000 km more. And we were waiting. Waiting and waiting. And suddenly in 4 hours first cars moved. We jumped into the car and drove fast otherwise we could stuck at the border again. And we were one of the first at the border but.....we turned out to be the last.
Fourth and the last adventure on the way to Georgia
I am Russian and my husband had an American passport. Russians passed the Russian border quickly but foreigners...My husband was invited for a conversation. And it took another hour. So, on the Georgian border we were the last.
And we drove in the night along extremely beautiful Military - Georgian serpentine road and couldn't see that beauty. Only at 1.30 AM in the night Moscow time (2:30 AM Tbilisi time) we arrived at the hotel. But when I saw a night Tbilisi I forgot about all those adventures. It was amazing. It impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was happy!
TO BE CONTINUED
Always yours, @aksinya.