The big attraction in the town of Kazbegi is the famous Trinity Church - Tsminda Sameba in Georgian. It's at 2170 meters elevation, and quite a long hike from the town. It's near Mount Kazbegi, and dates back to the 14th century.
The night we arrived we checked in to our hotel in town. There are only a few hotels, and we were staying at the newest one, which is run by Ilia State University's Stephantsminda Alpine Ecology Institute. Most of the hotel's rooms were pretty small, but one room - ours - was two levels and had a balcony with a great view.
Kazbegi is a town set in a beautiful area. This meadow outside the hotel is a good example.
From our hotel, we could see the church across the valley, waiting for us to climb up to it the next day.
The town of Kazbegi (Stephantsminda is its old name - it was renamed for a famous poet, and although not long ago it was re-renamed back to Stephantsminda, people still seem to call it Kazbegi) is a tiny town of less than 2000 people. The residents we saw were largely tending their animals, including this lady taking her cow for a walk.
Everywhere we looked in Kazbegi there were spectacular views.
Kirsten and Gia, the hired driver of the other car, drove us across town to the where the roads started to slope up sharply on the other side, we got out and started to walk.
It was a long walk, through some beautiful areas. Alison commented that she felt like she was in a fairy tale.
We took several breaks to rest on the way up.
This horse and her foal (napping in the grass) were led up the side of the mountain and left there to graze for the day. Pretty nice view.
At last we were there! Yes, that is Aquil and Cielo meditating.
