4 Days Photo Tour (and Adventure) in Georgia

Georgia is about 3 hours flight from Dubai. It is one of the most visited country amongst UAE expats due to its close proximity to UAE and availability of cheap flights and offers among all others.

View in front of our hotel in Juta

We have arranged this group trip to primarily capture the beautiful countryside/mountain areas of Georgia apart from, of course, to unwind, relax and take a break from the scorching heat and hectic work that has become a part of our lives as expats living in the Gulf region.

With the help of our Georgian friends, we were able to customize and design a trip based on our goals.

Sharing with you our 4-days travel itinerary in Georgia:

Day 1: We arrived at Tbilisi airport on a Wednesday afternoon. After all the immigration procedures (and issues) we left a bit later than our estimated time. With our local Georgian friends, we head towards Juta Region. We were supposed to catch the sunset near our hotel but due to some delays we encountered, we had to improvise and make use of what we can find along our way.

Gudauri, Georgia

It was almost 7PM and as per schedule, sun is about to set in 30-45 minutes, so we decided to make a stop at the Panorama View (on the way to Gudauri) to catch the sun set and stretch our legs after almost 3 hours in the van. The Panoramic View is a common stop to tourists heading to or from Gudauri/Kazbegi area. It offers spectacular view of the mountains and the valley below. After some time, we completed our sunset shoot and headed straight to our hotel in Juta. It was almost past 10PM when we reached our hotel.

To reach our hotel, we had to hike up to the mountains (30 minutes hike for average hikers, 1 hour + for us beginners), we had to leave our cars at the parking area, and we were advised to carry only the things that we need for next day’s shoot, some clothing and personal essentials. It was very cold and pitch dark. It was an uphill, steep climb which left most of us out of breath! My knees felt like jelly! haha

Fifth Season hotel in Juta

We were famished when we reached our hotel! We had our dinner and went straight to bed. Ah, thank God! I’ll need a good, strong massage after this!

Day 2: Having slept for less than 4 hours and after that challenging late night hike, I was surprised I was able to wake up to the sound of my alarm at 3:45. Since I got everything I needed ready the night before, I was able to save some time. Immediately got up and got ready for another hike to catch the sunrise! Our scheduled sunrise location is just around our hotel. The hike was long but no steep climb was required. We had to pass by and cross a couple of small rivers. As soon as a bit of light came out, we were able to appreciate the beauty of nature that surrounded us. We were not able to catch that perfect glow of sunrise over the mountains but we didn’t really mind. The views were amazing and relaxing. If we had enough time, we could have decided to stay for one more night. Maybe, the next time we come back, we will be able to capture a good sunrise photo and give justice to the beauty of the place.

We headed back to our hotel after some time to enjoy our sumptuous breakfast. We had to get ready for another long drive to our next location, Kazbegi, which was about 2 hours from Juta. We reached our hotel just around lunchtime, dropped our stuff and had lunch at a restaurant nearby. Since our next schedule was a sunset shoot, we had some time to relax, recharge, re-energize and get ready for the sunset shoot.

Two hours before sunset, we got ready and drove to Truso Valley. The location was about an hour from our hotel. The road towards the valley was scary, I must say! The path was narrow (good for one and a half normal car – and our car was a 4WD beast!), on a cliff and a strong river beneath. Anyway, we practically held our breath during this episode of our adventure to Truso Valley! It was fun and scary at the same time!

Truso Gorge

Finally, after that exhilarating ride, we were able to reach our location, alive! LOL

Truso Valley was beautiful. A place that tourists don’t usually visit but should. Stunning view of the mountains, rugged, old houses, rivers, horses and sheep. This place is a hidden gem. A little bit farther is an old, ruined castle, and a Russian border. Be careful, no one is allowed to take photo of the border and the military building near the castle. We were able to setup our gears and take photos of the mountains around but we had to ask permission and ensure that we don’t take photos of the base.

Ruined Castle in Truso Valley

Just before it got dark, we headed back to our hotel, catch dinner on the way, and got ready for another sunrise mission.

Day 3: We were supposed to head again to Truso Valley for sunrise but after that grueling drive to the valley, we decided to look for a spot to shoot the Kazbek Mountain, just around our hotel. We were able to find an abandoned/under construction building which has a huge terrace overlooking the mountain. So we decided to setup and wait for the sun to show up and illuminate the mountain across it.

view of Kazbek mountain

Gveleti waterfall

In the afternoon, we headed to Gveleti waterfalls. There are 2 waterfalls in Gveleti, small and large. So both require almost the same time to hike and are on the opposite directions, we went for the big waterfall! Go big or go home, right? Took us about 45 minutes hike to reach the waterfalls. It was one of the most amazing feeling! Like a reward for braving and hiking all the way up! The view from the waterfalls was just magnificent. We took a couple of photos of the waterfalls, the views around it, and the mountains and of course, ourselves! Afterall, we don’t come to this place and hike this much often, right?

Enjoying the view from Gveleti waterfalls

Since we still have time before the sunset and as per our schedule, we didn’t have specific place to do our sunset shoot, we asked our Georgian friends to recommend a nice place that we can check and maybe a possibility to do sunset shoot.

We headed to a monastery near the Dariali Gorge, about 30 minutes from Kazbegi, near another border to Russia. The location was not good for sunset however, and we noticed dark clouds started to appear hinting rain. It has always been an SOP for us to always check the weather during our trips. This was also the reason why we left this day open as we expect rainfall during our last 2 days in Georgia. Nonetheless, we still tried to make the most out of this stop at the monastery before the rain actually start to pour,  then we headed back to our hotel to recharge our gears.

Day 4: Sunrise mission: Gergeti Holy Trinity Church.

at Gergeti Holy Trinity Church

Due to the rain that halted our sunset shoot the other day, we were able to have a good rest, slept well and fully recharged. We headed to our sunrise shoot, Gergeti Trinity Church, we arrived early and had plenty of time to check out the area and find a good spot to setup, and wait for the sun to rise. From this view point, we have both options, a better view of the Kazbek Mountain and the sunrise on the opposite side. The church, where we were, is in the middle, and the mountain at the back covers the chance for sun illuminating the church, so I decided to take another sunrise shot of the Kazbek Mountain. After our shoot, we decided to go around and our Georgian friend who was also our guide during the whole trip, shared a short history of this church.

Since our schedule has left this last day open to wandering around the area and discover local/heritage villages. Our guide took us to another small village that’s not visited or popular amongst tourists but just as beautiful and worthy of a visit. The village is called Khurt’isi. Local villagers were all looking at our van when we arrived. Obviously, we were totally strangers to them and not often does any van with tourists visit their village. The way towards the village was already breathtaking. Thick and tall trees hide the village completely from the main road. This is one of the best reasons why you should interact with locals, especially hikers, they know a lot of amazing places that travel guides usually don’t include. This place/ village couldn’t even be found on the map! (I tried on google map…)

Khurt’isi, Georgia

We had a great time in this place. We let ourselves be captured in the beauty of its surroundings. It was, I believe, the perfect time. Flowers were blooming everywhere! Clouds were just enough, sun was not harsh and the wind was just cool.

After some time, we decided to leave and our guide took us to see another waterfall which is just about 20 minutes from the village. This time, the hike was shorter, about 30 minutes. The view was also amazing and relaxing. It may not be a great as Gveleti, but it’s still beautiful in its own. Plus, it’s easier to reach!

But, all great things must come to an end. Mother Nature has decided we had enough for the day and sent dark clouds on our way! Before rain start to pour, we decided to leave and head back to our hotel. Again, another missed sunset. But we really didn’t mind at all. We felt like the trip to the village really satisfied our souls.

Day 5: we left our hotel very early to drive straight to the airport to catch our flight back to UAE.

The 4 days we have spent in Georgia was hectic especially on the first 2 days, but we can all say that it was truly enjoyable and worthy of another visit! And by that time, if we decide to go to the same places, we already, somehow, know the best ways and spots to capture our photos.

We may not have captured the best but this is landscape photography after all. It takes patience, time and a lot of effort to finally get that photo you aimed for!