KAVKAZ EXPEDITION 2016

Pick up at the airport and transfer to Hotel.

Reception, visit to the city and dinner of fraternization.

Pick up at the airport and transfer to Hotel.

Reception, visit to the city and dinner of fraternization.

Ascension to Mount Kazbegi and the Trinity Church of Gergeti. Trekking to Gergeti Glacier and nearby waterfalls.

Descent to the Tsalka Reserve, a region populated by Armenians and Greeks fled from Turkey at the time of the Genocide. Camping and festival in Kuci with traditional local food (Xorovats, Sashlik ….)

Route by tracks to the border crossing between Georgia and Armenia in Guguti. Crossing of border in direction Alaverdi, soviet style industrial town. Gorge of Akner and visit to the Armenian churches and monasteries of Sanahin and Haghpat, masterpiece of the religious architecture and Patrimony of the Humanity.

Route by track to Haghartsin, the largest medieval Armenian cultural center, and Dilijan, a town nestled in the Dilijan National Park, and travel to Lake Sevan, Armenian Sea, and one of the largest mountain lakes in the world. Visit to the Seván peninsula and the Hayravank monastery complex.

We return to the south to visit the Hellenistic temple of Garni and the monastery of Geghard, a unique construction partly excavated in the mountain and place of extraordinary spirituality. Arrival in Yerevan and visit to the city.

Departure from Yerevan and stop at the monastery of Khor Virap, at the foot of Mount Ararat, Armenian national symbol. Route by track to the secret Noravank Monastery and route to the Soviet-style thermal resort in Jermuk.

Routes by tracks and access to the monastery of Tatev, nestled in a protruding basalt over vertigo gorges.

By road cross the border between Armenia and the Armenian Republic of Nagorno Karabakh to its capital, Stepanakert.

Visit to the ruined city of Agdam, on the military border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a permanent reminder of the national wars that shook the Caucasus after the collapse of the Soviet Union. By road and mountain tracks visit the Monastery of Gandzasar, and return to Sevan crossing the Sotk Pass and the gold mines of the region. Campsite next to Lake Sevan in Vardenis.

Camp pick up and march along the coast of Seven Lake heading north to Vanadzor and Gyumri (formerly Leninakan).

Crossing of the border with Georgia in Bavra and camping at the foot of the remains excavated in the mountain of Vardzia.

Trekking and visit to the monastery complex of Vardzia and through mountain roads along the border between Georgia and Turkey, tracks between the lakes in direction to the Black Sea coast. Arrival at the modern city of Batumi, capital and tourist resort and Georgian recreation.

From Batumi, Poti and Zugdidi to the semi-independent region of Svaneti, at the foot of the highest peaks of the Caucasus mountains. Valleys and gorges area through which the trail winds up to fortified villages that remain isolated a good part Of the year. Camping in Mestía.

Through paths and tracks in direction to Ushguli, Europe’s highest permanent inhabited village. Tour of mountain tracks and roads between Caucasian valleys. Thermal center of Borjomi.

Return to the capital with a stop and visit in Gori, hometown of Josef Stalin and where his house and train are converted into a museum. Visit of the spiritual center of the Georgian Orthodox Church in Mtskheta. Arrival in Tbilisi, delivery of vehicles, free afternoon and farewell dinner.