Hope you enjoyed that
We are Kim and Del and together
we create travel films and write accompanying guides
over on our blog - Going The Whole Hogg
We've been in Georgia for the past year
and last summer and autumn we did a lot of hiking in the Caucasus Mountains
and finally we're getting round to sharing it with you now
So the Truso Valley hike that you just watched was actually
the very first hike that we did in all of Georgia
and it was the perfect introduction to hiking here
One, it was pretty easy, albeit a little bit long
but it was really really beautiful and there was a lot of reward for minimum effort
I would say
Beautiful colourful travertine mineral springs
which I absolutely loved
and some cultural points of interest like
the hilltop fortress
and some small settlements
and monasteries along the way
as well as that gorgeous mountain scenery
so it was a really nice way for us to start our hikes
and also a good introduction
or re-introduction
for me to the world of exercise
because I basically hadn't done anything for about a year
and we had lots of multi-day hikes planned for the summer
and I needed to try and get fit again
She never learns
If you fancy doing this hike yourself, we've written a full guide over on the blog
it's got a map, a GPX download
and so on
for now we'll go over a few details
and talk a little bit about the places you saw in the film
If you want to check out that guide, just click the link up there
or it is in the description as well
The Truso Valley Hike is about 21 km long
and it takes around 6 to 8 hours to hike it
depending on your own hiking speed
personally, it took us about 8 hours
and the starting point for it is a little settlement called
Kvemo Okrokana, which is about 22 km by road
south of Kazbegi, which is also known as Stepantsminda
So, Kazbegi itself is really straightforward to get to
it's one of Georgia's most accessible mountain regions
and it's about 3.5 hours north of Tbilisi
So once you get to Kazbegi, the easiest way to get to the trailhead
is by taking a taxi
it's about 40 minutes in a taxi
and costs around 80 lari return
the drivers will usually just wait for you while you hike
There's also a shuttle bus that's run by a local travel agency called Mountain Freaks
they run it twice a day
it costs 30 lari return per person
they only operate it during the main tourist season though, which is
about spring to autumn, so they run April 15th to end of October
you can book that direct with them
If you're on a tight budget
you could always hitchhike or take a marshrutka to Kobi
which is the closest village on the Georgian Military Highway
and walk from there, but that would add an extra 8.5 km to your day
which makes it pretty long really
And that section as well is not very interesting and a bit of a slog
So the best way to get there I would say would just be to take a taxi
it's the quickest and easiest route
although not the cheapest, obviously
Once you're in the valley, just know that there aren't any facilities
there's no shops, there's no accommodation
or facilities like toilets and things like that
the only place that there is, is at a small camping settlement
called Camping Truso, or Truso Camping
they operate during the tourist season, they've got some small basic huts
and you can buy some food and so on there
but really, there's not a lot of facilities, so you need to come prepared for this hike
So, what is there to see in Truso Valley?
well the main things to see are of course, fabulous mountain scenery
you've got those colourful travertine formations that Kim loved so much
and that she talked about
there really are lots of weird and wonderful textures and colours
and patterns, it's great
Also, there's Zakagori Fortress, the old abandoned crumbling fortress
which sits at the end of the hike
and that's pretty spectacular too
Yeah, so that marks your turnaround point for most people
The hike itself we should say is pretty much just on dirt road
the whole way, it's pretty easy, it's mostly flat
apart from a few up and down sections at the canyon at the start
So, the first part of the hike takes about an hour
going through this really lovely, scenic canyon
with steep cliffs and really weird rock formations
and so on, so that part is really nice
then you'll cross a main car bridge, and after that
the views really open up
so you actually enter the Truso Valley
it becomes much wider, you'll probably see some cows grazing and so on
and that's where you get to your first mineral spring, which is the
charcoal, white coloured one
which is at the start of the valley
From this point you can take a little side trip, if you go across the bridge
at the bend of the river you can walk along to
Abano Mineral Spring
which you can see in the video, it's just across the river from where Kim was standing
and that's a really nice looking pool
we didn't go over there
apparently it's icy cold, so it might be a little bit too refreshing for a dip
but yeah it's a scenic little spot
If you go there though, you need to make a side trip
and come back and join the main road again
And after that, the next big sight is the
amazing red, orange coloured main travertine mineral spring
just before Ketrisi village
there's two pipes that are coming out
and the water gushes out from there
and because it's so full of, I think it's sulphur,
it's obviously stained the area around it
it's this really vivid red colour
and I absolutely loved it
and we spent, I dunno, an hour and a half there or something?
We spent a fair amount of time, who knows how long it was
But yeah, if you're not that into it, you can just go straight past
take a wee look and that's it
otherwise, take the wee trail down and go and check it out, it's beautiful
I really liked it there
And after that is the biggest settlement in the valley called Ketrisi
but even that is mostly abandoned
there's definitely one or two families living there
we saw some signs of life and people herding and so on
but yeah, it's mostly abandoned
And the next sight is? Well after that, we cross the river
on the main bridge
heading towards the settlement of Abano
and you go past the Fathers' Monastery on the right hand side
up on the hill
and then you come to the settlement of Abano
and the old Nuns' Monastery which is really cool there
Yeah, that's the most impressive one of the two I would say
and after that it's an easy stroll to get to the foot of
Zakagori Fortress, did I say that right? You did say it right.
At the bottom there is a border guards' post
and this is as far as you can go before you have to get a permit
to go any further, but you are allowed to hike up to the fortress itself
which is a short but very steep climb
and it's really cool up there, the views are amazing
and you're quite close to the Russian border, which is why you can't go any further
But yeah, it's an amazing spot and the point of turnaround for you to just retrace your steps, basically
Oh, and we also made sure to ask the border guards
before we flew the drone there as well
because we were close to the border area
we didn't want to cause an issue
and they were fine, they said as long as you don't film us, it's OK
Yeah, as long as we were only filming the fort, it was OK
So like we said, there's no facilities in Truso Valley
for buying food or drinks or anything like that
so make sure you've got a wee packed lunch with you
and stock up on some water to take with you
you can fill up while you're there, but as far as Abano
the water is all coming from mineral springs
so it can taste a bit 'eggy'
and it might not be your cup of tea
so you might just want to take enough to last you the day
And it's not very shaded in the valley
it's pretty exposed
and you're definitely gonna want some sun protection
a hat, sunglasses, sun cream and whatever
and also some all weather gear in case it rains
cause you never know what's gonna happen in the mountains
Yeah, I mean I actually burnt the back of my legs
behind my knees. Did you?
Yeah, do you not remember?
For the first time since I was a kid, basically
because normally my legs are totally fine
cause they're quite hairy
but out there the way the sun was coming all day
they got burnt, so worth remembering
So make sure you're prepurred, prepared for all
I sounded like, Cornish or something there, 'prepurred'
You've been doing that a lot lately
Make sure you're prepared for all weather eventualities, basically
Most people just do this hike as a day hike
a day trip from Kazbegi
but if you wanted to spend a bit longer in the valley
it's possible to camp there, you could take your own camping gear
or book a stay in one of the basic huts at Truso Camping
it's also a good idea if you were hitchhiking and walking in from the main road
cause then you don't have as much distance to cover in one day
There's also a few other multi-day hikes that are possible in the region
and one of those is the 3 day Kelitsadi Lake trek
which starts at the same point as the Truso Valley one
and ends at Ketrisi village, just after the big red travertine mineral spring
We will cover that hike in a future video
and tell you lots more about it there
but yeah, just so you know that that is an option as well
if you are looking for a challenging hike
and have your own camping gear to do your own trek there
If you don't fancy walking, there's always the possibility of doing a tour
many guesthouses and companies run them from Kazbegi
usually in a Mitsubishi Delica
which takes a number of people
and we saw a couple of them when we were there
they take you all the way to Zakagori Fortress
you can see all the main sights, and they take you back again
Another option that you could do
is hiring a mountain bike in Kazbegi and biking in the valley
which would be a really perfect way of seeing it
because, you know, it's mostly flat and you've got the track there
the only problem with that is, it's quite far
on the Georgian Military Highway between Kazbegi and Kobi
where you would turn off to go up to the valley
and that road is a really busy road
it's full of loads of trucks that are coming from the border with Russia
and it wouldn't be all that comfortable a ride I don't think, or necessarily a safe ride
Yeah, I mean it depends what you're used to, if you're used to biking on busy roads
then all good, but if not then not a good idea
Yeah, I wouldn't suggest it
But yeah, that's about it for tips for the hike
as we've said, for everything that you want to know
about doing this hike
including map downloads
and a breakdown of the distances
and the hiking times and so on
just check out the guide over on our website
and yeah, thanks for watching all this way
we hope you've enjoyed it, hope you've found it useful
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We've got LOADS more to share from the mountains of Georgia
This is only the beginning
It is, yeah
So thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time
See you next time, thanks a lot. Cheerio, b-bye