Life Travel Checklist: Independent Small Towns from the Former Soviet Union

Kazbek town is world-famous for the Orthodox monk Saint Stephen once established a monastery here. By the 19th century, a very famous writer, Alexander Kazbegi, emerged here. In memory of this celebrity, both the mountain and the town were renamed Kazbegi, but the road signs are still Stepantsminda. Do you see the church on the distant mountain? It is shrouded in a layer of light smoke, just as Pushkin's poem says, 'Like an ark floating in the sky, it appears and disappears in the rolling mountains.' The perennial snow and the Kazbek peak that appears and disappears in the sea of clouds give the picture a sense of seclusion from the world. The Holy Trinity Church at an altitude of 2200 meters on Mount Kazbek is said to be the closest place to heaven. It is secluded, independent, and has an attitude of looking down on everything and being indifferent to the world. Mount Kazbek has a landmark building because of it, and it also has a sense of mystery in the legend because of Mount Kazbek, the place where Prometheus was imprisoned by Zeus after stealing the sacred fire. The unified price for finding a charter car in the town to go up the mountain to the church is 50 lari. This price is indeed high, but because the snowy mountain road is difficult to walk, so this price does not bargain. In fact, you can also hike up, it is said that the total time is about 2 hours, the scenery along the way is good so you won't feel too tired. But it is more suitable for spring, summer and autumn, winter hiking is not recommended, some sections of the road surface are icy, difficult to walk and dangerous.