Vardzia and Georgia's Lake District by Expedition Camper

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Күн бұрын

➤ GEORGIA ROAD TRIP ITINERARIES
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Welcome to The Beast! Not its official name, but it's what we liked to call it. This Toyota HiLux Expedition Camper was our home for 3 weeks in May, allowing us to get off-road and explore some remote parts of Georgia, as well as a few better known spots. This is Part One of our journey.
We kicked off our road trip at Paravani Lake, one of our favourite places in Georgia. Sitting at 2073 metres, on the Javakheti volcanic plateau, it's a bit chilly up here in Spring. So, after saying hello to a few pelicans and buying ALL the cheese at Poka Nunnery we headed south to warmer climes.
The drive to Vardzia was a real surprise, a stunning gorge with ruined clifftop forts. We camped in a field below Vardzia, looking up at the expansive 11th-13th century monastic cave complex. The following day we explored the complex with a guide, seeing the beautiful frescoes in the church, winding through tunnels, listening to the sparrows, and admiring the views.
After a couple of nights at Vardzia, we wanted to cross the Goderdzi Pass into Upper Adjara, but we were told the road was still closed after winter. So, we headed north instead to Tabatskuri Lake, another of Georgia's biggest lakes. We headed properly off-road for the first time on this trip, winding our way up to Tskhratskaro (Nine Springs) Pass at 2454 m, with amazing views over the Abul-Samsari Range. After showing our passports and passing through a police checkpoint we descended to the lake, an incredible sight. The village of Tabatskuri juts out into lake, volcanic peaks rising up behind to create a beautiful scene. The area is only accessible by 4x4 roads and feels really hidden away in the mountains.
We found the perfect wild camp spot by the lake and settled down for an evening enjoying great Georgian amber wine and artisinal cheeses. We loved this area so much we decided to stay another day, catching up on some laundry, testing out the camp shower, and chilling.
For detailed (off) road trip Georgia itineraries and route maps, check out our blog (linked at the top).
Happy Travels!
Kim and Del Hogg
www.goingthewholehogg.com
Instagram + Facebook | @goingthewholehogg
➤ FILM CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:43 Paravani Lake
03:42 Poka Nunnery
04:53 Khanchali Lake
05:39 Vardzia
12:45 Khertvisi Fortress
13:38 Off-Roading to Tabatskuri
14:45 Tabatskuri Lake
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PART TWO
• Overlanding Georgia in...
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Пікірлер: 65

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Part One of our Georgia Expedition Camper series! This beautiful beast was our home for 3 weeks, taking us to remote parts of Georgia, as well as a few better known spots like the UNESCO cave complex of Vardzia. We hope you enjoy exploring with us! Check out our Georgia road trip itineraries to plan your own adventure www.goingthewholehogg.com/destinations/caucasus/georgia/road-trip-itineraries/ Cheers! Kim and Del

@prometheus5770 2 жыл бұрын

A hugely underrated channel

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the support!

@nigg2811 2 жыл бұрын

A camper van trip? I was preparing not to like this! But your magic touch is here too... really felt like I was there with you. I sat throughout with a happy smile on my face. Delightful!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Very glad to hear it! Yeah, it's a different style of travel from the multi-day hikes, but I'm glad you still felt like you were on the journey with us : ) Thanks for watching and appreciating! Kim

@giorgiabramia2589 2 күн бұрын

Vardzia during its prime days was something like Tolkeins Minas Tirith

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 күн бұрын

It must have been 🤩

@stgiero 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! Waiting next part,

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Igor! Glad you enjoyed it 😃

@OlgierdTybinkowski 2 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad I discovered on your channel a year ago. Cheers from Poland.🖤

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

We're glad you discovered us too! Thanks for watching and following along on our journeys : )

@velocityphotography6758 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic film about a place I've never considered a travel destination!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Georgia has so much to see and do - hiking, off-roading, camping, winter sports, the list goes on! Enough to keep us busy here for the last couple of years ; )

@hedgerowsandzeros 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent stuff. Huge landscapes 😍

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers! Yeah, those landscapes up around the lakes blow me away. Then an hour or so later you're in a rocky gorge surrounded by green, caves, and medieval fortresses, Georgia knows how to put on a show!

@una6293 2 жыл бұрын

Loved this video, the scenery is jaw dropping, thank you so much for taking lots of time in different places so we could really see how beautiful the places are.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Una! Glad you enjoyed it, and we're more than happy to go at a bit of a slower pace to really enjoy the places along the way.

@ninoaronia2580 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for visiting Georgia 🇬🇪 and for this video ❤️🥂

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@Sarehole 2 жыл бұрын

Class as per usual!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers!

@MerjiKei 2 жыл бұрын

Yay, another series! Very well-made at that. Just wanted to say I greatly enjoyed your hiking series and it really helped in picking spots for future camping trips. If I may, I'd also like to suggest showing camping spots or some routes you took on a map, even if for just a second - I absolutely enjoyed the navigation part in your prior videos :) Anyway, thanks for more cool content, looking forward to your next upload. Madloba da tsarmatebebi!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Giorgi! Very glad to hear the hiking films have been useful 😃 We will be publishing detailed road trip itineraries for the places visited on this trip over on our blog, with downloadable route maps and all our suggested camp spots, hope these will be helpful too! You can check www.goingthewholehogg.com/destinations/caucasus/georgia/road-trip-itineraries/ for our latest posts! Thanks for watching and appreciating our work. Cheers! Kim

@MerjiKei 2 жыл бұрын

@@GoingTheWholeHogg Thank you for the reply, I will most definitely check those out! You have to this date the most detailed, in-depth guides to the places you've covered in georgia, which is most certainly hugely appreciated. I will without a doubt be recommending you guys' channel to anyone visiting our little country as well as locals going hiking :) wish you all the best

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

@@MerjiKei fantastic, much appreciated! 😊

@joeeshwar8578 2 жыл бұрын

You guys are good. Your storytelling is original. Soon your videos will hit millions- it is only a matter of time. Meanwhile here is a line from Faraduddin Attar- Don't presume the road is short! Many oceans and deserts lie between the beloved and us. Only the brave can be Wayfarers of the Path, for the journey is long and the waters are deep. Hoping to meet you on the road folks. Stay blessed.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Beautiful! And thank you, we hope to share our stories with more and more people too. All the best! Kim

@elenamountains 2 жыл бұрын

Your videos are absolutely incredible! Thank you!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Elena! Happy to hear you're enjoying them and we appreciate the support : )

@G4RY1159 2 жыл бұрын

Incredible locations and appeared extremely calm most times, the beast looks like a version of a swiss army knife lol. The big dog was very polite sitting wagging it's tail and sitting nice hoping for a treat, Kylo ''the coolest dog on the planet'' would love all around those areas but then would get very disappointed when he realised the chance of a 99 cone from a passing ice cream van is extremely unlikely. Loving the fitting music too. Thanks again for all the time and passion / dedication that goes into making these uploads in such remote parts of our planet. Thank you both.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Ha, a great description of The Beast! Took us a couple of days just to figure it all out! That was a very friendly dog, extremely polite but apparently not interested in our carrots, maybe he was holding out for that non-existent 99 cone. We were lucky to have a lot of the music written especially for us by Mark at Box of Music after he watched our previous videos and enjoyed them so much. Cheers for watching, Gary! Part three coming next weekend : ) Have a great week, Kim

@Curlew-Corner 2 жыл бұрын

What an amazing trip. Thank you for sharing.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it : )

@travellingwithcrowsfeet 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic vlog, thank you for making it! We have not put Georgia on our Must See list, and you madecthat easier with all of your suggested itineraries, very much appreciated.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks guys, glad to hear it! Georgia is great for a road trip, especially to the more remote spots not easily accessible by public transport or paved roads. Happy to know the itineraries have helped! More still on the way...

@travellingwithcrowsfeet 2 жыл бұрын

@@GoingTheWholeHogg yay, we will certainly look out for them!

@duskymoonuk 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent 😎

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Glad to finally be using the tunes! 😁

@duskymoonuk 2 жыл бұрын

@@GoingTheWholeHogg they sound ace with your amazing filming, it's like watching a mini movie 🎬 😀

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

@@duskymoonuk Yeah, loved how they turned out! Thank you : )))

@snowdronia4420 2 жыл бұрын

Your videos are so relaxing and well edited! Inspirational holiday destinations too

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Glad you enjoy them, and happy to share a bit of Georgia with you!

@dlwilliamson5644 2 жыл бұрын

please look at the racing the planet videos if you like this one. Awe-inspiring.

@snowdronia4420 2 жыл бұрын

@@dlwilliamson5644 Thanks, do you have a link?

@MylesVivid 2 жыл бұрын

Love it - another great video!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Myles!

@richarddickson3211 2 жыл бұрын

Wow. That video deserves an award. What an extraordinary monastery, carved out of rock. How old was it?

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Richard! Very high praise : ) Yeah, it's very impressive. Dates from the 11th-13th century, and used to be much bigger but an earthquake destroyed a huge chunk of the cliff, so the exposed chambers these days were the inner chambers of the past. Fascinating place to visit!

@FlyingScot 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing video once again. Need to visit Georgia! What was more amazing though was reading your blog and your history in the menu About. What an unbelievable amount of traveling you have done in your lifetime already. Amazing. We Glaswegians certainly have a taste for adventure! If anybody who watches this channel hasn't read their story of how they got here go to the blog and read it... NOW! You will be in awe!

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers, Iain! Glad you enjoyed the video, and even more glad you enjoyed reading our back story! Travel is the itch that is always there for us in some form or another, and we plan on scratching it for as long as possible! Cheers, Kim

@charlottevp2927 Жыл бұрын

Amazing video!! I am happy I discovered your channel. Is it allowed to wild camp everywhere? We were planning on hiring a normal car from Batoemi to Tbilisi and visit some lakes on the road and camp near to the car. Is that possible? Keep up the video’s! 🤗

@GoingTheWholeHogg Жыл бұрын

Hi Charlotte, thanks very much! Yes, it’s no problem, as long as you’re not on obviously private land or too close to people’s property (in reality nobody really bothers). Good luck 🤞

@nicholaskilasonia8866 2 жыл бұрын

Welcome back, dear folks! good job as usual. Enjoyed traveling with you very much, and I mean that, traveling with you, since I've got that exact feeling. Don't take me wrong, I like your work so much, but just can't guess what special you are doing for that presence effect. At the first sight you're doing nothing special, but how on earth do you reach it? is that clothesline rope or green beans, anything else?

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Nicholas, we love hearing that you feel immersed in the journey with us, as that's exactly the feeling that we try to create. We use a microphone on top of our camera to record the best audio we can, and always use the natural audio sounds from that place in the video. I think this is really important for the viewer to get a sense of being in that place. We don't like to talk to the camera too much either, preferring to just show you what we are seeing and doing as if you are a third person there, rather than explaining it to you. We do all the explaining in our accompanying travel guides and itineraries over on the blog for those who want to go and do this themselves and need extra information. Haha, the travel clothesline is something we bought years ago, definitely not green beans! Thank you again for watching and appreciating our work, it means a lot to us! Cheers, Kim

@whatsnottohike 2 жыл бұрын

I wish I was rich enough to do this. Looks like an amazing trip.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

It was quite the adventure!

@SIMPLYSUZAL 2 жыл бұрын

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

@GoingTheWholeHogg 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@jozsefvarju9501 10 ай бұрын

Sziasztok, én egy Magyar ember vagyok és Angliában élek. Nézem a videókat, és azt kérdezem, hogy a Buhankát mért cseréltétek le egy másik autóra? Az Orosz terepjáróval túl sok volt a baj, vagy csak kinőttétek??? Üdvözöllek, József.

@GoingTheWholeHogg 10 ай бұрын

Hi József, actually, both vehicles belong to a rental company in Tbilisi called Overlando. We loved both in their own way 😃