2024 Georgia

 

Kvetera fortress church

Sitting inside the Kvetera fortress church.  What an astonishing masterpiece.  Its form, with the four main apses linked by smaller infills.  The shocking blue of the tiled roof.  And inside, the porous, almost edible stone makes the whole surface alive.  

The stone of Kvetera fortress church

The columns have wonderful capitals – with square elements in the upper corners, and semicircles in the lower parts.  Amazingly original, you wonder what the architect/stonemason was thinking when they came up with it…

Inside Kvetera fortress church

A recent trip to Georgia, mostly spent in the wine-making region of Kakheti.  Surrounded by the Caucasus, and bordered by Chechnya and Dagestan, it is home to some amazing churches and much more. With photos...

2024 Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Thanks to the driver, we reach the pass at 3,400 metres - very cold, but we did arrive.  The view on the other side just staggering - the mountains behind Bishkek, seen from the south.  To the west, Kyzart.  Then a deep rut in the mud caused us to skid, with the car at an angle to the road, and tipping upwards at what seems 45 degrees, wheels spinning hopelessly.  We had to gather from the surrounding fields suitably big but flat stones and put them under the wheel to provide some grip.  Got out finally, but road still really bad… 

This year's big trip was to Kyrgyzstan, via Almaty in Kazakhstan.  Wonderful unspoilt landscapes, including the huge and improbable Issyk-Kul Lake, looking like a pale blue sea ringed by snow-capped mountains, on one side of which lay China's Xinjiang...