Where we live

The town Kazbegi, or Stephensminda how it is actually called, is situated at 1700 m above sea level and is the heart of the Kazbegi district in the north of Georgia that covers 1081sq km of the Caucaus region. The biggest road, the military highway cuts through it and is the lifeline of the region, the passage through the Caucasus and also the connection with Russia. In Kazbegi live about 1500 people and 3400 in the whole district. Mount Kazbeg, a 5030 something meter high distinct volcano is clearly visible from the town and is just an amazing sight. There are borders with Russia in the north- closed since last year and at the moment out of reach because the rain took away the road, North Ossetia and Chechnya.


The Tereck river took over the Military Highway, about 12 km north of Kazbegi.

We found a really nice and friendly place to live. Our hosts are Minoni and Datuna. They have three kids, the youngest at home at the moment. Minoni works at the municipality and established the first contact when our project was born last year between a Glen member and the officials here. They are almost self-sufficient - like most people here due to the high unemployment rate, low wages and relatively high food prices. They have three cows, who are in the high pastures in the mountains at moment, a big pig and 6 little one who roam the streets of Kazbegi, bees, a huge garden, a cat and a little dog “Sharik” who is already our best friend. We have two rooms, a kitchen and a veranda where we spend most of our time and a balcony with an impressive mountain panorama on all sites. Most of the time there is power, sometimes there is none. Most of the time there is water and sometimes there is none. After a week we managed to get gas for cooking. Nothing to worry about…


Mt. Kazbeg on our first evening, picture taken from the balcony


The Churo Mountain range (up to 4000 m high) at the other side of the house, just after a little shower.


The view south. Little villages along the military highway.