Georgia

Georgia takes you from the streets of Tbilisi to the raw Caucasus in a few hours. In Kazbegi (Stepantsminda), Mount Kazbek towers over the valley, with Gergeti church below it as if placed there for one photo. At the other extreme is Chiatura, a mining town squeezed into a valley, known for the cable cars that once carried miners to work. It still feels like a living piece of the Soviet era.