Kakheti, Georgia

Kakheti, Georgia travel highlights and the wine region of Georgia. Includes the village of Kisiskhevi, cave hikes, the Telavi market, churches, monasteries and the winery of Tsinandali. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.

Kisiskhevi Street Sign - Kisiskhevi, Georgia
Kisiskhevi, our home while in Kakheti. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Yellow Rose - Kakheti, Georgia
Kisiskhevi takes the prize for the largest and most beautiful roses around. Even the the simplest houses in the village had enviable rose gardens. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Clouds Lifting in Kakheti - Kakheti, Georgia
Views of the Caucasus Mountains from Kisiskhevi. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Ikalto Akademy - Kakheti, Georgia
Known in history as the place where the famous 12th century Georgian poet Rustiveli studied. Today, it is a pleasant church whose grounds are bathed in green and dotted with wildflowers. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Azerbaijani Market Vendors - Kakheti, Georgia
Two Azerbaijani vendors at the Telavi main market. Their kind, expressive faces couldn't help but draw us in. Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
Man on a Donkey Cart - Kakheti, Georgia
A man and his donkey cart make their way on the roads of Kakheti. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Pig Heads at Telavi Market - Kakheti, Georgia
Another shot in our series of pig heads at the market....this time from the market in Telavi, Georgia. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Telavi Church - Kakheti, Georgia
When we popped into this church in Telavi to look around, we witnessed several people stopping by on their way home from work to say a prayer or make an offering. Georgian churches have a peaceful, tolerant and welcoming feel...like they are open for everyone. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Group of Friends - Kakheti, Georgia
We caught a taxi from the Isani metro station in Tbilisi to Kisiskhevi in Kaheti and shared it with this Kurdish family from Telavi. When we stopped to get gas, everyone was told to exit the car (for our safety!!) and this family pulled out their camera to take photos of us, the curious Americans. We did the same. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Georgian Living Room - Kakheti, Georgia
The cozy living room of our friend's place in Kisiskhevi, Kakheti. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Lada Full of Tomatoes - Kakheti, Georgia
Trunks filled with vegetables at the Telavi main market in Kakheti. These tomatoes were so sweet you could eat them like fruit. As amazing as these are, we're told that they are nothing compared to the tomatoes that come in August/September. Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
Georgian Toast - Kakheti, Georgia
Dan and Shota toast each other after the requisite toasts to family, guests, departed loved ones, country, nature, women, children, etc., etc., etc. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Liquor Bottle - Kakheti, Georgia
Cha cha (a grappa-like firewater popular in Georgia) awaits, stowed in a recycled liquor bottle. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Dusk in Kakheti - Kisiskhevi, Georgia
Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Khinkali - Kakheti, Georgia
The result of Lali's lessons with us on how to fill, twist and tuck khinkali. After a few twists, some turns, a wing and a prayer, they are dropped into a pot of salted, boiling water in order to cook the meat inside. If assembled correctly, all the juices stay in the dumpling just long enough to dribble down someone's shirt on the first bite. The trick: eat khinkali with your hands, while keeping the hot juices inside the dumpling as you eat. Not to be missed when in Georgia. Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
Picnic with Friends - Kisiskhevi, Georgia
During the walk home on our first evening in Kisiskhevi, a group picnicking near a ruined church invited Dan for a few shots of the local crush. This was the start of our adventures with Shota (left) and Misha (right). The next day we joined them to explore caves, eat shashlik and drink some more wine. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Sleeping Cat - Kakheti, Georgia
Angelika takes a rest. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Kakheti Caves - Kakheti, Georgia
Lali and Shota explore the 8-9th century caves near Kisiskhevi. Women, children and old men would hide here when invaders made their way through. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Adventures in Kakheti, Georgia
Shota was light on his feet getting up to the caves, helping the rest of us climb up steep, brush-covered hills. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Georgian Friends on a Feast - Kakheti, Georgia
Shashlik, tomatoes, puri (flat Georgian bread), herbs and homemade wine are all spread out on the ground for a feast after the climb to the caves. A ruined 8-9th century church sits rubbled in the background. After the hike, Misha handed us each 2 candles to light in the church where an impromptu altar was set up. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
View of Telavi - Kakheti, Georgia
Telavi is the regional capital of Kakheti and is surrounded by vineyards, fields, and the Caucasus mountains in the distance. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Mushrooms at Telavi Market - Kakheti, Georgia
These jolly mushroom vendors at the Telavi market couldn't stop laughing after Audrey asked if she could take a photo. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Graffiti in Telavi - Kakheti, Georgia
This graffiti was found on one of the walls of the Telavi Hotel that now houses refugees from Abkhazia. Someone obviously has some artistic ambition, but most of what we saw at the hotel was pretty depressing - a crumbling hotel full of refugees who have no where to go and no where to work. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Georgian Vineyard - Kakheti, Georgia
Our friend Rob's place in Kakheti. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Fresh Herbs at Telavi Market - Kakheti, Georgia
One of the things we really love about Georgian cuisine is its use of fresh herbs, in cooking and also as palate cleansers. Flat parsley, purple basil, tarragon, cilantro, and dill figure prominently. Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.