Trip to Udabno

Since I want to visit the famous monastery David Gareja, I book for 3 nights a guesthouse in Udabno, the village which is very close by.

"Udabno" means "desert", because the small village lies in the desert Gareja, near the border to Azerbaijan. Although the desert may be a little exaggerated, as it is more like a "steppe".

In February it is of course still quite cold there, which I quickly get to feel on my motorcycle. In addition there is fog, which gets denser and denser the closer I get to Udabno.

The fog freezes as hoarfrost on the trees and the longer grasses, creating an almost surreal landscape - which has its own special charm.

When I arrive at the guesthouse, I notice that my booked room has only a tiny electric fan heater instead of a real heater. It seems to me that it will be quite cold here at night.

Since it's not very late yet, I decide to go for a little excursion. I walk out of the village in the direction of a chapel that I discovered on my map app.

I notice that practically not a single road in Udabno is paved, instead only consists of dirt roads. As I walk through the village, cows constantly come towards me or wait in front of their stables to be let in. There is nobody to be seen leading the cows. As I had already seen in other places, the cows seem to find their way home on their own, which always amazes me.

The small chapel, which lies a little outside on a small hill, is unfortunately closed.

Right next to it, in a small hollow, I discover a ruined building that probably once housed agricultural equipment. And between the chapel and the building there is a little toilet house that seems to be as out of place as it could be.

A little higher up is a small lake that probably serves as a water reservoir for the village.

When I climb up to the highest peak behind it, I surprisingly find something like a letterbox there - in the middle of nowhere.

I find this whole area so bizarre and morbidly beautiful that I decide to come here for a trip after sunset, for a few night shots.