Gveleti Waterfall

Kazbegi Hike: Gveleti Glacier Waterfall Didn't make it to Juta, so I did a last-minute search and found a waterfall route nearby. Turned out to be a good find, small but nice. Maybe ten-something minutes driving to the entrance, and there's a paid parking lot right there, 5 lari. The whole path is basically gravel washed out by rain, following the stream upstream. Snow mountain behind you, forest, flowing water, and some late-spring plum blossoms on the cliff in front of us. Right as we were heading up, clouds happened to cover the body of the mountain, so only the peak was floating up there in the air. No snow on the ground, occasionally stepped through some water, and the mist near the waterfall mixed with the wind and blew straight at you. Second hike in Kazbegi. Took a taxi from town, about 20 minutes to Gveleti village (got ripped off 100 lari here). Short route, not too hard, goes through a narrow steep green canyon looking for the big and small Gveleti Waterfalls. Compared to the big one, I liked the small waterfall more, since you can actually get close to it. On the way back we hit a massive jam in the tunnel — honestly an unforgettable part of the trip. AI said Gveleti Waterfall is a short easy hike, low difficulty, good for beginners. Sure, let's go, how tired could I get. Turns out — it might not have accounted for Asian body types. Thinking "we're just going for a casual walk today," charging bravely into a Caucasus valley. The biggest question the whole way: you call this a light hike? Didn't run into a single other tourist the entire way. Started wondering if we were the only ones the AI tricked into coming here. But to be fair, it really does have everything — the canyon, the stream, the waterfall, that whole Caucasus mountain feeling. Across the valley there was thick fog sitting over everything. The guide said it was a short route, but the last stretch is rock you need to climb with both hands and feet. Wouldn't recommend it if you're on the shorter side, it's a bit dangerous, especially coming back down. You really do get a feel for that narrow, steep rock path right along the edge of the canyon. And it turns out there are actually two waterfalls here, big and small. I only made it to the first one. The second one — whoever wants to go, go for it.