The cave city of Vardzia on the rocks of Vardzia

Vardzia is both enchanting and shocking. The original Vardzia was almost completely hidden within the rocks, a cave city connected by internal passages. A strong earthquake in the 13th century caused the mountain to fracture, and the external rock layer fell off, so the Vardzia we see now appears to be carved along the mountain. ✏ The tour of Vardzia is a one-way route, and my own favorite part is walking out of the tunnel behind the monastery to reach a higher level of the mountain, where the sudden expanse of the view brings a strong visual impact. The monastery is the most important part to visit, inside there are murals depicting Queen Tamar, who is also featured on the Georgian fifty lari banknote. 💰 The entrance fee is 15 lari, and the shuttle minibus is 2 lari (a short serpentine mountain road, it's fine to walk if you're not in a hurry) 🚗 Transportation, there are minibuses to and from Vardzia from Akhaltsikhe. I took the one that left at 12 o'clock and arrived at the scenic area at 1:30 pm, with the last bus back at 3 pm. The one-way fare is 8 lari.