heading to Georgia next month for about 3 weeks, mostly Tbilisi and Kazbegi, maybe renting a car if the weather looks ok. I’m not sure which travel insurance should I get and matters the most there, especially for mountain stuff or if plans change.

anyone who’s been recently, did you buy insurance before going or just rely on your normal coverage? 

Could someone who has recently travelled from Almaty to Tashkent by bus or train advise how long the queues at the border are at the moment?

Which is better to take? According to the schedule, the bus takes 12 hours and the train takes 17 hours. How realistic are these travel times when you take the border crossing into account?

Most organised tours go there from Tbilisi and return the same evening, but several blogs recommend spending the night instead.

Is there really enough to justify staying longer, or is the church and the mountain view pretty much the whole experience?

The plan is Baku → Gobustan → Lahij → Sheki → Quba → Khinalig.

We normally enjoy driving ourselves when travelling, but several people have warned us about local traffic and mountain roads.

Those who've done it—which option would you recommend?

Most itineraries seem to treat it as a quick stop before continuing into the mountains. Is there enough to justify spending the night, or should we simply continue straight to Khinalig?

To be honest, I'm not particularly interested in religious pilgrimage sites. I enjoy history and architecture, but I'm wondering whether Turkistan offers enough to justify travelling there, or whether I'd be better off spending another day in Almaty or heading straight to Shymkent.