Birkiani is the uppermost of the three main Kist villages of Pankisi, set against the slopes where the gorge begins to narrow toward the high mountains. It is the smallest and most rural of the three, with a single mosque, a school, and a scatter of farmhouses. There are no formal guesthouses here as a rule, but day visitors are welcome and the village is a natural turn-around point for a walk up the valley from Duisi.
Above Birkiani the road becomes a track that climbs into the foothills and eventually links — for foot and horse travel only — to the high Atsunta Pass route into Tusheti. Even a short walk up the track gives a fine view back down the gorge and across to the church ruins on the eastern slope.