Greetings from Tbilisi, capital of Georgia! The days have been rushing by so fast as we
zig-zag our way across Georgia, we can barely keep up. There’s so much to tell and lots of pictures
to share. Every day has seen a new
church on a hilltop somewhere, surrounded by spectacular scenery. Now to remember which one was which…
We awoke from our riverside fort bushcamp
after a restless night. Lightning that
had been flashing all around for hours during the evening eventually arrived
overhead and seemed to linger for hours.
Ground trembling thunder and the heaviest rain we had ever experienced
whilst under canvas. The lightning so frequent it made sleep virtually impossible. With just a few inches between you and the
elements you trust in your equipment to keep you warm and dry. There were a few soggy sleeping bags in the
morning but no harm done.
Onward to Kutaisi. Georgia’s second largest City and one of the
most ancient in the world. A quick
wander through the town we found ourselves in the local market and set about
bartering for vegetables. The stalls
bursting with fresh produce, we found some lovely new potatoes, herbs and shiny
aubergines. Shopping in local markets is
more challenging than in a supermarket where everything has a fixed price and the
scales electronic, but it is far more fun and the quality of the produce seems
to be better too. The row of gold
toothed women selling chickens, all proudly displayed with their bottoms in the
air (the chickens), were delighted to entertain us with chicken puppetry, but
we decided to go for some hand made sausages in the end. The pig’s head on a hook was not so appealing
either, the markets are not for the weak stomached.
|
Statues and water features in Kutaisi |
|
Chicken sellers, Kutaisi |
|
Rogs negotiating in the market, Kutaisi |
|
Buying sausages, Kutaisi |
We then headed up the hill to our home for
the night in a homestay/guesthouse. The
streets were narrow & pot holed and the telephone & electricity cables hung
precariously low but we eventually reached our home. Nothing too fancy from the exterior, the group
entered with some trepidation, only to find the most comfortable, smart and
clean rooms of the trip so far, all en suite with free wifi! Some ventured back into town whilst others
walked to a nearby park and enjoyed the funfair. We all gathered in the main dining room in
the evening for a huge Georgian feast.
Georgia; the land of the expanding waistline.
|
Calypso outside the homestay |
|
Gareth & Rogs on the bumper cars, Kutaisi |
|
Hels and a supersize poker machine! |
|
One careful lady owner? Would you trust this used car salesman? |
The next day we stopped in Gori and had a tour
of the Stalin Museum, situated there because Stalin was Georgian and Gori was
his birthplace and where he went to school.
An interesting tour from a suitably stern guide, who showed us the one
room house that Stalin and his parents rented and lived in for the first 4
years of his life, followed by a tour of his private train carriage complete with
bath tub and early air conditioning system.
Betsy managed to find us there after flying into Tbilisi in the early
hours of the morning so the group was now complete once again. She returned armed with goodies from Canada,
maple syrup, a huge block of parmesan cheese and various other essentials,
including plastic wine glasses with screw together stem and bowl, absolute
essential for the discerning overlander.
|
Lunch stop, enroute to Gori |
|
Stalin Museum, Gori |
|
Rogs, in bed with Stalin |
|
Gori's most famous son |
Our bush camp for the evening was alongside
a cave city, Uplistsikhe, dating from the Iron Age. It was worth the couple of Lari to wander
round, explore the caves and watch the sun set from the high rocky bank
overlooking the Mtkvari River. It had a
similar feel to the caves in Goreme, Turkey but without the hordes of
tourists. Rogs and his team of cooks knocked
up a delicious vegetarian moussaka for supper in the potjie (an Afrikaans word, pronounced something like
poyke) pot, topped off with
Betsy’s parmesan, a real treat.
|
Betsy's back with the parmesan! |
|
Laura, Uplistsikhe caves |
|
Jeff, Jim, Ryan, Jody & Gareth relaxing in camp |
|
Uplistsickhe lizard meets Mikkel's gecko |
|
Mikkel watching over the potjie pot |
|
Steep cave steps |
|
Entrance to the caves |
|
View from the top, Uplistsickhe |
|
Gareth & Di loading the potjie pot |
|
Pig wearing an anti-fence device |
Off again the next day and up into the
hills & mountains, through tunnels and over piles of snow on the
spectacular Georgian Military Highway towards the Russian border. A relaxed days drive with plenty of stops at
view points along the way as the scenery got more and more stunning the higher
we went. We climbed the tower of the Ananuri
Church and castle complex and got snap happy with another group photo at a
stunning (wow, wow, wow, here we go again) mosaic structure, built on a rocky
outcrop with snowcapped mountains all around.
The monument was built in 1983 to celebrate 200 years of friendship
between Russia & Georgia and depicted scenes from both nations
histories. Calypso stood proudly in the
centre and posed happily for photos, luckily the monument didn’t collapse under
her weight. We then passed the popular
local ski resort of Gudauri, ever thought about skiing in Georgia? Whilst some apartment blocks and chalets
looked left to ruin, others were being built and looked very flash. Sadly the season ended in April so we
couldn’t get any runs in, even though skis were still for hire outside one
shop.
We arrived at our bush camp for the next
couple of nights, along side a river across from the small town of Kazbegi,
just a few kilometers from Russia.
Whilst setting up camp a kind local offered some advice that we move our
tents a little further along the way as if it rains heavily water can rush down
the ravine and we may all find ourselves floating down river in our tents. Another visit from some locals in the evening
whilst we sat eating dinner, this time the police, with a warning about
wolves! After dark they suggested we
didn’t wander off too far alone as there were wolves in the area. Well we all survived the night, not a wolf in
sight, and gathered together snacks, sunhats and water for a morning hike up
the hill towards Mount Kazbek, an extinct volcano 5,033m high. We were to climb as far as the 14th
Century Tsminda Sameba, or Gergeti Trinity Church that sits at 2,170m, except
of course mountain goat Mikkel who ventured further up to reach the
glacier. A challenging hike made all the
more interesting by getting lost along the way.
Eventually all finding different routes up via ravines and across snow lines,
spying the church at the top filled us with renewed energy for the last few
hundred metres. Once there we donned
scarfs and skirts to see inside the beautiful little church. If you happen to see a copy of the Georgia,
Armenia & Azerbaijan Lonely Planet it is the Gergeti Trinity Church that
graces the cover. Its isolated location on top of a
steep mountain surrounded by the vastness of nature has made it a symbol for
Georgia. Back down the hill again by
various routes, a relaxed afternoon was spent at camp or in town. Some natural bubbling mineral springs a few
hundred metres away helped a few of the group to cool off and freshen up after
a good hike.
|
Roadblock enroute to Kazbeki |
|
Rowan |
|
Tunnels enroute to Kazbeki |
|
Mosaic monument |
|
Laura's new hairdo? |
|
And one for Rogs too? |
|
Kazbeki bushcamp |
|
Chris the mountain man |
|
Cindy reaches the snow |
|
Look how much weight we've lost! Hels, Di and Jody |
|
Rogs, Hels, Di and Jody with skirts on for the church |
|
Inside the Tsminda Sameba church |
|
Mountain man Ryan |
|
Tsminda Sameba Church |
|
Spot the camp in amongst the cows |
|
Plenty of space for throwing a frisbee - Rowan, Betsy & Jody |
The next
morning we headed back down the mountain for the capital, Tbilisi. Stopping for lunch in Georgia’s old capital
Mtskheta and a quick tour of the 11th Century Svetitskhoveli
Cathedral, which still plays an important part in the Georgian Orthodox Church
and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We are now
enjoying a couple of nights in Tbilisi in the comfort of a hotel before heading
off into the wilderness of Armenia for the next stage of the adventure.
Great update ...thanks ! Beats sitting here in an office looking at a cold grey sky, wondering whether you will have a Europe to come back to !
ReplyDelete