Surreal

We entered Georgia on Monday 29^th April at the town of Sarpi.  For passengers it was fine.  No problem.  We even had Duty Free in Euros.  For Simon driving our truck/bus it was grief.  The vehicle side of this border crossing seemed chaotic.  None of the border guards seemed to know what was required.  A truck driver tried to scam 50 Euro by saying it cost that to enter Georgia.  Simon had to go looking & found 1 boarder guard who offered to fill out the paperwork.  Other truck drivers wondered why there was no driver present & became very irate.  They took their anger out on a police officer who became stressed & punched Simon in the face when he returned!  Welcome to the none Western world.

 

 

On the bright side, the weather was hot at about 30⁰C which was lovely.  We drove along the Black Sea coast to the town of Batumi.  This place appeared run down with buildings dilapidating, many roads & pavements unsurfaced, hardly any road markings & hardly any driving rules.  Yet, a walk along the sea port revealed a surreal boulevard of palm trees, & brand new skyscrapers-one had a Ferris wheel in it.  The hotel had a roof top terrace with a good view of this odd skyline.

Our first night in Georgia was spent at a restaurant, decked out like a ship in the town’s main tourist park.  We had a Georgian feast.

Next day was a 6 hour drive to a bush camp at a town in the mountains called Mestia which was about 1600m high & very remote.  On the way I saw great views, hair-pin bends, over taking on the hair-pin bends, mountain passes, unsurfaced roads, rock falls, more derelict buildings, homes only just standing, water pipes serving homes not berried in the ground, cows, piglets, horses, donkeys & dogs freely wandering everywhere.  So much so, that the truck had to dodge many.  I discovered this was the norm & it will be.

On Wed 1^st May a few of us did a 5 hour hike to a glacier.  It was lovely especially as the weather was still about 30⁰C.  Next day some of us did a 4 wheel drive tour to a UNESCO world heritage site village.  Only 46km away, but took 3hours to drive due to only 1 mountain track.  It was like stepping back into Medieval Britain.  One big farm yard.  Mestia’s (& most of Georgia’s towns), shops are front rooms of people’s houses.  This village called Ushguli had 1 place which was the shop/bar/café/restaurant.  It was open, but only selling bread.  There was hardly anyone about.  We found a family offering to prepare us lunch.  This turned out to be a real experience in their front room.  We were given the Georgian staple of bread, cheesy bread, potato & veg soup, hard boiled eggs, cheese, salt & fried potatoes.  On getting back to Mestia we moved from bush camp to our 1^st homestay which was really like a youth hostel.

 

Next was a homestay in the city of Kutaisi.  On the way there I managed to sit on the roof seats of the truck-brilliant.

 

Sat 4^th May we went to the town of Gori which turned out to be the home town of Stalin.  Considering how Georgia has its independence from Russia & the fact Stalin sent over 40 million Russians to their deaths between 1932 & 1952, it was very weird to walk around a large museum all about him.  They were selling postcards in the shop & I nearly sent one home saying “hope you’re all OK”.  We got to look on his personal train carriage where I managed to get a photo on a loo inside.

 

Next day to the town of Kazbegi which again was more a village on the Russian border.  To get there, we had an incident with a sheep being herded & had to drive along a road called The Military Highway.  Hair-pin bends & unsurfaced.  Two of the group had seen this on a program called The World’s Deadliest roads!  Once in the village we did a near vertical hike to a Russian Orthodox Church at the top of the mountain.  Brilliant views.  However, the weather turned & it began raining later in the day.

 

After driving to the town of Telavi we were all looking forward to a wine tour.  First we had to attend a monastery that made its own wine.  None on offer, but a strict dress code to enter.  We got lost looking for the wine cellars we were required to attend.  In the end we stopped a man in a street & he took us to his.  It was very traditional for the region with wine stored in the floor – but not the best wine I’ve ever tasted.  They also made the Georgia version of Vodka called Cha Cha.  Revolting.  Next we had to attend “The Old Ladies house”. This was a dilapidated yard containing metal vats of wine covered with plastic.  Her wine turned out to be even worse.  Someone found maggots in the bottom of their sample glass of white!  And, the red wine was Stalin’s favourite.  During the tasting we discovered the old lady supplied Georgia Air.  I won’t be hurrying to buy a ticket any time soon.

 

Next day we decided to visit a decent wine cellar & checked out the Lonely Planet guide for help.  It came up trumps with cooking advice included.

 

Friday 10^th May was a drive to the Georgian capital Tbilisi.  I am proud to say I spent my first afternoon in this city looking for a laundrette.  Not that easy considering most people hand wash with clothes hanging everywhere in every street.  In the end we found  a back street place containing 1 woman & her 1 washing machine+1 dryer.

Sat was a walking tour of the city, ride on the funicular, sulphur bath, restaurant meal with champagne.  This place is cheap.  The sulphur bath was an experience.  I’m still not sure if the 3 of us were exfoliated of violated.  Still, I’ll do it again.  Managed to use a Soviet underground system on Sun 12^th May before leaving Tbilisi & crossing the border into Armenia.  Another duty free shop.  This time just a queue, no costs or punches.