17th September 2023
Dear All,
Georgia
was an exciting adventure and probably not for the faint hearted, I say this
because of the travel and energy needed to explore it properly. Travelling
involved a change in Istanbul as there are currently no direct flights and we
both arrived and departed in the middle of the night. Coming back yesterday we
left at 1.30 am their time, took a taxi to Tbilisi airport, a 2-hour flight to
Turkey, a 4-hour flight to Stanstead where the Cambridge train was replaced by
a bus service, caught the guided bus to Swavesey and walked with our luggage up
the hill to Over – 15 hours from door to door. Exploring involved a deal of
walking as we had foot tours of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi as well as three
decent hikes in the high Caucasus mountains. Nevertheless, it was very
enjoyable, probably increased by the fact that we had not had a holiday abroad
since before Covid.
We
travelled with Intrepid who use local transport and try and support social
enterprises in the countries they visit. We had an excellent guide in Ani and a
group of just 9: 5 Brits, 2 Canadians and 2 Germans all of whom were good
company and added to the enjoyment of the holiday.
Tbilisi
is an attractive capital with a mixture of architecture as it has changed hands
several times in history. We arrived a day early and explored by ourselves on
the first day taking in the Opera House, river, the theatre, blue monastery and
the National Gallery. The following day we had a guided tour including Freedom
Square, the old city walls, the Puppet theatre, President’s palace, new bridge,
castle and hot sulphur springs. After we visited the Botanic gardens on our own
and climbed to the top of the cable car with expansive views of the city and
took in the National Museum.
There
was plenty of evidence of anti-Russian feeling with slogans daubed on many
buildings.
Opera House
Evidence that Ben
passed this way?
View from top of
the Cable car with new bridge
Theatre
Next
day – Friday we were up early to catch the train to Kutaisi, once the capital
and Mafia centre of Georgia. The train was rather ancient and there was no
platform at Kutaisi which meant scrambling across the railway lines when we
alighted. We had a traditional lunch of Khinkali dumplings then a tour round
the market, fountains, historic wall and cathedral.
Khinkali dumplings
Market
Historic Wall
The Bagrat
Cathedral
On
Saturday we were up early for a 7-hour minibus ride up into the Caucasus Mountains.
It was an interesting ride of hair pin bends and sheer drops at one stage interrupted
by an horrendous downpour. Our destination was Mestia a village at 4,500ft so
higher than Ben Nevis. It was surrounded by snow covered mountains and home of
the Svan people who have the reputation of proud independence and toughness who
used to rob visitors but now act as guides!
The
next day we were driven to the next village of Lakiri and left for a
spectacular walk back to Mestia through Alpine meadows surrounded by snowcapped
mountains – a great experience. We spotted an eagle and numerous swallows.
After lunch we walked to the cable car and it took us up to the snow line for
more mountain views, A feature of the Svan villages are Tower Houses built 3
stories high in the Middle Ages for defence against neighbouring tribes. In the
evening we were given a cheese making demonstration and we all had a go.
Near Lakiri
Hilary &
Tenzing
High Caucasus
Mountains
Mestia Tower
Houses
Caucasus from the
top of the Cable Car
The
following day we were driven to an even more remote village called Ushguli –
another interesting drive with serious drops and gullies. This has claims for
being the highest permanently inhabited settlement in Europe at 6,600 ft. It is
stunningly beautiful with small clusters of ancient tower houses huddled
together in alpine meadows. Cows and pigs wander down the streets over looked
by the highest peak in the country. Our first hike was the steep assent to
Queen Tamar’s tower which made me puff! Then down to an ancient church called
Lamaria built in the 9th century. On the way we were introduced to a
giant Caucasus Mountain sheep dog which was about the size of a bear and
witnessed a spectacular dog fight between two very large specimens. Dogs are
everywhere in Georgia and in the cities feral dogs are injected and ear tagged,
The
next day – Tuesday we did a long hike up the Shkhara valley to the Shkhara
glacier, 20 Km in all. The flattish section up the river valley was OK but the
last couple of miles were uphill over some rock so not easy going. In the
evening we returned to Mestia.
Ascent to Queen
Tamar’s Tower
Ushguli
Caucasus Mountain
Sheepdog
Shkhara Valley
Rocky approach to
Glacier
Shkhara Glacier
From
Mestia it was a 6-hour minibus journey to the Black Sea resort of Batumi. This
was an old trading colony but when the Russians arrived it underwent rapid
development as it had a natural deep harbour. Since 2009 it has undergone another building boom turning Batumi into the Las Vagas of the Black Sea. The
architecture is glitzy bordering on kitsch especially along the sea front. We
had a free afternoon when we arrived and after a beer on the beach walked the
length of the Boulevard to the harbour. It actually has some excellent parks
and fountains in amidst the new buildings. We were given a guided tour next
morning then had a free afternoon which spent exploring the vast Botanic
gardens which were more like an arboretum set on a steep hillside.
Marriott Hotel
Palm Tree
The Alphabet Tower
Black Sea Beach
The Alliance
Palace
Batumi Botanic
Gardens
We
returned to Tbilisi on Friday on a much smarter train and had an end of holiday
meal in a modern Georgian restaurant with no paper menus – everything read off
of a QR code square by your mobile phone – us oldies will starve before long!
All
in all, a very interesting country and an excellent holiday. I actually took
537 photos but have whittled then down to a mere 340 soon to be available on
application!
Love
Mike
& Kate
