Georgia
April 2019
Our first big trip together. After Freddy had seen a documentary about Georgia and had also convinced Marco that it was worth a trip, we took the plane from Düsseldorf to Kutaisi. After a few days in Kutaisi, we took a bus to Borjomi and then on to the capital Tiblisi. From there we drove further east to Lagodechi. Via Tiblisi we then went to Uplisziche and Gori. There we boarded the train and returned to Kutaisi. We had 3 days left and decided to travel to the Caucasus. We chose Ghebi as our last destination before our return journey.
Kutaissi and surroundings
After a 4-hour flight, we finally land in the second largest city in Georgia, Kuatisi. We took a taxi into the city centre and from the train station we looked for our hostel for the first few nights.
What a coincidence, the hostel is run by two Italians. We immediately felt at home with them. We spent the next few days exploring Kutaisi and the surrounding area. From the Bagrati church we had a great view over the river and the city. We both loved the market. Fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, flour, cheese, spices… in huge quantities. We could have done a lot of shopping there.
A day trip took us to Katskhi Pillar and the nearby mining town of Chiatura. There is a small house on Katskhi Pillar, which belongs to a monastery. Only men are allowed to climb up there and you have to be invited.
Chiatura is still known for its underground manganese ore mining. There used to be 26 passenger cableways and over 50 material cableways. They connected the residential areas on the steep valley slopes with the valley. Today, 11 passenger cableways are still in operation, although a few of them are in urgent need of renewal. It’s hard to believe, but both cable cars in the photos are still working. The blue cable car is operated by an old lady. Marco was keen to try out the cable car. Freddy was a bit scared riding the gondola and was very happy when we arrived back in the valley.
Borjomi
From Kutaisi we travelled by marshrutka (minibus) to Borjomi. The town is well known for its thermal springs and attracts mainly Russian tourists. We had taken …. with us from the hostel. As we arrived around midday, we thought we could go for a quick hike. Unfortunately, it turned out to be quite a long hike, but it took us through a beautiful, lonely mountain landscape. Completely famished, we found a small restaurant in Borjomi, where we felt like we were in a family’s living room. Maybe it really was like that. The food tasted particularly good after the hike.
On the second day we went for a 3-hour trail ride in the mountains. Freddy really enjoyed finally being out on a horse again. Marco, who had previously only travelled on horseback in Mongolia, also enjoyed riding.
Tiblissi
After the days in Borjomi, it was time to set off again. We travelled by marshrutka to the capital Tiblisi. We explored the old town with its ancient sulphur baths, the ruins of the Nariqala fortress and the main street with its noble old houses. There you will find the parliament, the theatre and various museums. We also went for a walk through Rike Park and to the largest cathedral in Georgia, the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The church is the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox Church and therefore also the seat of the patriarch. Inside, it is a typical Orthodox church.
We took the funicular railway up to the Mtatsminda leisure park. From there we enjoyed the view of the city and the statue of Nino, the guardian of the city.
Lagodechi
We actually wanted to travel from Tiblisi to Stepandsminda. Unfortunately, the road to Stepandsminda had been closed due to snow, so this stop was cancelled. So we spontaneously decided to drive to Lagodechi. There is also a national park there with hiking opportunities. One advantage is that the mountains there are not so high and we hoped that there would be no snow. We travelled by marshrutka through the beautiful wine region of Kakheti almost to the border with Azerbaijan.
We enquired at the national park administration about the two-day hike. On the day we arrived, the first hiker of the season set off for the hut. They estimated that there was still some snow up near the hut.
In the evening, we wanted to buy some food for the next two days. We hadn’t gone two steps when someone approached us from his garden. It was Johnny, who was having a BBQ with friends. He spontaneously invited us along. John spoke quite good English, his friends only spoke Georgian. So we had a proper Georgian dinner with lots of wine from 10-litre canisters. It felt like every sip of wine was preceded by a toast to which we stood up.
Dinner at Johnnys
Our two faithful companions
Off we go up to the hut. Let’s see what awaits us there.
Finally done! After a little over 1400 metres, the last few 100 metres of which were still in the snow, we arrived at the hut pretty exhausted. The path led us through dense mixed forest up to almost 2000 metres.
First we moved into one of the small rooms with bunk beds. Afterwards, we fetched water from the nearby spring and then ate and relaxed in the sun on the veranda. Later we were joined by a German couple. Together with them, we made a fire in the outhouse in the evening to warm up and dry our shoes. The night in the unheated hut was quite chilly.
Uplisziche & Gori
After the wonderful hike at Lagodechi, we travelled back to Tiblisi with two backpackers from Germany. The journey went by much faster than with a marshrutka.
We wanted to visit two more places on the way back to Kutaisi: Uplisziche and Gori. Uplistsikhe is an old fortress and cave town. People settled there as early as the Bronze Age. The city later developed into a trading centre on the Silk Road. Fortunately, we arrived quite early and were able to walk through the remaining rooms at our leisure. Just 10 km away is the town of Gori, also known as the birthplace of Stalin. The Stalin Museum is also the only place of interest in Gori. The museum gives a very one-sided, positive account of Stalin. The inscriptions were only in Georgian and Russian. At 2.00pm the train left Gori for Kutaisi. This is even cheaper than travelling by marshrutka. A ticket for the 4-hour journey costs the equivalent of €2 per person. It was a short train, only two carriages. We seemed to be the only tourists and aroused the interest of our fellow travellers. Fortunately, one of them could speak some English and translated. They seemed particularly interested in our travel guide about Georgia.
Ghebi
At the end of our tour we decided to rent a car. We really wanted to do some travelling in the Caucasus. Via Ambrolauri we went further and further into the mountains. After the last adventurous 12km of gravel road, we finally reached Ghebi at dusk. On Google Maps we had seen an accommodation. Freddy was very sceptical that the accommodation existed and was open. The village awaited us rather forbiddingly with muddy paths between the simple houses. We parked our car at the main well. An old woman was bringing her cows to the well to drink. She eyed us with interest. After a bit of wandering around, we found the accommodation. The owner was not there, but luckily two German interns were. We had a warm and dry place to sleep. While unpacking our sleeping things, we passed an elderly couple who were distilling their own alcohol.
Motsameta Monastery
Old Soviet architectural style
View of the snow-covered peaks of the High Caucasus
The last stretch to Ghebi was on a gravel road with big potholes.
To our surprise, there were animals at our accommodation. Marco was quite happy about the little lamb
Freddy slept so well that Marco had to wake her up the next morning. Freddy was woken up with the sentence “There is good news and bad news”. The good news was that there was a lamb and the bad news was that it had snowed. Freddy was a little scared of the return journey with snow and possibly ice.
An old woman brought her cows to the drinking trough in the center of the village.
The next morning, the elderly woman approached us. We managed to have a little chat with our hands and feet
Local production of Chacha with snow. We have just been given a “small” glass to try. One sip is enough, it was very strong.
After our night in Ghebi, we unfortunately had to leave the rugged mountain world of the Caucasus again. We could both very well imagine experiencing the high Caucasus in summer. On the way back to Kutaisi, we once again passed typical houses of the former Soviet Union. We took another hitchhiker to Abrolauri. He was a pleasant passenger. As a thank you, he bought us some Lobiani.
