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Trip to Georgia 2016

Tbilisi First Impressions

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 25, 2016 by JeanneJune 12, 2016

I arrived in Tbilisi exhausted after a grueling flight that landed in the wee hours. Nice to Istanbul, a three-hour wait and then Istanbul-Tbilisi. Fortunately I had already booked a taxi that met me at the airport around 5am. On the way into town the driver was proud to point out some major sights which I was too bleary-eyed to appreciate. The Peace Bridge, Narkalo Fort. . .it all passed by as if in a dream. When we pulled up to the Hotel Delisi my first though was “Oh no!”. It was clearly in nowhere-land. The neighborhood was residential, a little dreary but safe. I was in no position to quibble. A  middle-aged plump brunette showed me to my room right away, which turned out to be large and attractively furnished with a brand-new bathroom and satellite TV. I put on a blackout mask and crashed. I woke up about five hours later, gulped a cup of coffee and headed out with a map and instructions on getting to the Metro which turned out to be a good 10-minute walk away in a bustling neighborhood of cheap stores and a street market. The Metro turned out to be fast and … Continue reading →

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Tbilisi Discovery: Independence Day

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 26, 2016 by JeanneJune 12, 2016

Feeling fresh and rested, I left the hotel around 10 after a delicious breakfast that included khinkali, Georgia’s famous stuffed dumpling. I took the jammed metro  to Rustaveli boulevard, ground-zero for the Independence Day festivities.Food! Balloons! Clowns! Folk-dancing! The best shows were on the folkdancing stages which attracted large crowds. The demands of tourism eventually pulled me towards  the Old Town for a look at the famous sights. First up was the  famously goofy clock tower.   The cafes and boutiques lent the pedestrian streets a cosmopolitan flavor and I loved the particularly Georgian architecture that features lacy wood balconies. The central part of the Old Town was delightfully restored but wandering just a few streets away revealed a much poorer environment of crumbling buildings and cracked pavements. One of the major highlights was the Anchiskhati Basilica where a wedding was in progress with men dressed in traditional Georgian costume. Boots! Swords! And this fashionable guest dressed in a female version of Georgian dress.   After strolling Shevli street I meandered over to Peace Bridge, one of Georgia’s celebrated ventures into modern design. From there, I was close to the cable car that glided up to Narikala Fortress. and a … Continue reading →

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Wine Tour of the Kakheti Region

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 27, 2016 by JeanneJune 19, 2016

I asked for an early breakfast (8am) to make the tour departure time. Accompanying the genial lady who had been minding the hotel was the owner who swept in like the Mother of Dragons to inform me that I had actually arrived a day earlier at the hotel and would have to pay a supplement. Problems! Before I had even had coffee! “No, I actually arrived as indicated in the morning of the 25th.” “But you arrived at 6.30am and check-in time is 1pm!” “Listen, sweetheart. I didn’t just pop in at 6.30am. We had an exchange of emails about the taxi you arranged. You knew exactly when I was arriving.” “So there’s a problem about the money?” “Yes, there’s a problem. The time to talk about any supplement would have been during the exchange of emails around the time I booked when I could have cancelled.” After pondering the wisdom of booking a hotel where there was nothing around. “Or, at the very latest when I checked in.” When she wasn’t there of course. “Now it’s too late”. She made a face and left in a huff. Took a cab (no more metros!)  to Meidan square to start the … Continue reading →

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Mtskheta and Jvari

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 28, 2016 by JeanneJune 19, 2016

I left the unloved Hotel Delisi this morning. Curious that the departure breakfast was the worst, probably as a punishment: cold pasta, salad, stale bread, hot-dog. I took a taxi over to the Hotel Classic which was much better located near to Rustaveli. I left my luggage and headed off to find a marshrutka to Mtskheta with fingers crossed that the weather would hold despite the forecast. Took the metro to Dududi minibus station and was welcomed by a cloudburst. It lifted after a quarter hour and I hopped aboard the minibus to Mtskheta, the birthplace of Christianity in Georgia. UNESCO-protected Mtskheta is stunningly set at the confluence of two rivers with mountains rising in the distance. The highlight is the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral dating from the 11th century. Unlike in France where the most celebrated cathedrals are filled almost exclusively with tourists, Svetitskhoveli was the Grand Central Station of Orthodox Christians. There were groups of adults, of kids, couples and more men than you usually see worshipping in Catholic churches. There was a lot of contemplating and kissing of icons. Priests strolled the aisles like rock stars dispensing blessings and accepting hand-kisses. I felt awkward as I approached realizing I had … Continue reading →

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Gori and Uplistsikhe

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 29, 2016 by JeanneOctober 18, 2017

Today’s excursion was to the cave city of Uplistsikhe and Stalin’s birthplace at Gori. I headed to minibus station around 9.30 to hop a bus for the one-hour trip. The minibuses left from an obscure part of the Didubi station but I just kept asking people “Gori?” “Gori?” and eventually found it. The minibus dropped me off at the friendly tourist office where I got a map and decided to take a taxi to Uplistsikhe rather than another marshrutka as the forecast was not good for the afternoon. She told me to pay about 30GEL (€14) return which I did. Passing along the river on the way to the site, I noticed that the water was quite high, like all the rivers I passed on this trip. It’s not surprising given how frequently it’s been raining. Walking up the road to the site, I was grateful for the cloudy skies as it would have been a long, hot walk in summer. Now this site is not Agrigento even though it also dates back to around the same time. Uplistsikhe was a pre- Christian city filled with temples, built between the 6th century BC and the 1st century AD. The soft stone … Continue reading →

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Tbilisi to Batumi

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 30, 2016 by JeanneMarch 11, 2019

At the Hotel Classic I asked for a taxi to take me to the Batumi marshrutka. We got to station square before 10 and I immediately boarded a comfortable minibus with cushioned seats. Then I waited. And waited. And waited. No one else got on. I knew he wasn’t going to make a 7 hour trip only with me. Finally we left at 10.30 and drove to another place looking for passengers, then another. Finally about a half dozen people boarded and we were off. Mostly the trip was relaxing. The sun was shining and the driver chose a varied entertainment program that included Georgian music, international pop,  music videos and one strange comedy segment that seemed to be a Georgian version of Archie Bunker screaming at his hapless son and daughter in law. The other passengers chuckled. I liked the videos that seemed to show actual weddings where the men were twirling and leaping in  traditional Georgian wedding dances. Outside, we followed the river as it wove through a flat valley backed by verdant peaks. One house followed another, always with  two stories,  big enough for an extended family and with a plot of land. We hurtled past vegetable … Continue reading →

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Batumi Discovery

Global Traveller Blog Posted on May 31, 2016 by JeanneJuly 3, 2016

I started the day at with breakfast on the rooftop here at the Hotel Old Town. The hotel room was a little underdecorated but any shortcomings are more than made up for on the rooftop terrace with a panoramic view of Butumi. I decided to start my city tour my renting a bike as Batumi sprawls for miles along the Black Sea. Last night I walked and walked and seemed to make no progress. The layout is also odd with no straightforward way to get from my hotel to the rocky beach. There’s a strange muddy potholed track that links the main road with the seaside promenade. I noticed extensive orange bike lanes so I decided that was the way to go. Batumi bike path A photo posted by Jeanne (@globaltravellerblog) on Jul 3, 2016 at 10:51am PDT I hopped on and started pedaling south. On my right was the sea with a wide beach that narrowed the further south I went. There were occasional drink stalls but few people were on the wide, pebbly beach. Perhaps the water was still cold? The main activity was getting the town ready for the tourist onslaught that was about to happen. There … Continue reading →

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Batumi to Mestia

Global Traveller Blog Posted on June 1, 2016 by JeanneJuly 3, 2016

First look at Mestia; view from balcony of Hotel Svan House. #mestia A photo posted by Jeanne (@globaltravellerblog) on Jun 1, 2016 at 8:32am PDT By this point, I had learned to take taxis everywhere. They are cheap enough and the streets are too horrendous for wheeled luggage. So I ordered a cab around 8am to take me to the old bus station for a journey that I hoped would end in Mestia if all went well. There’s something exhilarating about the purposefulness of a bus station when one’s final destination is unknown. Around the dented minibuses were swarms of toothless old men, soap sellers, beggars, fruit peddlars, tired  women hauling cheap luggage and young men chatting earnestly on cellphones. It was an extremely bumpy ride to Zugdidi, even though the landscape was mostly flat farmland. In exactly three hours we pulled into Zugdidi which was good since this minibus was much less comfy than the Tblisi-Batumi one. I wasn’t sure whether I would stay in Zugdidi; it very much depended on on whether I could quickly catch a bus to Mestia. Fortunately the Mestia bus was right there with only a Chinese couple. The driver asked us to pay … Continue reading →

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Ushguli

Global Traveller Blog Posted on June 2, 2016 by JeanneJuly 3, 2016

When I woke this morning, the overcast sky clarified my thinking. Do a day trip to Ushguli! An overnight that involved staying at Berdia’s brother’s hostel would be too complicated. It turned out to be the right decision. I met Jenna and her husband (the Chinese couple) down in the main square with a minibus driver who appeared at the guesthouse, presumably at the bequest of the owner. He was hoping for more passengers so we waited a while. I had a cup of tea but around 10 I pushed it.  We arranged a price (150GEL) and set out. For about a half hour we cruised along a paved road. Then, that stopped and  we were on a potholed track that went on and on for another 2 hours. I can’t say it was incredibly scenic at first. Mostly we were winding through a series of valleys and gorges. Also it was raining off and on. At a few points I was able to take a photo or two of a village and there was certainly plenty of cascading water. And oxen. Finally the vistas opened up and the first of Ushguli settlements appeared: Murqmeli. It was immediately impressive. Farming … Continue reading →

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Mestia to Akhalksikhe

Global Traveller Blog Posted on June 3, 2016 by JeanneOctober 18, 2017

I woke up to clouds and the hint of rain in Mestia. As beautiful as the region was, I was glad I decided to head south. The guest house arranged a minibus to Zugdidi that left around 9.30 for the beautiful and scenic ride that wound around the mountains for about 3 1/2 hours.. Arriving in Zugdidi around noon, I  immediately hopped another minibus  to Kutaisi. Two hours in a crowded bus passed slowly especially as the scenery was a monotonous spread of one small farm after another. Unlike the hardened, slim farmers in the Svaneti region, these people were uniformly obese. Tired and hungry, I debated whether or not to overnight in Kutaisi but fortunately there was another bus to Akhalksikhe leaving almost immediately. I grabbed a Pepsi (no Coke Zero in this country) and homemade cake and boarded the old, rickety bus. I arrived completely exhausted but the family who ran Hotel Almi greeted me like their long-lost cousin.. I checked in wearily and headed to a beautiful room with hardwood floors. The hotel had a restaurant that conjured up a delicious dinner which I devoured in their pretty garden. Save

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