​June 24 to July 5 2016   Beautiful Georgia Part II

I have run out of superlatives!! Georgia exceeded our expectations. It is so beautiful, the food and wine delicious, the culture so rich in history dating back pre-history almost. So you might think why not just leave it there? ....... but I really must attempt to describe some of what we saw and experienced. Our guide Nino, a born leader and passionate advocate for her country and fellow Georgians, brought it alive for us. Together with Gia, our excellent driver, we travelled perhaps 5000 thousand kilometres from the capital Tbilisi, east into wine and fruit growing regions, north to one of the highest glaciers in the Caucasus (Mt Kazbegi 5047m), west to the upper Svaneti region (both regions are in the Greater Caucasus mountains and the roads are pretty rough) and finally we headed south for one of the highlights of the trip for me, the 12th Century cave town of Vardzia.

Where to start? Perhaps a few impressions from that amazing trip starting at the capital. 

Cathedral in Tbilisi

Tbilisi is a conglomeration of the old and new all jumbled together in a fairly small area - compared to sprawling Melbourne! We focussed on the old - exploring the winding streets of the old city, peering into churches and cathedrals dating back thousands of years, before walking the ruined ramparts of the 4th Century Narikala fortress on the craggy heights where it once guarded the old city. From there we trekked down to the millennia old Sulphur Baths fed by waterfall and creek at the bottom of the precipice. We happened on some exuberant and totally unexpected entertainment which was a bit if a treat - a traditional Uzbeki dance celebrating a wedding in the square outside the Baths.

We completely forgot time in the National Museum of History - the two of us had a personal tour led by the museum's longest serving guide (we had her all to ourselves!); she has been guiding there for 50 years. What she doesn't know about Georgian history and treasures is probably not worth knowing - we felt very privileged. Dinner on the rooftop terrace of our hotel sipping Georgian wine and watching the lights come on across Tbilisi was a perfect way to end a wonderful first day.

As we drove east the following day into the Kakheti region, we passed what seemed like an almost endless line of fruit stalls along the side of the road selling huge watermelons, peaches and an array of other fruits and of course buckets spilling large ripe tomatoes ...... and slaughtered pigs! There they were, fresh-killed chunks of pig - pale pink mysterious shapes hanging by the roadside inviting people to buy, some cuts wrapped in cloth others, just swinging naked in the breeze. Bizarre sight for we overly sanitized and refrigeration-oriented visitors. We called into Khareba winery for a tour and tasting and came away with 4 bottles to polish off along the way. Then were taken to a local farm where the family treated us a delicious lunch with fruit and vegetables from their garden and scrumptious pork shashlik all topped off with homemade cheese, wine, bread and chachas - their local fiery grape vodka ....whoph haaa!

Ancient underground wine vats 

Georgian wine is pretty special. With a history of 8000 years, it is one of the oldest wine-making regions in the world. It still practices the traditional underground claypot, kvevris, fermentation method, which has been UNESCO listed as intangible cultural heritage, along side the newer European method. Both variety tastes of sunshine and rich soil - the wine is not readily available in Australia but do ask for it nevertheless, its really worth a taste.

Turgid mountain torrents

Our next destination was the ancient capital and religious centre of Georgia, Mtskheta with its UNESCO World Heritage sites - Jvari monastery and Svetitskhoveli cathredral. The magesty and spiritual ambiance of these places had us whispering and wishing we could dwell in the silence for a while. But we were swept northward along an incredibly beautiful drive through 'gorgeous' valleys - truly! and woodlands to the ski resort of Gudauri. The following day was stunning! driving beside the Tergi river into the Sno valley and then on via very narrow roads deeper into the High Caucasus to the exotic tiny village of Juta. Surrounded by the gorgeous snow covered mountains, it is completely cut off from the whole country for six months of the year. You can read more about the experience of those two days in the entry for 28 June, suffice it to say it was simply wonderful.

Look for Part III for the next part of our fantastic journey through Georgia!

June 22-23 2016   Armenia - millennia of history in two days!

Mt Ararat pretending to be a cloud

We whirled through Yerevan, a city and culture of Biblical proportions, pockmarked with the remnants of the Soviet period but celebrating renewal and a return to its roots - this is a new Presidential Republic sitting on millennia of history. A nation which has hung on tenaciously while powerful neighbours bit off large chunks of their land and continue to nibble at their borders, through periods when there was little to eat -  there is a sense of renewed hope and an immense and palpable national pride. And towering in the background, Mt Ararat keeps watch a mere 60 Ks away. 

Yerevan is often referred to as the 'Pink City' because many of the new buildings are constructed in pink tufa, a porous limestone rock; most of the structures built during the Soviet period are of black tufa. The soft pink stone brings a symbolic lightness to the capital city.

As we toured the city's highlights, which included a visit to the absolutely fascinating repository of ancient manuscripts - religious, mathematical, scientific, botanical - our guide gave us a packed albeit potted account of her country's history and culture from many millennia BC up to today. Education is a precious commodity in Armenia and there are many academies, universities and colleges; our guide has a Masters degree from Padua where she examined the links between traditional dance and culture and what information folk dances reveal about the local culture. She is collecting/documenting many dances for posterity - much like Komitas' exploration and collections of Armenian folk music. We were treated to a performance of traditional dance and song accompanied by tradition instruments - drum and duduk, an ancient flute made from the wood of apricot trees and which produces a beautiful and plaintive sound.

Armenia boasts an enormous collection of ancient manuscripts

Our lessons in history were thus richly supplemented with stories of age-old traditions, the glue that has kept the Armenians strong at heart. We tasted delicious soup made from yogurt, wheat, and coriander, watched coffee being cooked in sand, sampled brandy from the Mt Ararat brandy distillery and at every meal sat down to a veritable feast which always included tomato and cucumber salad, local apricots, cherries and strawberries. 

As the first Christian nation, their Christianity is intrinsic to the psyche of the people and their country in spite of almost a century of Soviet rule which saw a number of churches 'closed'. Their history is inexplicably woven through with their Christian roots. We visited many ancient churches and monasteries a few of which have been UNESCO listed on the World Heritage List of the Convention concerning the protection of world cultural and natural history for the benefit of all humanity. We found many such places also in Georgia in subsequent days.

We had but 2 days to see what we could of Armenia before crossing the border Into Georgia. Just as a matter of interest, Armenia is also referred to as Hayastan - the land of the Hayar people, the Armenians. The economy is based on mining and agriculture and as we traveled north east to the border we passed areas where obsidian and moonstone are mined near Lake Sevan. Copper is mined in the north around the Lori region as well as in the south. As we got into the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus mountains we traveled through forests of beech, plane, pine, oak, elm - it was quite breathtaking!

Haghpat, one of the numerous UNESCO listed monasteries

After a sumptuous lunch overlooking an immense valley in the Lori region, we spent a magical hour wandering the UNESCO listed Haghpat monastery complex where our guide sang a most beautiful ancient love song which echoed up into the soaring vaults of the church - it was very special and took our breath away. Thus ended a very special albeit far too short visit to this ancient place and culture. We walked across the river Debed from Bagratshan in Armenia to Sadakhlo in George from where we had only a short trip of about 50 km to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. So stared the next phase of our journey.

June 28 2016   North east Georgia - rethink awesome!  

Mt Kazbegi

Breathtaking, stunning, astonishing, awe inspiring, extraordinary, incredible - merely words which can't possibly describe what we saw today. We really hit the awesome, the breathtaking, a place that almost convinced us to stay and become shepherds. Towering snow-covered mountains, steep slopes blanketed in vivid green and wild flowers that took my breath away - yellows, white, purples, blues, pinks. Colours in a myriad of shades, flowers in many shapes from the simple pea flower through bells, daisies to more intricate complexes designed to capture the meadow bees who hovered like wooly drones lazily buzzing from one flower to another. My little collection of petals is pressed in my diary and in my mind! 

Monks in rusty black, ancient carvings beside Soviet and ancient graffiti, beside pagan symbols - all clustered side by side in the walls of ancient churches perched precariously on lofty mountain peaks dwarfed even so by snow-encrusted rocky monsters like Mount Kazbegi. We clambered over the ruins of fortress walls still sheltering chapels, monuments and monasteries and ogled ranging ice-cold torrents barreling through valleys and deep mountain crevasses or spurted from beneath sheets of ice. Marvelled at bi-colored rivers, rivers that flowed so fast that the tributary waters couldn't mix - a grey churning flow beside a black roiling torrent, the confluence of mountain rivers reluctant to give up their own identities.

Gergeti church nestles neath Mt Kazbegi

We climbed through herbs and flowers as high has an elephants eye (almost!) to visit a family in the village of Juta at the end of Sno valley when the road, merely ruts much of the way, finally runs out. There we ate mountain honey and fresh made cheese with bread straight out of the oven. Juta is cut off from the world for 6 months of the year by snow. It can be a hard life but the simplicity is enticing. We watched eagles soar over high mountains pastures dotted with sheep and goats watched over by shepherds who camp out with their flocks in the summer months. Butterflies like handfuls of confetti scattered over paths and banks competed with wandering herds of cows along most roads. I so wish that I could paint!

Tomorrow promises more wonders as we travel westward to Svaneti, the region with some of the highest mountains and glaciers in the Caucasus but I have still to unwrap the whirlwind of days in the modern-ancient Armenia. So stories of Svaneti will have to await for another day.