Week 6 - Monastries, Mountains and mist

A fleet of taxis took us to the Azerbeicani consulate where we sat outside on the steps looking forlorn watched by the Embassy staff. After a short while we all piled back into taxis and headed back to the hotel. No real result but Jim was told that he could return in the afternoon and that they may take our passports. So we had a bonus day in Tblisi which involved eating more icecream – wonderful blackcurrant again for me and shopping for cook day. We decided to make dumplings for our group – well not exactly make them but buy them frozen which would have been fine except that we ended up not cooking that night and by the following night they were looking rather ordinary or as Denis said “there has been a mutant dumpling explosion”. Lunch was a rather tasty hot dog eaten in the park rather ruined for me as a little girl was begging and I just wished I had given it to her. Eventually Jim returned having left the passports and we set off for our bush camp which was a field somewhere out of Tblisi. As we had eaten in town, it was a quick set up and bed.

Picnic in park in Tblisi

Outside church near hotel


  The following morning’s drive took us to Davit Gareja area which has many monastries in it but our destination was Lavra Monastry. The drive there was stunning with the most beautiful hills, pastures, lakes and vipers! The monastry had been founded in the 6th century and carved out of the rock. Over the years it had been ransacked on various occasions and wasn’t used during the soviet occupation but has been renovated and monks are living there again. It is a wonderful complex and so beautiful that even the non-monastry/church enthusiasts were interested. In the complex was a little church with fine paintings. Apparently Zazah, our guide through Georgia, was married and his children christened there. Personally, I love the paintings and never tire of seeing different and new ones. The colours are so vibrant and fresh and create a wonderful atmosphere. The complex was set over three levels and the stairs were carved through the rocks. The monks lived above in little caves, often with balconies, carved into the rocks. The drive back down took rather longer as CJ was doing a Steven Spielberg filming our progress which involved a lot of stopping and starting.

What the well dressed pilgrim wears!



Lavra Monastry



Inside the Church at Lavra Monastry



Lavra Monastry

 

Sighnaghi was reached at 2.30 and as the group was hungry, we all headed off in different directions and found restaurants to satisfy the hunger. The town was highly renovated but had been done well and the restaurant we found was lovely with a little courtyard. The eggplant stuffed with walnut and garlic was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be recreating that back in Australia. After we went to the Pheasant’s Tears which is a winery run by John, an American, who has been living in Georgia for 15 years or so. The wine was produced in the old Georgian tradition and in my opinion was pretty awful. There were a couple of reds towards the end of the tasting that were ok but very expensive. Give me a bottle of Wirra Wirra Church Block any day. I did, however, rather fall in love with the Cha Cha which is a fortified brandy like wine which was delicious and the small bottle I bought will come all the way back to Australia with me. Denis and I serenaded the truck by singing Alice’s Restaurant following by Skippy and Down Among the Gum Trees. Not sure that the singing was greatly appreciated by the majority. We arrived late at camp and cooking in the rain and dark with mutant dumplings was all a bit of an effort. After the clean up it started to rain, thunder, lightening so went to bed and worried about trees falling on tent all night.

Eggplant stuffed with walnuts and garlic - delicious

Enjoying lunch in the courtyard

Wine tasting

Antiques in the winery

Morning came, we had survived the night, the sun was shining and even better I was no longer on cook duty! A very short walk took me to the Dzvelishuamta Monastry which was no longer in use. It was in a lovely location and had a couple of horses grazing in the fields surrounding it. After lunch the thunder and lightning started again so a few of us went down the hill to see the Akhali Shuamta nunnery before the weather set in again. Again there were some lovely pictures but the building itself was nothing exceptional or maybe I am becoming blaze. The walk was good though. It was a good day spent relaxing in the sunshine, reading and writing diary but best of all at 6.00 p.m. Jim arrived back with a clutch of passports in his hand which all bore the Azerbaijani visa. What a relief! The alternative was not a prospect that we had relished as it would have meant flying over Azerbaijani and missing the Kervansarayi at Seki which would have especially disappointed me.

In Monastry

Grazing outside Monastry

Nunnery

Awoke to hear heavy rain which made pack up a bit of a pain. The tents were really wet and everything was muddy but once in the truck it was a short drive to our homestay in Telavi where we were greeted with beautifully clean dry rooms and a bathroom reminiscent of the Taj Mahal! The town did not have a lot to see but Melissa and I had a good pizza and met two Germans who were doing a similar trip to us but in private cars. They were as interested in our trip as we were in theirs and they headed off to find Calypso while we went and explored the fortress which was nothing but some walls, the museum being closed because of Independence Day. The younger members of our party had been expecting parties in the street but there were no visible means of celebration that we could see. However, a party did ensue back at the Homestay and after dinner which was very good Georgian food – soup, interesting mezes and salad a fair amount of wine was consumed and the revels went on till the early hours. For me the lure of the comfy warm bed was too much and a good night’s sleep was had despite the noise.

In the market





Telavi Streetscape

Grevi Church - interesting
scaffolding especially for
William!

After a rather stodgy breakfast of cheese rolls, cheese bread and excellent yoghurt, went into town to see the market. Lots of interesting food but with no money there was no temptation. Our bush camp was reached via a quick trip to Grevi Church.

Camp set up was quick and for the first time on this trip it was really hot so had to sit under the cook awning to get out of the sun. As the day progressed the mosquitoes made their first appearance on the trip and most of us got some interesting bites in interesting places.  Such are the joys of bush toilets!  The bush toilets at this camp was in a particularly nasty spot along a boggy track (no pun intended).  I was just wandering down that way when a man appeared carrying a large axe.  Needless to say I scuttled back to camp quick time and hid behind a large man.  Never one to be a hero.  The man turned out not to be an axe murderer but a wood collector but still you can never be too careful.  Shortly after his appearance two other men with ponies and carts came charging through and so once more brave I asked if I could take a photo.  They were rather bemused to find us camping on their usual track and even more bemused that I would want to photograph them.

Gathering wood

It was a very wet night and as we had to be away early lots of soggy tent packing up had to take place. It was a short drive to the border and just as we were approaching it there was a sign saying "Azerbaycan border - Good luck! We hoped luck would not prove necessary and in fact the crossing was relatively straight forward. CJ exercised, once more, people power and we all stood at the border with our resigned camp dog faces and pretty soon someone with lots of stars and stripes on his shoulders came and took our passports away and shortly after that we paraded one by one through a very seedy looking office although the official was very friendly and wanted to talk football with anyone who was interested. For me it was particularly interesting as I could read all the signs. The Turkish spoken here is not exactly the same as in Turkey but close enough to be recognisable. Getting Calypso through took a little longer but before too long we were on the road to Seki and the Kervansarayi which was our destination for the night.

The Kervansarayi was a wonderful old building but the rooms could have done with a little renovation but the water was hot and the beds comfy so you couldn't ask for more. There was even a TV in the room so my room-mate, an avid football fan, was able to watch Manchester United getting beaten.  I was asleep, of course, football not being my drug of choice!  After dumping our bags, a small group of us went off to visit the Palace which sounds very grand but is in fact a very small Palace but beautifully painted with every possible surface covered by art work.  Unfortunately you were not allowed to take photos inside so you will just have to imagine.  We were escorted round by a guide who spoke sort of English and had only one tooth in his mouth which was a little disconcerting.  The Palace was the summer house of the official of the region and though very small, exquisite.

The Palace at Seki

The Armenian Church at Seki

With Sandra in the Tea House

Money changing was necessary so I walked down into town only to be told I had to go to the Bazaar which was out of town.  Eventually after asking several people, an old man grabbed me by the arm and hailed a dolmus which proceeded to take me the money changer even though I had no money to pay my fare.  Hospitality and helpfulness seems a trait of the Middle East as it is in Turkey.

The following morning I went with the rest of my cook group back to Bazaar to buy for the next three meals.  It seems to me that cook group comes round far more often than once every five days!  The bazaar was wonderful with excellent fruit and vegetables but I didn't feel quite so enthusiastic about the meat department, especially the sheeps heads that were sitting on the ground.  Fortunately, Paul had asked me to change some money for him so I was able to escape the meat purchase.  So once more on board Calypso we were off to the mud volcanoes for the night.  It was a wonderfully atmospheric place high on a hill.  Being in cook group we had to get things going before we were able to visit the volcanoes but that was probably just as well as Jim had managed to fall in and get covered in mud as did Sandra.  Keith, Sandra's husband, took photos while she struggled to get out of the mud!  Fortunately she is a very calm person and did not push him face first into it which I would have been tempted to do.  Colin very kindly took me up there and as he had also had a slight mud accident, knew where not to step.

Large mud volcano

Mud bubbles

More mud bubbles

The strangest thing about the whole place was, like quicksand, that is felt perfectly stable but as the bubbles blew up the whole earth moved. 

So week 6 ended and the thrill of crossing the Caspian sea is ahead of us but that will be for the next episode!

Week 5 - Siege Towers, snow and showers

Morning dawned in Mestia and a wonderful night's sleep had been had in a hammock like bed.  After breakfast some of us went with Kati, our young Georgian guide, to visit the museum and one of the siege towers.  The museum was really only one room but she provided the interesting history of how the room was used and told us about the region, her family and the siege towers. 

Cattle stalls inside house

The room consisted of the original furniture and there was also a little church were only the men were allowed to go.  As usual, men ruled supreme with them having the high chairs and the women having to sit below them.  There was a rule that no family could have more than five girls due to dowry issues so after that infanticide was practiced.  Mestia was one of those quirky little towns that rather got under your skin with its siege towers, cows in the street and beautiful mountains all round.  One day it will be a tourist destination but right now the roads are awful and the trip up a real bone rattling 8 hour slog.  In town you had to negotiate giant puddles, some with alarming bubbles coming out of them, uneven or non-existent pavements and cow pats.  After visiting the museum we climbed one of the siege towers belonging to Kati's family. This involved a few tortuous ladders and I gave up at the final hurdle so never saw the view from the top but the access was too tricky with my still hurting ankle. 

The cafe in town was interesting and at 12.00 men were indulging in huge beers. It seems to be a national pasttime but if I lived there I would probably be on the vodka at 10.00 a.m. The instant coffee, no milk, was delicious as was the meat filled dumpling. In the afternoon Kati took three of us to visit the 11th century church which had the most amazing frescoes and even more amazingly under this church was its 6th century predecessor where it was still possible to view frescoes.The road up was being worked on constantly and we had to wait on several occasions whilst a land slide was bulldozed off the road. I felt these poor guys working on the road were untaking a Herculeun task and it was rather like shifting deckchairs on the Titanic as once one emergency was rectified another piece of road collapsed into the valley below. There is an air strip but because of the mountains all round it is not always possible to land a plane.

The first part of journey back down the hill was magnificent with deep valleys, high mountains and tantilising churches but we had to make progress and eventually the swinging and bumping of the truck sent me off to sleep. 

Eventually we got to Zugdidi where we went to the market to buy food for that night. Fruit seems expensive although vegetables are cheap and the wine varies from gut rotting in huge bottles at very low prices to drinkable at Tesco's prices.  The old ladies in the market were pretty aggresive trying to get us to purchase various items, mainly spices which would be interesting to try if you were living there but it is hard to experiment too much when cooking for 24! At this point, Jim went off with Zazah to Tiblisi to try and sort out our Azerberjan visas and Richard and Andrea also went at Andrea had been unwell for a couple of days

Siege Towers



Looking down over Mestia

Our field for the night was at Senaki Fort complete with cows, dogs and a long drop!  Conversations on the truck tend to divide into two subjects - food and toilets - both of which are highly important in our lives!  Later the police arrived and took CJ away - were we worried - no.  We knew by then that he was well able to deal with them.  When they brought him back, they stayed and guarded us for the night and in the morning gave us a police escort to show us the road we needed.  What a service.



View from Senaki Fort

In Kutaisi, Denis and I walked up to Bagrati Cathedral which was being renovated but there was a nice little church outside the main Cathedral with lots of icons and we were able to wander round the fortifications.  After a delicious cheesy pastry, we drove to Gori where Stalin's statue seemed to have disappeared.  The Police stopped us again and gave us an escort to show us the road to Uplistsicki.  This place is a cave city which was founded in the Bronze Age about 1000 B.C.  We camped by the river and joy of joy there was clean working toilets even if they did shut the women's at 6.00 p.m.  Our dinner was particularly delicious with barbequed sausage, jacket potatoes and salad.

Fortifications at Bagrati Cathedral

A beast of burden in Mestia

Bircher muesli for breakfast - what a treat.  As we headed back to Gori, rain was threatening and by the time we got there it was steady.  We spent 3/4 hour at the Stalin museum.  The guide was very informative but she spoke so fast that it was hard to hear her and her general feeling was that Stalin was a really good guy, just misunderstood!  We saw the house that he grew up in and his railway carriage.  Apparently he did not like flying. 

The rain continued so lunch was taken in a semi-built building where we lunched under the verandah.  After lunch the rain continued and we climbed and climbed up into the mountains again.  Soon we were above the snowline and I was getting seriously worried as a night in the snow did not fill me with delight but fortunately having reached the summit we started to go down again and although it was cold and windy we were no longer in snow.  Having reached the little town of Kazbegi nearly on the Russian border, we found our camp which was rather windswept but tents were soon in place, a loo tent erected and dinner on the go.  It was Red, Red day to celebrate being in Georgia and everyone dressed up in something red and my nails were painted a bright red.  We drank mulled wine, ate curried chicken and chatted late into the night in the truck.  Far too cold to be outside.

Friday morning came and most of the group set out to climb up to the monastery but I knew I would not make it even if my ankle was not still giving me grief so spent a very pleasant morning writing diary and blog in anticipated of publishing blog tomorrow in Tiblisi.


On reaching each camp we are joined by an assortment of dogs which just hang around looking mournfully at you. They don’t beg, unlike the people in the towns, but just seem to want to be with you. At this site we had a particularly scenic bush toilet (loo with a view or poo palace as it was christened) and after a short sharp rain storm I went up there to find two dogs sheltering in there. They had no intention of moving but as Ben said “I wish they wouldn’t watch you!”




View from the campsite



View from the loo



 So another day and another pack up. Melissa and I are getting quite expert at both putting up and putting down the tent although the muddle inside the tent doesn’t seem to decrease. The burning question of the day is ‘if it all came out of that bag, why won’t it fit in again’. It was a very quiet truck that descended down the mountain and I was so fast asleep that I didn’t even wake up when we reached Ananuri Fortress. We had lunch there which for me consisted of a peanut butter sandwich. I am rather over the pink scary looking meat that seems to be all that is available at the moment. The fortress dates from the 13th century and is in the most beautiful location on what looks like an estuary but is probably a river. Colin and CJ climbed the tower but terra ferma for me. We then went on to the Cathedral at Svetitskhoveli which is one of the most important religious buildings in Georgia. Some of the group thought we had seen enough churches but I for one was very happy to see the wonderful icons and paintings and to feel the intense atmosphere of the place. I guess on a trip like this there is always going to be conflicts on what we want to do but I feel there has been a good balance so far.



Statue at bottom of campsite



Calypso taken from town






Downtown Kazbegi



Evening mist over the mountains







Denis and Steve with new hats



 As we approached Tblisi, it appeared to be a modern, clean looking town and our hotel was good with lovely hot water and comfy beds which we were really appreciated after four nights of bush camping and two nights at a homestay in the mountains.  Most of the group went off to watch the rugby at the local Irish Bar.  How is it the Irish get everywhere!  A few just went for a meal and I stayed at the hotel and luxuriated in the silence and peace. 

The following morning I headed off to do the Lonely Planet walking tour.  However, there was one big problem with it - no street names and any signs were all in Georgian script.  However, I managed to see Parliament, the Theatre, the Cathedral and other important buildings, ate a wonderful blackcurrant icecream and wandered through the Old Town.  At one point I was in a pretty slummy looking area but never left uncomfortable.  I definitely like Tblisi and in fact all I have seen of Georgia has impressed me greatly.  The people don't smile a lot but when you talk to them and use the only word I know "thank you", they open up.  This afternoon I had one of the strangest experiences of my life.  I wanted to go to the sulphur baths.  The first one "the Royal Bath" was going to charge 50 lev for one hour, the second 30 lev for an hour so I went in the public bath which was 2 lev.  Some scary looking woman told me to take off all my clothes and sent me in the general direction.  I walked into this room full of women all in the buff and it was rather like Dante's 7th circle of hell!  I will never again say that I am too fat!  Having got this far I thought I should stay and at least have a shower.  I waited and waited as people pushed in front of me.  Eventually an old lady grabbed me and pushed me into a shower that her friend was getting out of.  She was most concerned that I had not washed my back so she scrubbed me with soap and massaged me and it did not cost me an extra penny!







Ananuri

Due to intense irritation with blog not behaving itself, this is all until next week by when hopefullly we will have been through Azerbeycan.  Off to Embassy tomorrow to look mournful like all the camp dogs - maybe that will do the trick.



Cows wandering home at night





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Coming down from Mestia

Coming down from Mestia

4th week - Capadoccia and Bush Camps

I enjoyed my time while the Group was away seeing the sights.  They returned hot, bothered and tired. An overdose of scenery on top of at 5.00 a.m. start for ballooning had meant a revolt on the truck and a refusal to go into the carpet shop! The cook group surpassed themselves with a wonderful lentil soup and a chicken and vegetable soup and lovely crusty Turkish bread. The Bat Cave had a roaring fire and a good night's sleep resulted.

Capadoccia

The following morning after porridge and fresh bread most of us lazed around the camp whilst some went into Goreme to shop or have a Turkish Bath. After lunch we had a fairly short drive to our bush camp which although not exactly picturesque with a dead cow somewhere in the vicinity soon became home for the night. Tents were pitched, the cook group swung into action, chairs were put out, a beer was poured and after dinner a big fire was lit. So all was perfect in our world until the thunder and lightning started which was accompanied by a reasonably short sharp downpour. Rain finished some people remained on truck while others went back to fire which had survived the rain.

Bush Camp

CJ on wood duty

The alarm was not necessary the following morning as thunder was the wake up call. Fortunately the rain was elsewhere so apart from a few drops we were able to get everything packed away in the dry. I was my cook duty so melemen and little sausages were on the menu.Melemen is Turkish scrambled egg with onions, tomatoes and peppers. It seemed to go down well. A quick pack up and away as we had a fairly long day’s drive. Shopping was necessary and as an army marches on its stomach an overlanding truck has also consumes a fair amount of food. The little town of Zara had great fruit and vegetable shops and we were able to purchase all the necessities for our lunch and dinner and in addition I bought another blanket and bag to carry all the bedding in. Organisation is gradually happening and I am sure by the end of the bush camping, I will be an expert! Whilst waiting for everyone to return from their various missions in town including several of the men returning with arm full of logs, a little boy came out and served us all with tea and refused to take any money. The Turkish hospitality is legendry and once more it did not fail. If only I could say the same about the toilets which seem to be getting worse the further east we head! After stopping for lunch we made a good bush camp in the hills with views of mountains in the distance with snow on them. Although windy it was not cold and the cook group swung into action to create a Turkish meal of chickpea dip, lentils, aubergine and tomato, fresh mixed salad and then piece de resistance fruit salad with yoghurt and honey straight from the honeycomb. It was good to eat a Turkish meal in Turkey.

Wendy and pide

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Serious cooking

Dismantling camp

Later we piled on to the truck as it was blowing a gale and had a quiz very well organised by Zoe and Susan. The Teachers’ Pets won following by my group BB and the bitches which was made up of Ben, Jim (also known as Bob, hence the BB), Andrea, Wendy and myself. Andrea had been shopping and made the boys wear pink fairy wings and we had little woolen children’s’ hats. Ben looked just like one of Santa’s elves when he put one on.


After a rather disturbed night – loo visit, wind, thunder and rain, the morning was bright and sunny and relieved of cook duty it was an easy pack up and departure. We travelled through high passes and into valleys where the floor of the valley was cultivated and the houses clung to the valley sides. So far on our trip the highest we have reached 2190 metres and there is still plenty of snow on the tops of the mountains. Later in our trip we will reach more than double that height. The truck is quiet with people playing cards at the back and others dozing, reading or sorting out photos on laptops. Travel is so different from when I was in Africa in 1969 when there were no mobiles, digital cameras, computers or internet. This form of travel is quite alien to me being used to finding my own transport from place to place, where I will sleep that night and what I will see. In some respects it is better as the responsibility is shouldered by our leaders and I know that there is no way I could do this trip on my own – I would probably have never got past Georgia – but I do miss the studying of Lonely Planet and working out my own route and itinerary.
 
Our lunch break was broken by two shabbily dressed plain clothed policemen having a sticky beak. They were very polite and told me there was no problem and I gave them a conducted tour of the truck. We stopped in the town of Macka to pick up bread and started climbing towards the Monastery to find a campsite. The Sumer restaurant came into view which combined restaurant, trout farm and camp site and with clean loos and a shower it was perfect for our needs.
 
 

Walking up to Sumela

Aquaduct at Sumela

Sumela Monastry

The following morning we went up to Sumela Monastery. It was a 3 km uphill climb which did nothing for my ankle and I was very relieved to get there. Unfortunately there was a really heavy mist and so the view was non-existent and the Monastery proved to be a bit of a disappointment due to over restoration and hordes of tourists. The frescoes in the little church were good but even better I managed to thumb a lift back down the mountain with a lovely Turkish couple! Back at the campsite in the rain, I went into the restaurant to buy butter. Knowing Turkish proved useful – CJ had bought cheese and the cook group had bought lard! A few of us had dinner of excellent trout and salad in the restaurant that night. No wine however as it was extremely expensive.


The following day we drove past the tea fields near Rize before hitting the border. Tea seems to be grown on every spare bit of land and having enjoyed the tea for so many years it was lovely to see how it actually grows. The border crossing was straight forward only enlivened by a coach nearly running CJ over (not funny) and then proceeding to smash its front mirror on the customs building taking down a couple of tiles. Of course much hand waving and gesticulating followed.

Our hotel in Batumi had a Soviet feel about it – rather dark and gloomy but the water was hot and the bed comfortable. The town itself was pretty dreadful. The roads were mud pits and it was all rather depressing but the people were lovely and friendly and although not much English was spoken, I was able to buy an ankle brace in the chemist by using Turkish and we wrote down the name of the pills we wanted and she looked them up on the computer and gave us the generic brand at half the price. Our evening meal was at what proved to be a rather expensive restaurant but was pretty delicious.

I decided hotel should be renamed Fawlty Towers. The waiter, who was the barman last night, was rushing round like Manuel, there was no milk and the omelette was rather greasy and salty. We were late getting off for what was to prove to be a very long day. Lunch was taken in a very scenic cattle shed complete with cow pats. It was Susan’s birthday and we hadn’t stopped for long when a group of men appeared bringing wine, brandy and chocolate. Several of the girls got propositions of marriage and a right old party ensued. CJ had to move things along as we still had a very long drive ahead of us so the party moved back to the truck and much very unmelodious singing took place for several hours until at about 9.00 p.m. one by one the revellers crashed!

One of the many landslides on the road

On arrival we were allocated out homestays. The single women rather drew the short straw with damp rooms, non flushing toilet and a huge hole in the wash basin but the guest house was warm and comfortable and the food fantastic. I have decided I really like Georgian cooking with the stuffed cheese bread, dumplings filled with meat, spicy garlicy aubergine meze and cornflour and cheese patties along with delicious honey and other delicasies.