Kutaisi (Georgia) - Gori (Georgia)
15 September - 16 September 2016
15 September - 16 September 2016
Now it was time for us to hit the road. We headed east out of Batumi, making a few stops for waterfalls and parks along the way. The countryside here, and in actual fact, the whole country, is quite attractive and small gems can be found frequently.
In Batumi - on the way to Kutaisi - Georgia
On the way to Kutaisi - Georgia
Makhunseti Bridge - Georgia
Makhunseti Bridge - Georgia
Makhunseti waterfall - Georgia
Our first major stop of the day was Borjomi, a resort town in the south-central part of the country, known primarily for its mineral water industry. Borjomi mineral water itself is very well known throughout the old Soviet Union. A naturally carbonated mineral water whose taste is a little salty and minerally and not entirely to my taste, but who the hell knows, Mineral Waters of the world rates them 13th out of the hundreds of waters for bicarbonate levels - meaning that it's GREAT for hangovers (apparently). Still, the water is sold to 40 countries around the world and in 2012 appeared on the Fortune 500 list, so, successful enough.
We spent a few hours in Borjomi before making our way a few hours further east to what's traditionally known the second most important town in Georgia, Kutaisi.
Makhunseti waterfall - Georgia
Makhunseti waterfall - Georgia
Don't have a cow...man
Borjomi - Georgia
Borjomi - Georgia
Borjomi - Georgia
Borjomi - Georgia
Borjomi - Georgia
As I have come to recognise in Georgia, Kutaisi is another attractive looking destination. With elegant tree lined streets, and 19th century houses stretching down the banks of the Rioni River, plus a plethora of attractive parks, its an entirely pleasing place to walk through and appreciate. Serene, chilled, attractive. It's an inviting place without having any 'big gun' attractions to draw in the real masses.
The city is really known for the medieval monastic complex near the city, Gelati, which we went to investigate the next day.
Gelati monastery sits atop of a hill with commanding regional views, but here its what's on the inside that really counts. Filled with murals and an abundance of imagery surrounding both the interior and exterior, I always am amazed by the gravity and atmosphere in these places. I never really understand how a building can exude that weighty presence. Is it the sense of request for quiet that does it or is it really a distinctive energy that collectively builds over the centuries. I never can understand how that transference works but Gelati monastery had it in spade.
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Built during the age of the Byzantine Empire, it is known for its gold aesthetic in both the paintings and in the building, and to me, a it appears as a very typical style of Christian orthodox churches. It's known to be masterpiece of the Georgian Golden Age and of course is recognised as being a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Galeti Monastery - Kutaisi - Georgia
Making our way to Gori I finally
got the opportunity to drive and show myself as the ambi-laned driver in a
world of bidirectional traffic. Somehow we Australians sit in the 35% minority
of countries that drive on the left-hand side of the road.
Out of interest I did look up
countries that chose to switch over from LHT to RHT relatively late in the
piece and discovered to my surprise that Sweden actually did the switch over in
1967 with Iceland topping them by switching over the next year. An interesting
side point to my ambi-lane driving skill and only support me in the fact that I
have managed RHT quite well in most countries, even in Georgia, until such time
that the 4WD we’d been utilising decided to come to an uneasy halt on the
highway about 80kms out of Gori. All on my watch.
For some reason I felt
responsible. Of course I wasn’t but damn, sometimes the stars just align and
sometimes they conspire against you.
We spent something like 3 hours
in the car waiting for support from Gori and damn me if Annija didn’t nearly
drive me to a nervous breakdown by introducing a game where I needed to guess
the rules of engagement simply by asking questions. The game, My nearest neighbour on my right, is one
where one person gets to ask questions from individuals in the group who in
turn can only respond on behalf of the traits of the person on their right hand
side. The discovery phase nearly killed me. I almost flipped out trying to
figure out the key to this game. What
sort of evil torture was this???
Several hours later we had a substitute
vehicle delivered to us and we ended up arriving in Gori later in the evening.
The intensity and vibrancy of Gori - Georgia
Gori - Georgia
What else can you do in Gori? - Georgia
Honestly I didn’t know too much
about Gori before arriving. I was told that it had been the birthplace of
Joseph Stalin, and the number of times we were advised to go to the J.Stalin
museum was testimony enough that he was a big kahuna here. Additionally I did
know that Gori was browbeaten during the Russo-Georgian war of 2008 with
Russian military doing quite a bit of damage in the town, suppressing a Georgian
uprising.
History aside, Gori gained a
small place of notoriety in my mind by making the list of boring as bat-shit
places that I had visited in my travels, and admittedly that’s not an extensive
list but I have placed it at #3 on the list after Phonsovan (Laos) & Rio
Turbio (Argentina). Congratulations Gori, your one open bar, one strange
reception and bland on bland on bland has earned you a place in eternal
boredom.
