Day 1
This trip was a bit of a weird one because we really didn’t know until the last moment whether the trip would happen – thanks to the temperament of the US president. Thankfully the heads of the other Gulf states talked him out of it. So, after a short sleep due to an amazing Split Enz concert at the Tik Tok centre, we flew out to Dubai at 6am on the 19th of May.
We had a 12 hour stop over in Dubai so headed to a hotel for some sleep before getting a taxi back to terminal 2 for our budget (Dubai Air) flight to Tbilisi. The airport obviously served the Middle East and Sth Asia as the crowd matched the destinations. Our flight got called so Dits and joined the queue. I asked Dits about the religion of Georgia – Orthodox Christian was the reply. We both wondered why so many of our fellow passengers wore turbans and veils. Something wasn’t right. I checked the board again – the queue we were in was a flight to Amman, Jordan. Wrong gate! By the time we got to our gate (thankfully only one over) they were calling our names. Well, the easier one of the two – Bliss!! Dodged a camel there.
The flight to Tbilisi was just under 5 hours. Looking out the window, we could see a lot of snow in the highland of Georgia, but it was very green in the valleys neat Tbilisi. It’s not mandatory to prove that you have travel insurance before entering the country – we were a bit nervous whether our bland Amex note would suffice but the very friendly customs girl just waived us though after the obligatory photo. Dits had pre-sorted the Bolt app, so we did not have to haggle with the dodgy locals trying to sell their cheap taxi rides. The ride into the old town and our AirBnB took 30 minutes with Liam Lawson behind the wheel. It’s going to be fun driving around this country later in our trip.
We had a bit of trouble finding our apartment – insert url. We had a photo of the entrance however upon eventually finding it, it looked like it had aged 20 years. While the building was decrepit – like a lot of buildings in the old town – the apartment itself was lovely.
We decided to try walk off some of the jet lag by getting our SIM cards and some cash. We headed into Liberation Square, a mere 100m from our apartment to sort. There was a lot of activity in the square – flashing lights on cop cars and a whole lot of building going on. Preparation for Independence Day on 26 May when Georgia became independent from the Russian Federation in 1917. It was ‘retaken’ by the Soviet Republic in 1922 and then reestablished independence in 1991. They had another stoush in 2008. Interestingly there were quite a bit of “Fuck Russia’ graffiti around the place. We grabbed a couple of MAGTIC sims (about $30 for unlimited data over 1 month) but could not find an ATM. Every Bank of Georgia ATM on google maps didn’t exist. It was fine though as eftpos was everywhere. I eventually found one while Deryn was browsing a local market.
We walked for about 14km exploring the old town. We were amazed at how many of the buildings appeared as is if they we about to topple over and yet people were still living in them. I would hate to think what would happen to the old town if an earthquake hit. Fingers crossed. There was also quite a few old, mostly tagged dogs sleeping everywhere, cared for by the local communities. The highlights of the afternoon were the leaning clock tower in Shavteli Street; the Anchiskhati Basilica – Tbilisi’s oldest church built in the 6th century and the Bridge of Peace. We stopped for a coffee in the very cool vegan called Café Leila. It was so good we returned there for dinner.
On the return home from dinner, we encountered a lot of soldiers preparing for the upcoming celebrations. What struck us was how young they appeared and how all the tall soldiers were in front and the short arses at the back. Interestingly they were all in camouflage fatigues.
Day 2
Had a better night sleep so were eager to go but unfortunately nothing opens in Tbilisi until 9 am. We had breakfast at Paul’s – a recommendation from the AirBnB host. Great omelettes and coffee. It was then up the famous Betlemi Street Stairs and 340 steps to the aluminium (formerly wooden) statue of the Mother of Georgia – she holds a bowl of wine to welcome friends and a sword to defend her homeland. You realise that defending the homeland is a constant theme given the yoke of the nation to the north. It was a relatively leisurely walk and was great for enjoying the view across Tbilisi. Unfortunately, the famous Narakila Fortress was closed for renovations. So, we grabbed the cable car down ($3.50 for 2) and after wandering around the very touristy Metekhi Church we decided to hike up the hill to check out the impressive Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi. Also known as the Semeba Cathedral
The cathedral certainly was impressive. It was constructed between 1998 and 2004. The grounds are impressive although I hate that walking into the Cathedral you run a gauntlet of beggars. On that note we have come across very few beggars in the Old Town. Apparently, it’s a policy to move them on in areas where there are plenty of tourists. We headed back to our apartment for a well-earned rest before heading down to the famous sulphur baths. We grabbed a couple of chicken Lobiani (pasties) for lunch. Cheap and cheerful.
We tried to find the cheap public baths but decided to spoil ourselves with the private version. For 150GEL (about $80) you got a private bath plus showers and an adjoining room for an hour. Also meant you could do away with togs. It was lovely although spending an hour took a little bit of effort. Dits grabbed a 30 min massage after ($30). We had a lovely early dinner at Makmani afterwards. Eating out in restaurants here is a fair bit cheaper than Sydney if you keep away from the touristy areas. For example, our meal at Makmani – a shared starter, a couple of mains and 2 glasses of wine for Dits was GEL107 ($55). The food was particularly good.
We headed away early the next morning to walk to a famous backpackers called Fabrika which had been a conversion from a warehouse. It was certainly very funky and looked like a fun place to stay. $30 for unlimited wine and shots for party games night. We then took the scenic route to the Georgian National Museum.
The museum was interesting – Georgian fauna was once remarkably diverse and included hyenas, wild cats and some massive boars. The degree to which the country had been dominated by the Russians was confronting. Since the 2008 exchange, 20% of Georgian territory is still occupied by Russia. Russia is supporting the separatists in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia and has a lot of military bases there. We head up to Stepantsminda tomorrow morning which is close to South Ossetia. Let us hope the Ruskies behave.
