Georgia Trip – Day 1 City Tour (Tbilisi)
Travel is not just about sightseeing – it is a change that goes on in the way you will live.
Who doesn’t need a break after living a hectic, busy life in a megalopolis city of Dubai. Thought to head out and try a backpack trip in hiking the beautiful scenery of greens in Georgia. In just a short notice, I packed my bags and headed to the airport. My friends only knew last minute, that I was going, but somehow one of them managed to join me.
Hello Tbilisi (Gamarjoba Tbilisi). We arrived early morning, so we slept for few hours, had a quick breakfast. We readied ourselves for our tour – The country of Georgia, located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. We started visiting the Old Town National District. Downtown Brunswick buildings dating back to the 19th century Victorian era.
Next on the list was the Freedom Square. This landmark is located right at the center of Tbilisi at the eastern end of Rustaveli Avenue.
After the fruitful and tiring walk around the city, we went for some energy lunch at People’s Café & Restaurant. I thought of trying something new so I had this “Pelmeni”, Russian meat dumplings, which I really liked. The ambiance of the place is just fantastic and relaxing.
After that, we rode a cable car from Europe Square to get to Narikala Fortress. Passing the “Bridge of Peace” or “Peace Bridge”. Anyway, the bridge is located over the Mtkvari River in the Capital of Georgia. We hopped down the cable car and proceeded to the statue of the Mother of Georgia. After a few breathtaking pictures, snaps from the top, we hiked up to the ancient fortress that is overlooking the capital city. The fortress was a great sight as well considering its age.
We had our dinner at the Assa Hall Restaurant. After a long and tiring walk around the city, “Khinkali” filled with spiced meat and mushrooms, is just the best thing to eat. Make sure to use your hands, garnish it with black pepper, bite a little and sip in the juice to savor and enjoy it. The waiter also recommended the thirst quencher freshly made lemonade. I must admit that this was the first time I have tried the best tasting lemonade ever.
Advice/Tip: You can easily cover the city the whole day on foot. Just wear your best comfortable shoes or sneakers, especially if you wouldn’t want to miss to climb up the Narikala Fortress and enjoy fascinating view of the city and the forest.
Weekend at Georgia – Kakheti, Sighnaghi | Bodbe Monastery | PheasantTears | Meidan Bazaar | Metekhi Church | Turtle Lake | Magti Club
Me and my friend woke up from our beautiful sleep and we all decided to have a great breakfast at the Machakhela Restaurant. We tried another Georgian dish called, “Khachapuri”, which comes in different variations. But we tried “Acharuli Khachapuri”(cheese and egg bread) along with different lemonade flavours.
After breakfast, we headed to the Kakheti region. We also visited another place famous for their wine productions, Sighnaghi. While on the road, our driver which is also our tour guide shared some insights about Georgia’s history. He mentioned a few names have inspired such terror as “Tamerlane” or more properly known as Timur. Amir Timur was remembered as a vicious conqueror who razed ancient cities down to the ground. He believed kings should rule with an iron fist.
Our next destination was Bodbe Monastery. The monastery now functions as a nunnery and is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Georgia. We also visited the church dedicated to St. Nina, the enlightener of Georgia.
The next stop on the list was the winery, Pheasant’s Tears. They produce wines according to the ancient traditions handed down to them by the Georgian traditions.
Advice/Tip: Going from Tbilisi to Bodbe and Sighnaghi will take you approximately 5-6 hours ride back and forth, so to enjoy the ride like we did, ask your driver to play some cool Georgian music. Also, always carry water and perhaps some wine, since wine is better tasting and cheap as well. “Gagvimarjos” (Cheers!)
Our next day started slow and we all got up by lunch time. After lunch, we decided to visit Meidan Bazaar. It’s an underground shopping place where you can buy typical souvenir gifts, wine, Georgian arts and crafts, churchkhela and many more.
Another exciting part of our adventure is to witness a Georgian Wedding at the Metekhi Church, and the 1960s equestrian statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali beside it. The wedding is beautiful and entertaining – so cheerful and noisy. They started with a few dances before the ceremony began. And yes, there’s a lot of people witnessing the wedding. It is their tradition to somehow reach to hundreds of participants. Another thing I have learned in Georgia is that they take their toasts seriously. On every occasion, let’s say for this wedding, the “Tamada” (Toastmaster), will urge anyone to say a toast for the bride and groom. The ceremony ended with series of cars driving up and down the busy streets of Tbilisi while beeping their horns as loud as they can to give way to the new married couple.
It was a tiring day so we went straight to the nearest spa to get ourselves and try the famous Sulfur Bath and a massage to ease our bodies. It was really refreshing and stress relieving which was what we needed because of our long days of travel. So far, the trip was fun and we were looking forward to the next place we would wind up in.
Advice/Tip: For pure relaxation, head to “The Thai Spa” close to Freedom Square. This is where I got the best massage I’ve not had in years.
The next day, Justin, another friend followed and we went to see a Georgian friend named Giorgi. I just realized after my 3 weeks stay in Georgia that almost all of the men were named “Giorgi”. Why? I don’t know because my handsome friend refused to answer my question. Ha! Well, surely after reading this, he will send us his kind response. 😉
Then we had a trip to the Turtle Lake. As we went on exploring the lake, we found a pretty nice hammock and rested there for some time. While watching the kids enjoying the trampoline, my friend got a little bit jealous. So he asked the guys if they will allow him and they said of course “Yes”!
Right after, he’s pushing me to go for it as well as the rest of the guys. Though hesitant and afraid, I went on to it and was screaming like a girl, ah yes you heard it right, like a little girl as the guy is trying to pull me up so I would reach as high as I can. It was a little bit scary, but indeed a cool experience. As we kept on walking, and enjoying the view, now Justin is up for swimming. Imagine how cold it was?! Since I don’t have extra clothes with me, I opted not to. But he on the other hand, swam in his underpants without any extras with him. After a few minutes, heavy wind and rain started pouring down. Would’ve loved to enjoy the rain, but since it was too cold and getting really heavy, we had to hurry. We ran into a covered area while waiting for the rain to stop. Later, we needed to run as fast as we could to find a café in the area as we were hungry as well. I was shivering but the café was so warm and cozy. They offered blankets and we enjoyed the savory Georgian dish they served with my favorite Saperavi red wine.
Meanwhile, the rain stopped and Giorgi was there to pick us up because we are going to dance. What? Yes, to a salsa place called “Magti Club”. We attended a workshop by Achiko Zarnadze – a special guest in New York to teach us New York style turn patterns. It was a fun night of Salsa, Bachata, Cumbia, Merengue, Reggaeton, Latin, Urban and many more… Not to mention it was Justin’s first Salsa lessons and yes, still had his wet stuff on. Ssshhh… Well, I guess that was a lot better, since it wasn’t that obvious. Unlike me, I was wearing flip flops and a rain dried top on. Imagine? While everyone else was on their sexy dresses, high heels and dancing shoes. Whew! But we had a fantastic night! Needless to say, Giorgi is an amazing dancer, see for yourself in this video clip.
http://youtu.be/Ak1wn6qQW60
And of course the after party was hosted by Giorgi at his place. There we continued drinking a few more glasses of our favorite Saperavi red wine while exchanging few good personal experiences and culture. That night was filled with inspirational toast led by our Tamada, Giorgi, who taught us how important every toast was. Drinking had a meaning after every toast we shared… Truly, it was an awe-inspiring night full of happiness, laughter and dreams. “Travel is not just about sightseeing – it is a change that goes on in the way you will live.”
Week 2 at Georgia – Kobuleti | Batumi | Prometheus Cave | Kutaisi | Gori | Stalin Museum | Uplistsikhe | Kazbegi | Gergeti Holy Trinity Church | Shavnabada Monastery | Beer Festival | Gino Paradise Aqua Park
Early wake up call. So from the Tbilisi central railway station, we had our breakfast and waited for the train as we were about to visit an entirely different city which is Batumi. The train would cost you around 40GEL and approximately, a 6 hour ride (one way). As we were seated, four other people were in the same cubicle with us. Fun and excitement started with a smile from a lovely woman, asking “Are you guys from Malaysia?” We said, no. So she tried again until finally she guessed we’re from the Philippines. Then we had a good conversation about our travel experiences as two other people also joined the conversation while Miss Natusa gave us tips and hints about the other amazing sights in Georgia.
We found ourselves down in the town of Kobuleti. Remember the new friends we made a while back? One of them, the lovely woman, Miss Nino, showed us around her friends restaurant and guesthouse. We danced, had a tour around the beach and the delicious “Kachapuri” for lunch was complimentary served. It was an awesome feeling that we were all very much welcomed by everyone.
We bid Miss Nino and friends farewell, and thanked them for their hospitality. We took a bus from Kobuleti to Batumi for1GEL (Gregorian Lari), it took us approximately 30mins to get to the city. We dropped our bags in the hostel and started exploring the coast of the black sea and strolled around Batumi. It’s an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia which serves as an important port and a center of commercialism. Many products can be found here exclusively including its rich agricultural production side of many citrus fruits and different kinds of tea.
Mesmerized by the beautiful architecture of Batumi (“The City of Love and Longing”) which reminded me of Vienna, of course we couldn’t miss to take few good pictures. Passing Piazza, located on the central square in Batumi, we took a short ten minute walk from the Black sea beach. After a fun and quick bicycle ride in the area, we called it a day, brought wine and started drinking and chatting with a few other travelers in the hostel.
That Tuesday, we stayed around the city of Batumi for a while longer and decided to go take a walk by the beach, swam, chilled and even got ourselves tanned. We met cool kids who were selling refreshments, we shared good laughs together as we teach them English in return for every Georgian word they taught us. As much as I love the beach, the best thing that makes me go crazy is the amazing view of the sky. The much awaited sunset set in at 9pm, (Georgia time). As expected, it was incredibly amazing.
Not to mention that it was also the football fever season, so we went to Piazza for a good dinner and watched the match between Germany and Brazil. I guess everyone knew how Germany nailed the game. Kudos!
Getting ready for another exciting adventure again, we got up early and went to the nearest bus station to venture the Prometheus Cave at Kutaisi. The ticket price which cost 7GEL is very reasonable, so I’d say it would be worth your money to see this place.
After, I have met one of the best taxi drivers in Georgia we enjoyed every minute ride as he was playing traditional Georgian music, you’ll be surprised as well as he talks a lot but not even a single word in English. Hehe.. But then again, it was so much fun! Thanks for the unforgettable ride.
Gori was this stronghold used in the middle ages as a strategic importance due to its unique location. We took an hour ride to arrive at the Stalin Museum. This museum was dedicated to the life of Joseph Stalin.
Shortly after our trip at the Stalin Museum, we travelled to Uplistsikhe, the ancient rock-hewn town east. The town is found on a high rocky and as we were crazy for adventure, we went to the highest peak of the cave took breathtaking pictures and started screaming.(hhoooooohh!)
Our adventure that day was fruitful and we got to explore and see more of the beauty of Georgia. The end of the day came and we all decided to go back to Freedom Square, where we had fun singing karaoke. With a few bottles of wine, Justin had to go to the airport and head back to Dubai. I think he had a really good flight after those bottles of wine. Ha!
The next few days went by fast. I got some rest that Thursday and by Friday, Giorgi and I went for a hike at Kazbegi, a village in the north of Georgia. From the Didube bus station we took the minibus called “Marshrutka” to Kazbegi which would cost you 10GEL (one way). As we reached the town of Kazbegi, we started hiking for an hour to Gergeti Holy Trinity Church and back.
That weekend, we visited Shavnabada Monastery. This place was named after St. George. This monastery is also known for its rare wines which is also called Shavnabada. We had a picnic there with Giorgi’s friends. It was really a great time to bond with one another, sharing stories and adventures we all have had together. We also went to the local Beer Festival that was held. Another chilled evening and probably one of the best season to go for a holiday is when there’s a festival.
The Beer Festival was great, it ended with fireworks and meeting new friends. Not counting the hangover on the next day though…
Giorgi was an amazing host, tour guide and a friend. Another thing why I enjoyed Georgia the most are its people. Georgians in general are very hospitable, friendly and very helpful. So I was lucky enough to have chosen this country and met awesome people I probably never knew existed.
Brand new day, so I have decided to move to G hostel in Marjanishvili for a new scenario. We had our lunch at Karvasla together with Gaga, another awesome Georgian I met. It was a grand time meeting a Japanese couple Keith and Yumi, who were so sweet and very helpful as well. We proceeded to Gino Paradise Aqua Park for an open beach party. We had a fantastic time there dancing, swimming and chilling.
The whole world knows that it’s football fever, we did our habit of watching football, relaxed and chilled together. There, we just started to hang around and mingle with other travelers.
Week 3 at Georgia – Caucasus Mountains | Mestia | Café Riho | SkiResort | Laila’s | Glaciers | Ushuguli |Tkibuli
July 15, Tuesday. I have decided to go to Mestia, so went to the bus station, which is close to the central railway station for the earliest bus or “Marshrutka” at 7am to see just a bit more of Georgia. This small town was actually known as Svaneti when it was first built.
As I arrived in Mestia around 2pm with few stop overs, I met a young couple from Poland, named Jacek and Karolina. Jacek was kind enough to help me find a nice guesthouse. 1 big room with breakfast for only 20GEL per night. After dropping my things, he introduced a local friend. He offered to show me around and we went up to the Mestia Ski Resort. We enjoyed the cable car going up with the cool breeze and sweet scent of flowers.
On the next day, Levan, the son of the guesthouse owners was in town and offered to show me around as well to see the Glaciers of Georgia. Was so grateful for his offer and couldn’t say no. So we were up so early and hiked up the hill until we reached the stoney part of the area. I saw pieces of stones piled up, Levan told me that it’s a tradition. For those who have come up here, will put up one stone on top of it. So I picked up a stone and placed it on top of the little pink flower which Levan gave me. The glaciers were a good sight to see, it was a little bit cold, but a lovely day as well.
Thursday came and we got the chance to visit Ushguli, 4-5 hours from Mestia. I met a cool Czech couple and a Dutch wanderer named Danny. We traveled together and stayed there for a short while, went up and down the hills. My favorite part was we were on top of the highest hill, everything was green, horses and cows everywhere, with the best view of the Caucasus Mountains. I was so tempted to go trekking the white beautiful mountains, but managed hold up myself for my next adventure to make sure that I’m fit and ready to trek for a few days.
Advice/Tip: Before heading to Ushguli, make sure you have your anti-repellent creams/lotions on. Large scary flies are everywhere and could be very harmful to your health and Oh! Watch out for the cow poo as well…
Evening came, then we all had some dinner and drinks at this café called Café Riho. The place had a really good feel to it and many of the customers seem to have been enjoying and of course, so were we. Met Sandro and his friends, we had some drinks to get the conversations started and of course to keep things interesting. After that night, we all decided to hang out at Laila’s and played a tricky game together. It was a long night, but really fun and it also ended well too.
Levan’s Mom woke me up so I wouldn’t miss the first and last bus going back to Tbilisi. She also prepared breakfast, made sure I’m stuffed before heading out. She was so kind and nice, overall I had a pleasant stay at their guest house. Thanks Mom or should I say Levan’s Mom.
Arrived late in Tbilisi, but Levan was there to pick me up, rested for the whole night, washed my clothes and prepared myself for another spectacular journey.
The following day, we had a joyride with Levan and friends to Tkibuli. Spent little time I had left in Georgia, meaningful and enjoyed the scenery too.
Early morning came I decided to go for another adventure. Went as early as I can to the bus station (Avlabari end Ortachala) and alas, soon I will reveal where was my next destination.
To be continued….
(Meanwhile, here’s a VIDEO CLIP that you will enjoy!)
