Being first and foremost adventurous types, we decided to make a weekend foray into the provinces. Since Georgia is such a small country, we didn't have to go far to get to a distinct region of eastern Georgia. This country is known for its wine (its number one export), and Kakheti is Georgia's wine-growing region. We decided to head for Kakheti's biggest town, Telavi, located maybe 100 kilometers northeast of Tbilisi.
Our trusty Lonely Planet guide gave us the lowdown on transportation. We took a taxi across town to the Isani metro station where the "shared-taxis" for Telavi congregate. Jen and I got mobbed immediately by desperate taxistas, hungry for our business. Our city cabdriver, a classy old gent, negotiated a deal for us and soon we were on our way to Telavi in a Mercedes taxi with two other passengers - a quiet college student who spoke some English and some guy in the front seat with a serious cigarette addiction (he smoked one every ten minutes for two hours straight).
Our driver drove like a bat out of hell (more on Georgian drivers in a future post). Believe me, its best not to pay attention to what the driver is doing. Luckily, the scenery got progressively nicer as we got further from Tbilisi. Eventually, the snow-capped Caucasus mountains came into view and soon we were pulling in to Telavi. Our driver took us straight to our hotel, the Rcheuli Marani, the best hotel (and restaurant, supposedly) in town. It was actually pretty nice, and our room was decent for $48 (breakfast for two included). We were about a ten minute walk from the center, so after we dumped our bags, we strolled into town.
On our way into town we saw our first Georgian Stalin monument (see photo). I guess Stalin is out of fashion in Tbilisi. Telavi seems like a pretty poor regional town. There isn't much in the way of new construction, and flashy "modern" stuff is simply not to be found. The center, as it were, is kind of run down except for a huge, completely incongruous fountain in the square in front of the castle. Oh yeah, they do have a really cool castle, right in the center of town, and the castle is kept in fine condition - very impressive. King Erekle II was born and died (in the same room) here in the 18th century. The castle (and Telavi for that matter) is on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley with the mighty Caucasus range beyond. The views from the castle were stunning.
Also impressive (to me anyways) was the market. Packed with traders and shoppers, the fruit and vegetables were some of the most beautiful I have seen anywhere. I found myself wishing I had a kitchen handy - the tomatoes, garlic, onions, mushrooms, greens and farm fresh cheeses looked mouthwatering. We wandered around for a while, then had a simple lunch of tomato, cucumber, bread, cheese, and mineral water.
After lunch, we decided to hop on a marshrutka (mini-bus) and travel 20 kilometers to Alaverdi, the regions most famous church complex. We met a young girl on the bus who spoke English. She informed us she was from Tusheti, the high, mountainous region directly to the north of Kakheti, and had been in Telavi visiting the dentist. We drove through a beautiful vineyard- strewn valley and suddenly, there was a huge edifice right on the side of the road: Alaverdi. There were several tour buses on the scene and large groups of Georgian tourists. We went inside the complex where Jen had to wrap a "skirt" around herself before we entered the church (she also had to wear her jacket on her head as a scarf). Alaverdi is a massive 11th century church, but very bare inside. There were lots of stern looking monks on the premises - one yelled at me to put away my camera while Jen snapped a few shots. The countryside and views around the church were incredibly beautiful - I don't think the photos do the place justice.
Anyway, we hopped the same marshrutka on its return journey to Telavi and were soon back in our hotel. We had decided to have a somewhat (for us) elaborate dinner to celebrate me finishing school this month. We had several Georgian specialties: eggplant w/ spicy walnut paste, mushrooms cooked w/greens, khinkali (meat dumplings), and roast pork w/ potatoes, in addition to delicious cheeses, bread, and some kind of homemade wine. It was quite good. After we retired for the evening, we were treated to a wild hours-long thunderstorm that had the rivers running high and the roads covered in mud and rocks the next morning when we returned to Tbilisi.
No comments:
Post a Comment