Gorgeous-stan

"Gurjistan" in Azerbaijani, Georgia was Gorgeoustan to us. We had a wonderful, week-long trip there in October, with three travelling buddies from TISA.  We love those overnight train rides, and the Baku-Tbilisi run did not disapoint.  Very old but comfortable cars. At the border we fill out exit cards that ask us if we happen to be transporting radioactive materials, weapons/ammo, or psychotropic drugs, and to fill in the year following "199_".

Studying a little Azerbaijani on the long train ride

Georgia is just to the north of Azerbaijan but so different. Greener, more cosmopolitan, more lively, more fun.  More blue jeans than Baku, and hardly any suits.

We took a day trip to Mtskheta, the"s spiritual heart" of the country. A lovely town and UNESCO world heritage site, studded with fine medieval churches.

Tbilisi is a lovely city. An Azeri lady told me that Tbilisi is what Baku looked like 20 years ago, before all the riffraff removal, sandblasting and uplighting of building facades.

We walked all over the downtown and old city area, enjoying the architecture and the vibe.



On the metro

Tom guided us on a circular route through the Botanical Gardens, up to the ridge overlooking Tbilisi, past a statue we came to call Lady Viagra, and on to the old fortress.

From Tbilisi we went to Davit Gareja, sweeping vistas and rock-hewn monastery caves, some with Byzantine frescoes. Views acrss a barren moonscape to the south and Azerbaijan. As we passed the crest of the ridge Nicoles' cell phone goes off, startling us all--suddenly we were in range of Azercell... 

the active monastery at Davit Gareja

old caves

reached the top--Yay!

Next stop Signaghi, a gorgeous hill town reminiscent of Italy. We walked along the city walls. And ate wonderful food

Kachapuri!

 On to Kazbegi, Caucasus village near the border with South Ossetia and Ingushetia, with the 17,000 foot Mt. Kabek looming nearby.  We stay at "Maria's Guesthouse", no sign. A light snow falling, we walk along the village streets to the main drag,  passing wandering cows. At a restaurant, we have some wonderful soup. We hear that the power has been out for two days. As we enjoy the warmth of the place it comes back on, and the restaurant manager rushes to turn on the flat screen TV, to the same Russian soft porn station we had had breakfast by in Tbilisi some days ago.

At a photo stop there is a busload of men who start throwing snowballs at each other in fun. They look different, many wearing flat topped hats. We ask our driver where they are from. Chechnya he says. A Chechen snowball fight!

On the way back to Tbilisi we note lots of traffic to and from Armenia. A sign reads "Tehran 1240 km".

We had a great trip!

K consults the book