March 17, 2023 to April 7, 2023
More Adventures in Georgia and Armenia
Again this section was pretty rushed writing in Kazakhstan during any free time trying to endlessly catch up with writing and editing photos. For more regular updates follow my Instagram account @oliverspalton
Had a very warm welcome back into Georgia with a man screaming down his phone the entire way in the taxi from the airport, I even picked up on a lot of the bad words he was saying (thanks for teaching me Gio). So happy to be back in the country, temperature was 18 Celsius and I was sat in the sun eating khachapuri after a very cold night sleeping in a polish airport on a 6 hour layover. Whilst I was in Kutaisi I made the most of the sun and hitchhiked out to Gelati monastery, one of the main attractions in the region overlooking the valleys below. Monks walked around in traditional robes bossing around and helping construction workers to lay down some pipes.
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Was thrilled to see Mari again who joined me from Tbilisi to visit Tskaltubo again and spend sometime in Kutaisi, this time with an actual camera to get some awesome shots!(see previous post for more on Tskaltubo).
Sad I had to leave so early last time I revisited the family in Moliti for a wholesome few days, this time meeting Tamo, the mother of the family who welcomed me in with a warm heart into their home. When I arrived Tsiala (the grandmother) had prepared a huge pot of my favourite Lobio and gave me a huge hug. Every morning she would also prepare fresh Khachapuri for the family, I discovered marmite with khachapuri is an amazing combination but Giorgi and Tsiala were not so convinced after trying it. Giorgi drove us back down the bumpy dirt track to Kharagauli, the same one I spent many painful hours on my bike previously (it is not that much better in the car). I helped out in his English class, meeting his friends and even his crush who he hoped to invite on a date soon, when I asked about where he wanted to take her he responded with McDonalds in Kutaisi, a 3 hour journey away. I found out later from Mari that this was actually quite common here, people wear their best dress to go and see it as a special occasion. I still dont understand this.
Back to Tbilisi on the train to spend another couple of weeks here. I hoped to get out to other regions in the country such as the high mountains in Tusheti and Svaneti but it was unfortunately far too cold and snowy for this. I was happy to spend time in and around Tbilisi though for a different experience to last time, avoiding the rainy days spent with Mari around art galleries featuring Georgia's thought provoking artists and photographers . On sunny days I loved wandering around the old town, walking into old apartment blocks and marvelling at the original detail work over the buildings which often included grand staircases, colourful stained glass windows and open painted ceilings. The art-nouvauu style architecture has a definite Persian influence which has thankfully survived over the soviet rule where new and still impressive buildings were introduced around the city with a totally different style.
As the weather was heating up I travelled out of the city for an overnight hike to Assureti, evidence of the winter ending and spring beginning made me eager to start cycling again. Assureti is an old German settlement, evident in its traditional architecture. It felt strange seeing this in the middle of Georgia but it looked beautiful blended with the classic Georgian Tkemali trees in blossom.
Photos from Tbilisi Botanical Gardens
I couldnt miss out on a chance to go to Armenia whilst I was in the region, a short 6 hour shared taxi ride with the driver stopping every 20 minutes at butchers to talk for some reason got me to the capital city. Yerevan had a very different feel to Tbilisi and the closer ties with Russia were very evident, with large soviet apartment blocks scattered the city and I saw advertisements for Russian vodka wherever I went. Spending more time there I saw the more authentic and original Armenia, pre-soviet era, with its vibrant colours and energy present in traditional dress, artwork and dance, much closer to Persia than Russia. A highlight was the museum of Sergei Parajanov, who was regarded as one of the most influential film makers in history with his unique cinematic style. The museum showcased a vast range of his imaginative works, including works from his 5 year prison sentence where he was incarcerated for being homosexual under soviet rule.
I decided to hitchhike back to Tbilisi for fun as I wanted to visit a few places on the way including Sevan Lake and Dilijan. It took a total of 6 rides to get back and I didnt arrive until late but it was great to meet so many locals who would stop after not much waiting at all.
Not much time in Tbilisi before heading back out to Borjomi nature reserve with Sebastian and Ben. We read about a cabin up at 1800m and with some of us more prepared than others (Ben brought a duvet and sandals with no sleeping mat or rain coat,) we set off for a 2 day hike up through the mountain range. Lower levels were serene and peacefull walking through the forest in the sunshine, at higher altitudes the ground was covered in snow and it started raining, making Ben rather uncomfortable. Occasional clearances in the trees gave view to the forest below and snow-capped peaks in the distance, partially hidden in the mist. Some of us were relieved to make it to the hut after getting soaked by the rain, even more happy to see smoke coming out the chimney and 4 more hikers inside, 2 from Israel and 2 from Czechia. Turned out the chimney didnt work too well and after partial asphyxiation we decided to make a fire outside (in the rain which took a very long time to start) and cook roasted vegetables, eggs and rice. I loved getting to know everyone the next morning sitting in the sun on a perfect day after a chilly night in the cabin. Climbed up to 2200m for a 360 degree view of the greater and lesser Caucasus, fresh spring water and even eagles! The way down was really beautiful with many more clearings revealing what we couldnt see yesterday, a cold mountain stream was a perfect place to wash and we scraped together the remanence of our food (a few rice cakes) for a picnic in the sun. Unfortunately no time to actually see Borjomi springs as we had to jump straight back onto the last minivan where the driver thinking he was Vin Diesel from Fast and Furious (he kind of looked like him to be fair) drove at top speed the entire journey, double overtaking lorries over bends and causing me to hit my head on the celling after each bump. We did complete the 2.5 hour journey in 1:45 though so I hope he is happy with his new PB.
With time running out in Georgia and so many more places I wanted to see, Mari and I hitchhiked out close to the Armenia border where we had read about a rainbow coloured valley, the only problem was we didnt know exactly where it was or how to get there. One driver picked us up and took us to a quiet lake where he would fish, not many clues here but in the next town we were told the way which was much further than we thought. Hiking down the track for 30 minute we quickly became aware that very few people were heading this way, we flagged down a jeep coming the other way, inside were 4 rugby photographers who warned us about huge Shepheard
dogs ahead who told us they felt vulnerable in their huge jeep, we wondered how we would fare just walking past. They also told us there is another 10Km at least to walk until we can reach the start. Not feeling like getting eaten by dogs or left out in the desert with no water, we made the decision to abandon the trip and catch a lift back with them. Wasnt all so bad though, walking through Rustavi we came across an abandoned zoo, rested in the sun by a lake and gave enough time to relax in the sulphur baths back in Tbilisi.
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These last few weeks flew by so fast, I wish I could stay longer in the country as there was still so much I wanted to see. I also felt upset saying goodbye to Mari after our short but sweet time spent together, I had a temptation to postpone my flight and stay longer but I needed to continue the journey with Sebastian to reach the Himalayas by summer and avoid crossing the desert too late. Boxing the bike up wasnt as hard as expected and the flights to Aktau, Kazakhstan were cheap at £50 (+£35+£35 for the bike and rucksack). One final Khachapuri at the airport and we boarded our flight in the glorious sunshine excited for the next chapter!
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