Desert Bats and Cats, Rainbow Mountains and Literally Shed Loads of Wine

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Today was a later start and we didn’t have to meet our guides until 8.15am, so what a lie in. We were first to arrive at Europe Square (that’s actually a roundabout) and met a guide AND a driver. We are going up in the world!The vehicle was an 8 seater that we shared with George from Italy, Christine from Switzerland (the third single female traveller I’ve met here) and two people from Germany, they may have been mother and son. Things of note that I’ve learned today is that scenes from the 9th Fast and Furious film were filmed in Georgia: the bits that they wanted to look like Russia. I’ll not be surprised to find out that our driver from yesterday had a starring role.As noticed before, people get up late in Georgia and even McDonalds doesn’t open until 9am, however the kids still go to school at 8am. I guess they make their own breakfast.Ever since I came across the rainbow mountains of China on Instagram I have wanted to go, so I was incredibly pleased to discover that Georgia also has rainbow mountains. Our guide slightly killed the magic by saying they they are also referred to as ‘Bacon Mountains’, but when you see the colours, it is understandable.We headed south-east, as the land went from urban to farm to desert. Not a sandy desert, but very dry with a lot of dead vegetation. The people here build small towers where their animals live on the lower floor and the body heat rises to keep the people warm on upper floors during winter where the temperature may fall to well below freezing. Also, the higher your tower, the more bragging rights you have.We passed a large rugby pitch, rugby being a very popular sport and similar to a local game, the name of which I missed. But I do remember that it’s a cross between rugby and basketball, using a ball filled with sand and people actually die playing it. So rugby sounds more appealing.Nearby was an old Russian military base that was abandoned in 2007. Troops would train there as the conditions were similar to that of Afghanistan. Sadly, they would do their shooting practice on monasteries that had survived for hundreds of years, causing more damage in a few years than had ever happened in centuries. The empty buildings are now used by Georgian refugees and shepherds during the winter when they come down from the mountains.Our guide claimed that there used to be a snake farm in the area too, the snakes’ poison being used for medicine. Locals are nervous about loose snakes in the area but our guide has never seen one and seemed rather dismissive of it all.The roads here were very rickety and not always shown on Google maps. Tourists have been known to try to use them with the cheapest of hire cars and breaking down, then trying to call taxis. I don’t know who, if anyone ultimately rescues them. Our vehicle was certainly struggling and at times was almost at a standstill when trying to negotiate tricky hills and potholes. All passengers were thrown about a lot and we got a lot closer than perhaps we would normally.Eventually we ended up at a small lake where it was very hot and we were to hike uphill (always uphill) to see the Rainbow mountains. It didn’t take long to find them, they’ve occurred due to once having been a seabed and the various sediment settling over time. It all looked pretty awesome and well worth climbing up in the heat to see. The walk around the lake and up the hills wasn’t tough as there were a lot of photo stops. World travel and passports came up in conversation and as always, people looked dumbfounded when talking about Brexit and worried to speak lest they offend us. Christine said ‘sorry for your loss’ and we thought she meant about all our freedoms due to leaving the EU, and yes, she felt bad for that (the Germans pointed out there her being Swiss wasn’t so lucky) but actually she was talking about the recent death of Queen Elizabeth. When we explained that it was of no concern to us, everyone made a collective sigh of relief and admitted that they couldn’t believe that the UK still did all this expensive royal stuff. The sun was strong, drying up one lake with fish dying in front of us. It was awful, I wanted to scoot them into a nearby bigger lake but that was impossible. Our guide pointed out that this is life (or death) and they will feed the birds. So that was a downer.Another bumpy drive took us to an amazing panoramic view of yet more rainbow mountains. I’d though that the lake trek was all of it, but I was woefully wrong. They stretched out for miles and I wandered off to take lots of photos, yes I was the last one back, but they’re the reason why I was here!The next stop was Natlismtsemeli Monastery dedicated to St John the Baptist. As always it was up a steep hill, but not a big tourist destination, so only two others were there when we arrived. Plus they have 6 cats! Actually two of them were adorable kittens! Once at the monastery, we had to climb further up to get to old caves and a tower at the top. Some of the paths were of the type that would very much be closed to the public were they in the UK. Our guide thought I was brave trying to film with a 360 camera as I climbed, I corrected him: foolish, not brave.Now this tower didn’t appear to have an entrance, but what it did have was a tiny hole in the hill below it. Small enough to crawl into, but the German lady chose not to. Through the hole, I found myself in a small cave where I could stand and walk to a very narrow spiral staircase in the corner. It was incredibly dark, but after a while, I realised that if I removed my sunglasses, I’d be able to see better. Something fluttered quickly by my face and I realised it was a bat! I didn’t mean to, but disturbed another when trying to look through a nearby hole in the wall.Another spiral staircase took me to a small room, where a ‘ladder’ took me further up. I say ladder, but it was a plank with a few bits of wood nailed to it, not dissimilar to what you see in a chicken coup, but far, far steeper. This took me to more stairs and finally the top of the tower.From the top we could see Azerbaijan which is only a couple of kilometres away. The watch towers (huts on stilts) for the Azerbaijan border patrols were visible, but there was little else. Our guide was surprised that we’d not been stopped at least once just to check our passports. I had brought mine as It was advised. We also saw watch towers for Georgian border control.More importantly, I’d been promised 6 cats. A ginger welcomed us when we pulled up and there was a tabby near the tower. Lower down there were two thin but happy kittens and I spent more time than Glyn approved of fussing them. The other two cats I never found, Glyn offered to leave me behind to find them, but I thought better of this.To go inside the monastery men had to wear long trousers and remove caps. Women had to cover their apparently unsightly heads and wear long skirts, we looked ridiculous and there weren’t even any monks around to get excited by the hair of two older women and a young Swiss lass. It was pretty small inside with colourful icons and I’m glad I saw it.The next stop was David Gareji Monastery which didn’t have such outdated views on women’s hair. As always, it was up a steep hill and was built around caves. I think these monks were more Jewish and the one I saw was a very jolly chap. It was an impressive piece of old architecture and I would have preferred it to the other one, only they had no cats.It was after 2pm before we headed off for lunch at the village of Udabno which is inaccessible by public transport. It was very much unvisited by foreigners until a Polish guy opened a hostel and restaurant there around 10 years ago. It was this restaurant where we had lunch and it was very good. I loved the setting, a hot desert with a warm breeze. Hardly anyone around, with a dog snoozing in the shade and a person lazily swinging in a hammock. It would look totally right in a road movie where the protagonists are hiding out in a lonely location from the authorities, having downtime for an emotional heart-to-heart before the final shootout.Our final stop was wine tasting on our way back to Tbilisi. This was at a big place, with vats so big they needed spiral staircases to get to the top. The wine isn’t made there but is stored at very cold temperatures. Glyn and George weren’t into tasting but joined the group, watching myself, Christine and the Germans chug wine.Unlike when we went to the cave city, the wine tasting was free and we were given generous amounts to try, including Georgian cognac. The cynic in me thinks this is probably to loosen tight purses, but whatever, it was fun. OMG, there were huge puddles on the floor and I asked if this was wine, but no, it was Chacha! This is a spirit at 45%! No, before you ask, I did not get down and drink it. Glyn said no.My purse string were loosened, mainly because I could buy take out! I bought 2 ltrs of wine to drink within Georgia (I have plenty of time for this and it’s better wine than that of the local shops) plus a couple of gifts. I found it hilarious to go to a lovely winery and come back with 2 litres of wine in an unmarked plastic bottle. It cost 22 laris which is about £7. Oh and in Georgia, red wine is drunk chilled. Because apparently if you drink it at room temperature, you only have one glass. Drinking it chilled means you have more. You can’t argue with that!

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