Death-defying canyon and caves trip in Georgia

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Day 6 Georgia. Thursday 15th Sept

Death-defying canyon and caves trip in Georgia



Our second trip of the holiday was booked via Viator. Departure time was 7am so we allowed ourselves a hefty 5 1/2 hours sleep to prepare. Claire’s snoring had woken me in the night and I woke up to see her balancing her pillow on her head. She cannot explain why and was back on top of he pillow by this morning. I have contacted the circus and asked if they need a pillow-balancer but haven’t had a reply as yet.

The walk to our meeting point this morning wasn’t as far as yesterday but Google maps took me up some steps that I hadn’t needed to climb so Claire was happy. The contrast between yesterday’s trip and yesterday is chalk and cheese. Our guide doesn’t appear to speak much English and is currently chatting away to either a Georgian or Russian in the front. He tried to tell us he drove trucks to Coventry but it took a while to think of the right words. I’m not sure we’re going to learn as much as we did yesterday!

There are two other people with us, a couple who live in Dubai. He is Algerian, she is from Myanmar and their common language appears to be English. We are currently on the way to a canyon and a cave and in a car this time. No welcome drinks, no free bottle of water and no explanation as yet as to what the hell is going on. At least we got out of Tiblisi before the traffic started!

It’s about an hour later now and I’m writing this in case we don’t make it. Our driver is a nutjob and is far from the only one. The amount of vehicles he has overtaken on blind bends is ridiculous and Claire will be glad she has slept through it. There has been loads of road construction going on which has added to the ‘fun’ and the number of times we have been head on with a huge lorry is scary. Speed limits….pah!! I bet he didn’t drive like this in Coventry!

Oh my freaking god. It’s got worse! He’s playing Britney Spears really loud! Imagine if I die and the last thing I heard was Britney ******** Spears! What if you have to listen to the last thing you heard for ever and eternity??? Nightmare!!!!

We just had a stop-off by the way with some communication problems. I managed to get a lobliani though which is a sort of flat bread with a bean paste in the middle. It was really good and not too bad as a last meal. He’s just turned the ‘music’ up again…..this is torture. I’m never booking with Viator again.

We’ve just stopped off in Kutaisi and had 10 minutes in the main square. There was a well-fancy fountain and a couple of interesting buildings that we have learnt nothing about. Our guide was more interested in telling us about drinking expensive creamy beer in Coventry. I will include pictures of course so you can see said fountain. I might let Claire Google it to find out some information. We did find out that the guy in the front seat is Russian. Hopefully Claire doesn’t interrogate him about the anti-Russian graffiti….

Next stop was the Prometheus cave which is a cave system 1.4km long. Our tour group consisted of about 100 people which was far too many. Things moved so slowly that we often missed the guide’s talk but, even if we got close enough, it was hard enough to hear her anyway. She did her talk in English and Russian but it was difficult to tell which was which.

The cave system was very impressive with lots of weird rock formations, as well as the usual stalagmites and stalagtites. There were lots of stairs and slopes so we both hit our exercise goals down there despite the slothlike visitors with us. It cost about £7 each, included a bit of a light show in one part and occasional music-thankfully not Britney Spears. Now let’s see how the pictures turn out!

At the end there was a free minibus back to the start where we were to meet our driver again. Claire was right behind me as we walked up the hill and then decided to do her usual wandering off trick. Apparently there was a man who looked a bit like me so she followed him… I’m going to have to get some sort of harness…. The driver went back down for her as I was going to give up….until I realised she has the room key….

Back in the car now and the music has moved on from Britney. It hasn’t improved though. At all. Ooh, we’ve just swerved round another car that was sat in the road looking like it had just been in an accident. We also saw some pigs running round loose earlier which is unusual.

I’m in hell. Harry Styles is playing.

It’s just after 5pm and we’re heading back dodging cows and ramps. Why the former sit and stand in the road is a mystery and none of them even flinch when we fly past and almost hit them. Thankfully the pigs keep out of the way.

We have just been to Martvili Canyon where we’re pretty sure we had been promised a 1-1 1/2 hour boat ride. Best get some food first… The food was nice but very small portions and we had to add some fried potatoes later as we would have been hungry. Entrance to the canyon was just over £5 while this fabled boat trip with rowing was just under £5. We grabbed some lifejackets and clambered into the inflatable boat.

We had two oars between four of us and I tried to make an effort but realised that someone at the back of the boat was doing all the rowing and steering which was probably for the best. I tried for some of it though but it didn’t make much difference.

So off we set down this canyon with spectacular scenery. We rounded the corner to see a waterfall and then we turned around and went back! It was great but wayyyy too short. There was then a short walk we could take for more spectacular views of the canyon. We even had a group photo with our new friends and talked about Ladas and stuff with our mate from Russia. We didn’t mention the war though….

We then took a huge risk and got back in the car to head back to Tiblisi….the music is still dreadful but a bit quieter. The driving is the same…

We’ve seen some amzing things today but there’s a hell of a difference between yesterday’s trip and today’s. Our driver is nice enough and helpful but hasn’t taught us anything. He has just started playing some Georgian music too so he’s not all bad. No, hang on, he’s on his phone now. Are there any driving laws here???

We made it back alive!! Not sure how but we are here. The couple from Dubai are going somewhere with him again tomorrow but at least they know what to expect….when to close your eyes and when to pray….

Claire has a new Myanmarian (?) friend on Instagram and we both have a new Russian friend on facebook. Oleg can read me ranting about our abysmal government on facebook now! Lucky Oleg!

We arrived back after 9pm so it’s been a long day. An enjoyable one and we have a lie in until 7am tomorrow! What a holiday!

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