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Published: August 2nd 2023
Kutaisi
Kutaisi University I took the train from Tbilisi to Kutaisi, the journey is on a older Soviet era train, but it works fine. While slightly slower than the road route, it's lot more scenic and comfortable.
Kutaisi is the second largest city in Georgia, towards the west of the country. It's also much smaller than Tbilisi, accounting for 5% of population of Georgia versus Tbilisi which is nearly 35%.
This was also my first experience of a homestay in Georgia and the hosts were super kind and caring.
I explored the city the first day and tried Khinkali, a dumpling which is a traditional dish here. It can be stuffed with vegetables, meat, whatever you choose and full of a soup equivalent inside (so best eaten with hand).
The next day I took a Marshrutka to the Gelati Monastery.
During the early 12th century, when King David the Builder rules Georgia, Kutaisi was the capital and he built this monastery. While much of the monastery is covered with scaffolding and undergoing repairs, the murals were absolutely stunning.
From Gelati Monastery, I hiked to Motsameta Monastery, closer to Kutaisi. Known to be an easy hike (it's mostly flat
Kutaisi
Streets of Kutaisi or downhill from Gelati to Motsameta), what the don't tell you is that the last 500 meters is a relatively steeper decline and if it has rained the day before or that day, then it's very slippery. I had to be very careful in that part (slipped a couple of times). And towards the end of the hike, you come to a hanging bridge which barely has footings. I was hiking alone and it was not the safest bridge I have crossed, but I nonetheless crossed it. Just putting facts and images here if it helps someone. I was using Mapy.CZ for the route.
Motsameta Monastery, thankfully had no scaffoldings, was much simpler but clearly popular. There were multiple recently wedded couples who had come their for blessings and photoshoots (so can get a bit crowded).
I returned to Kutaisi and went on to the only Indian restaurant in town (was craving some Indian food).
The restaurant I went to is actually run by a few students of Gujarat who are studying Medicine in Georgia.
Georgia has about 10,000 Indian students doing MBBS, it's popular with the students given its quality of education and costing.
Gelati Monastery
Gelati Monastery The restaurant food was home cooked food type, which I loved (and advise the guy running it to finish his medicine course but to start a restaurant 😊
Next day, I explored Kutaisi itself, the botanical garden and Bagrati Cathedral.
The botanical garden, while small was beautiful. It also has this one tree into whose bark a church has been carved out (it's the first time for me inside a tree).
Bagrati Cathedral, originally built in 11th century was badly damaged over the years and the current construction is from the 1950s and a round of reconstruction in 2012 which seems to have the reason why the Church was removed from UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. But it was still a beautiful site and the views of Kutaisi from the top were amazing.
Having again dined at the Indian restaurant, next day it was time for me to head to the mountains.
I enjoyed Kutaisi a lot, it's much quieter, has enough interesting places around and the small city charm is never too far away.
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