Blogs from Kutaisi, Western Georgia, Georgia, Asia

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Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi July 31st 2023

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 ... read more
Kutaisi
Gelati Monastery
Gelati Monastery

Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 21st 2022

Day 12 Georgia. Weds 21st Sep Dressing up for nuns in Soviet Chiatura, Georgia Today’s trip was supposed to be yesterday and then tomorrow and was now today. After not getting home until nearly midnight last night (and then still having to upload blogs), the important thing was an early start today. So 7am it was. Off to our usual office of Gamarjoba tours (the best) booked through Get Your Guide. Today’s guide has been Sally who has been great, full of excitement with interestings stories and always willing to listen and join in conversations. Our fellow travellers were a Dutch couple who have perfect English of course. Conversation was good and, as usual, we told the truth about our cruel and evil government. We do like to spread the truth but people abroad are sensible ... read more
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Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 21st 2022

Today has been my favourite day of the holiday, I know I said that yesterday, but today has surpassed it. It was a tour west again, this time to see mostly abandoned Soviet architecture in Chiatura, plus some unusual places of interest. Our wonderful guide was Sally, plus we had a driver and just two other tourists, a couple from Amsterdam, Hanukah and Sasha who were very interesting. As always, the traffic was bad in Tbilisi, this is because of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine resulting in 60,000 Russians moving to Georgia to get away from the war. It’s not just about avoiding fighting, but because all living conditions for the Russian people have vastly declined with the worldwide sanctions and their bank accounts are suspended. Georgia is a good place for them as it’s ... read more
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Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 15th 2022

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. ... read more
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Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 15th 2022

Today was our second day trip and it started at 7am with a very different company than yesterday, the guide was more of a driver than guide. Apparently he has been a truck driver in Coventry, they must have given a collective sigh of relief when he left. There were only five tourists, so we were in a six seater car, one guy was in the front (Oleg), plus a couple who live in Dubai, the lady, Darli is from Burma and the guy from Algeria, I think his name is Mahmoud. Oleg and driver-guide were chatting in Russian, everyone in Georgia learns Russian and English in school and I think our driver-guide maybe skipped many of the English classes but turned up to Russian. The sun was shining as we drove through brown and green ... read more
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Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 5th 2021

Its day two of the honeymoon or day 3 depending on what time zone you are in. The night spent at the Holiday Inn was acceptable, after the previous day of frustration we slept pretty well. We collect our stuff and take the hotel shuttle to terminal 2 for our flight to Tbilisi. This segment went very smoothly, easy check in, security was simple. They are checking our vaccination cert. at every at every opportunity. From boarding pass to plane entry it was checked 7 times. A bit annoying and redundant. There seems to be tons of workers with nothing to do. Terminal 2 is tiny by comparison to Terminal 3. Very little shopping for Kris. We are way early for our flight so it is a pretty boring wait. The flight to Tbilisi was very ... read more
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Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 5th 2021

Day 4 I am up and out on the street by 7 AM, while Kris is still sleeping. Security in the hotel is already annoying everywhere I walk in the building exploring what the hotel offers I am met by a stern and unfriendly “may I help you”. My reply is no thank you just exploring the hotel. That seems to annoy them, it appears just looking around is unacceptable; you must have a destination in mind. Lots, and lots of staff with nothing to do but watch you, it’s a bit uncomfortable. Outside the hotel at 7:15 am its already 82 degrees. This part of the city is very hilly with steep inclines and declines every direction, no idea which way to go with no map so I walk up hill looking to get an ... read more

Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 5th 2021

At the end of the peace bridge we enter Tbilisi old town. A really cool mix of every ethnic group that has invaded Georgia for 1,000 years. German, Russian, Jewish, Arab’s, Serbs at least 6 different churches all in this small section of Tbilisi called old town. I was told all the different groups have lived peacefully in the small area for 100’s of years. Old town is full of restaurants and shopping stalls, really an interesting place. We pick a restaurant that has a menu featuring Georgian cuisine and order what we think should be a good sampling of Georgia fare. We have already walked 8 miles today so I think any food will be good. It was at best, just ok. We ordered Kinkallaie’s that is a dumpling filled with meat or vegetables, Cucumber ... read more

Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 5th 2021

Day 5 Same routine for me, I am out walking in the am, while Kris wakes up and gets ready for breakfast. I do same thing every morning and see the same unfriendly staff asking if in need any help. I am really tired of this and ask the first interrogator “Really? This is my third day here do I fing look like I need any help”? He was quite unhappy with my response. I go to the check in counter and plainly ask “why am I met everyday with your scowling staff like I am stealing something or have a bomb in my backpack. What is up with the patrolling natzy like staff watching my every move? He explains security is tight for reasons he cannot divulge, and that the staff truly wants to see ... read more

Asia » Georgia » Western Georgia » Kutaisi September 14th 2016

Lovely people and country, we had a great time. We saw two different Georgias: 1 The Big City: Tblisi 2 The Causasus Mountains 1 Tblisi is a modern exciting city with: a) an Old Town district to explore b) a commercial and cultural centre around Rustaveli Avenue c) a brand new riverside park development with 'The Peace Bridge' as its centre point d) panoramas galore are served by the funicular to the Mtatsminda Park and the cable car to the Fortress and Botanical Garden e) a number of churches worth seeing with the new cathedral as a highlight 1 a) the Old Town has its own particular architectural style. Buildings are faced with timber balconies which are often very ornate. Many have been restored, some are falling down, and some new developments e.g. by the Sulphur ... read more
Funicular Tbilisi
Cascade, Tbilisi Botanical Gardens
Vanilla Skyplane landing at Mestia




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