Stalin is Alive and Well Living at his Mum's

It only cost $2 to get from the Armenian border to the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Much like Yerevan, Tbilisi is seriously lacking in cheap hotels - that I could find anyway, so I ended up in a strange place that was a small room above a restaurant for a staggering $40. thankfully it was heated and had hot water and lots of space for the rabbit.

As I had no idea about Georgia, no maps or no guide book I just set out wandering in the city and hoped that I would come across some cool stuff. I found a river which led to a cool looking church with a statue of a guy on a horse outside. Close to this was a large sulphur bath complex and a really beautiful looking mosque. I went in to the mosque only to find out that it was a ladies sulphur bath. Disappointing on two counts, as I wasn't allowed in either. A little further on in my wanderings I stumbled across a botanical gardens that I managed to slip in to for free and have a good old look around. The gardens were set on to the side of a hill, the top of which would have given incredible views of the city had it not been a grey and overcast day. Atop the hill there is a huge white statue of a lady or an angel with a huge sword who looks down over the whole city. She looks much better from below than from above. Standing at her feet and looking out across the city I could see a huge cathedral just visible through the thick grey sky colour which I decided to make my next destination as it was the most interesting thing that I could see, about the only thing. On the way down the hill just below the statue lady is an old fortified church that I popped my head in, but what can I say… a church is a church.

It was much further to the cathedral than I had expected and I had hoped that I would come across some other cool stuff on the way but there were just houses. Nearly all of which had an elderly woman looking out of a window. When I did eventually get to the cathedral I was amazed. It was huge, in fact it was enormous and it was brand new. So new in fact that it was still having the finishing touches put to it. Inside it was a bit of a tourist attraction with everyone queuing up to fill up their coke bottles with holy water.
By some stroke of luck I was staying next to the most amazing fresh food market which kept me and the rabbit happy for hours.

The following day I set of for Gori, whose most famous resident was Joseph Stalin. They still have a huge statue of him in the main square and the house that he grew up in has been turned in to a museum. Unfortunately the whole thing is in Russian and Georgian so I could only look at the pictures and stuff. I couldn't quite work out if they were celebrating him just because he used to live there or because they really thought that he was a good man? I wonder if there is a town somewhere in Austria with a statue of Adolph…Probably not.

There is not much else in Gori apart from an old castle. It was actually quite beautiful despite being windy and cold, and there was even a wedding happening in a small church below.

Again I stayed in a hotel where I was the only resident, and again this hotel had seen better days, about fifty years ago. I was a little concerned when the receptionist told me not to go out after dark because 'it was very dangerous for foreigner'. As I was wearing a bright red top, in a country where black is defiantly the new black, and in a town that glorified one of history's most brutal dictators, I was inclined to take his advice. Of course there was nothing to do after dark in a nowhere town in the middle of Georgia, but even so, I would have liked the option.


My last stop was in Batumi on the Black Sea coast. It is actually quite a nice place, much warmer and smell of salt in the air. I even saw a few palm tree. It is however a very industrial port town. I only spent a few hours walking around before it got dark and the following morning I got the bus to the Turkish border.

I haven't spent much time in Georgia and to be honest it didn't leave that much of an impression on me but I would love to come back with a friend. It is quite a lonely place to be on your own in the middle of winter.

To Read More and to see more photos go to www.chrisafir.com

---

---