Blogs from Southern Georgia, Georgia, Asia

Day 20 Udabno, Georgia. The Svaneti Connection. We’ve driven in a hire car 86km to Udabno because we wished to see the Davit Gareja Cave Monastery and experience another another part of Georgia’s varied terrain. It turns out that there is a connection between this south eastern part of Georgia (on the cusp of Azerbaijan, more later) and the mountains of Svaneti in the north, the reason we first came to Georgiain 2016. In 2015 we went to see Moshes Bagel, a Scottish Klezmer band at the Sage Gateshead Hall 2, England. Their latest CD was a soundtrack to a Soviet film, Salt to Svanetia, commissioned by Pitlochry Film Festival. The music was played live to the ‘30s film. We fell in love with mediaeval towers we saw in the the Caucasus mountains. As one of ... read more

When a town boasts healing waters, a mountain atmosphere and a long history of being the playground for royalty, you add it to the itinerary. After all, if it is good enough for Russian Tsars, it‘s probably good enough for us. We left the hipster, big city feel of Tbilisi and traveled a little more than two hours through fertile agricultural valleys and into the mountain village of Borjomi. A small town of only 16,000 people, Borjomi has a big reputation as the water bottling capital of Georgia and is home to baths built in the 1st century AD. Home to over 150 springs, Borjomi is where families go to relax and soak, literally. As we continue to grapple with how to properly describe Georgia based on his geography and history, Borjomi is one of those ... read more

Kalt in der Früh, 6,5 Grad, aber trocken. Irrfahrt durch die Stadt. Kars hat einen rechtwinkeligen Grundriss und ein Einbahnstrassensystem wie die Städte in Südamerika. Das Navi hatte zwar gute Vorschläge für den Weg aus der Stadt, aber regelmaessig in die falsche Richtung einer Einbahnstrasse... Dann vierspurige Strasse nach NO, sie fuehrt durchs Nichts, endet im Nichts und keiner braucht sie. Erst das letzte Stueck zur Grenze war zweispurig. Neuschnee der letzten Nacht lag am Strassenrand, Passhoehe von 2500 m, die Griffheizung kaempfte tapfer. Kurz vor der Grenze: riesige Lager fuer den Bau der Pipeline durch die Türkei , sie sind fest dabei. Dann ging es einen Berg hinunter und schlagartig waren wir in einer anderen Welt. Bäume, Büsche, statt Schnee wirbelten weiße Blütenblätter durch die Luft. Und das war natürlich der Beweis: die Hochebene, die ... read more

Amasya, Turkey July 24th 2014 “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “I know all the rules but the rules did not know me” Eddie Vedder, Guaranteed I hear that the Georgian Government is trying to position itself for full membership to the European Community. While my treatment as described in recent blogs hardly amounts to severe in that I still have both my legs, I do wonder how the behaviour meted out to me adds anything to the Georgian case to be attempting to promote a fair and reasonable civil society. I am 59 years old. ... read more

Abastumani, Georgia July 9th, 2014 “Get back to where you do belong” The Beatles, Get Back Monday night (July 7th), after learning from a phone call to my lawyer that my destiny with the Georgian Public Prosecutor would not be happening for some days, I decided on a whim to leave Tbilisi, not to return to Akhaltsikhe but find somewhere in the mountains (where it would be cooler and relaxing) within striking distance of Akhaltsikhe for when I am called. As I happened to be at the Tourist Information Centre at Liberty Square (that name striking a rather bitter taste in my mouth under my present circumstances) to meet a Spanish traveler I'd gotten to know in Turkey for a beer, I asked the woman behind the desk what might fit the described requirements. Straight away ... read more