Stalin - local boy made good? Or bad?

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Friday 10 May - wake up, and was the weather good for enough for what we had planned? And it was, as it looked dry and the weather forecast looked alright.

We drove to the Okatse Canyon, a lovely drive of about an hour along back Georgian roads, through villages where pigs were roaming freely and the locals were attending to the grape vines growing over their gardens.

The canyon is around 3km long and 50+ metres deep, and high up along one side they have constructed an open-sided, and often open- bottomed, steel walkway. The visitor centre/ticket office is about 2.5 km from the entrance and so, in order to give ourselves more time back in Kutaisi, we availed ourselves of one of the numerous jeep taxis that will take you there, for a fare of course. Dread to think what their tyre repair bill may be though?

The walkway is only around 750m long, but with around 1000 steps, split fairly evenly between down and up. At the end is a viewing platform suspended out at right angles to the gorge wall, rather like a jib crane, the Okatse river way down below. They had even constructed a paved pathway back along the ridge above. Probably looks more scarey than it actually was.

Back into Kutaisi we were able to take in more of the town, including the Colchis Fountain - built vaguely in the style of the local jewellery - and the White Bridge, a pedestrianised bridge with glass panels in the floor and 'the boy with two hats' statue at one end.

At least 2 cafes in town are called Argo, and research shows that Jason - of Golden Fleece and Argonauts fame - was challenged to go to the land of Colchis on the eastern shores of the Black Sea, to find the Golden Fleece. Few realise that the myth relates to real places and events. Colchis was a historical kingdom occupying most of western Georgia, its capital possibly being Kutaisi. Jason's ship, the Argo, rowed by his Argonauts, sailed up the Phasis River (the present day Rioni which flows through Kutaisi ) where they were received by King Aeetes. The Golden Fleece is a direct real life reference. In this area people sifted for gold by placing a sheepskin across the rocks in which tiny nuggets of gold would collect. Apparently some people still use this technique today in the Caucasus!

And if you think all this is just hearsay then follow this link to a detailed scientific paper on the matter, which explains how sheepskin (and other natural collector materials eg gorse) collect gold - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892687514000107

Saturday, moved on to Gori, with a detour.

The Katskhi Pillar is a natural limestone pedestal, 40m high, atop of which is built a Monastery, with 1 monk still living there. It has been venerated by locals as The Pillar of Life, and a symbol of the True Cross. Study of the original ruins date a Hermitage back to the 9th or 10th C. Religious activity restarted in the 1990s, and the building restored, by the work of a monk called Maxim from the nearby town of Chiatura. It used to be possible for visitors - well, male visitors only - to access the top via a metal ladder attached to the pillar, but no longer ( Paul -"phew!").

Beyond lies Chiatura, a mining town - manganese oxide, peroxide and carbonate. Because the mine workers spent large amounts of time walking from the valley bottom town up to the mines, in 1954 an extensive cable car system was built. Some 17 separate aerial lift cable systems still exist, used for free by locals and 'adventure tourists'. They are colloquially known as 'metal coffins' and have had no real investment for decades. Those we saw are looking very rusty and decrepit. They are supposedly maintained by locals making spare parts in their garden sheds ? but we can find no stories about any accidents. They are such a tourist draw they are building new ones with European monies, though new ones hardly seems to be the reason tourists go to see and ride the originals.

We couldn't find any operating ones whilst we were there (Pip - "phew!").

During the 1905 Russian Revolution Stalin was holed up here. He set up a printing press, protection racket, and "red battle squads". The mine owners sheltered him in return for protection from thieves, who stole both ore and miners' wages.

The town was a dump. Fairly large and run down. We couldn't even find a single coffee shop anywhere.

On the road out to Gori, around 5km from the Pillar, we came across a small group of black-robed, long bearded monks, carrying a cross, walking in direction of the Pillar.

Gori is synonymous with one man, Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, better known to us as Joseph Stalin. Stalin was born in Gori, went to school here; a cobbler's son who went on to rule the largest country on earth for 25 years. In the space of a decade he turned the Soviet Union from a peasant economy into a vast industrial powerhouse. Yet the sufferings of millions cannot be forgotten. Stalin's Gulags were responsible for the deaths of millions, and his ruthless Cheka and NKVD terrorised the population from the late 1920s until his death in 1953.

Even his Georgian homeland didn't escape - purges in Tbilisi left mass graves. However in a country still recovering from late post-Soviet chaos, Stalin is still regarded as one of the 20th C key figures. There are still portraits, busts and statues of him around.

Initial impression of Gori is that it is somewhat utilitarian, not a 'tourist ' place, as our evening walk to find something to eat confirmed. We did have fun though, whilst eating, trying to work out what was happening in the square opposite where a couple of unmarked police cars had stopped by a parked car and a 'gathering' ensued.

On the Sunday morning another typical Georgian breakfast, though this time with porridge. Then to the Stalin Museum, our reason for stopping by here. Opened in 1957, 4 years after his death. Lots of photos - LOTS - with limited English captions. Great hair as a young man! But pretty much a glorification of his life, no room for the 'bad stuff'.

As we said, mostly photos, some personal items, lots of portraits - paintings, wooden mosaics, silk weavings. ... and also, in a large room to itself, one of the 10 death masks that were made. To be fair we were expecting no English labelling at all but it looks like someone has recently taken the reviews to heart, and most labels had a line of English on them. But they could do so much more.

But its biggest failing is its homage, 'shrine to a saint', glorious tale of brave local lad done well, who defeated Hitler, no mention of Gulags, purges, famines, ...

Outside the museum are two further exhibits. The home where he was born, displayed protected under a greco-romanesque atrium. By all accounts when building the museum they demolished all the houses surrounding his birth house and built the museum on the cleared land. They also had the bullet-proof rail carriage on which Stalin travelled to Yalta to meet with Churchill and Roosevelt in 1945. He didn't like flying.

In the aftermath of the 2008 South Ossetia War, in September 2008 Georgia's Ministry of Culture announced the museum would become the Museum of Russian Aggression. In recent years a banner was placed at the entrance stating : "This museum is a falsification of history. It is a typical example of Soviet propaganda and it attempts to legitimise the bloodiest regime in history ". The banner was removed in 2017, and there appears to be no changes to the museum.

A walk up to and around the Gori Fortress - like Khertvisi, great situation and walls, bugger all inside - mostly dating to the 13th C, though the position was believed to have been sieged by Pompey in 65 BC.

At its base the Memorial of Georgian Warrior Heroes - 'Tis but a scratch!' - was moved here from Tbilisi in 2009. 8 warriors, seated in a circle on individual roughly hewn stone blocks, most with various bits 'missing'. It is called "Requiem" and symbolises the spirit and bravery of Georgian warriors. Whilst we were there a couple came into the area, a tourist and a guide by all accounts. We overheard the lady /guide say to the bloke/tourist "This is a monument to the Georgian / Russian war of 10 years ago. I lost family. Now you know why I hate the Russians".

A step into the Gori Cathedral - icon central - and time to rest and eat before tomorrow....

Georgian Military Highway, north for ~120 km when we turn north, max height around 2250m, ending at Kazbegi / Stepantsminda at 1700m, surrounded by mountains and within view of Mount Kazbegi at 5000+ metres, and within 10 km of the Russian border, for 3 nights. Should be a doddle as there are dozens of tour companies that do it as a day trip from Tbilisi to the south.

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Photos

Parliament building
A 'white elephant ' move to the regions