Everyone's Got a Hanky

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Yes, that's right. Everyone has a little piece of cloth to wipe their brow/neck/top lip of that constant stream of sweat. It's still hot and according to all reports, the hottest August on record in Georgia. Great! And I'm cycling in this. At least I have a hanky too...

It was nice to get out of Batumi and in particular Hotel Bebo and start on the road. However, it was a bit of a shaky start trying to find the right road out of town but I did get out. Eventually. By which stage I was already soaking wet with sweat and ready for another shower. It was only 10am.

Once out of Batumi and Kobuleti, the two main beach resorts, the cycling was very pleasant, mostly alongside a river. I met a lovely French family at a roadside cafe who gave me their map so at least now I know distances between places. Mind you, the only reason I wanted to know distances was to find out how far to the next town for accommodation purposes. As it turns out accommodation is absolutely no problem and the only thing the map really highlights is how exceptionally slow I am actually cycling.

I have slept in homes in Lanchuti, Vani and Rohi and feel forever indebted to these families who gave up their beds, food and time to make me feel comfortable and at home. Georgian hospitality is not just a myth. It is alive and well and I am very grateful for it. If it wasn't for the kindness of Georgians I think I would have to stay in yet further squalid places paying exhorbitant prices.

So, now that I know that I will never be short of a place to stay I can go at my own pace (ie snail's pace) taking comfort in the knowledge that people will gladly offer their homes to me. I only wish that I had brought along more of those toy koalas and kangaroos... These went down a treat where I stayed one night.

Now I am in Kutaisi and staying in a family homestay which is also very comfortable although the nights see me fighting with the mosquitoes that have been quite relentless in their attacks towards me ever since I arrived in Georgia. No amount of tea tree oil / spray seems to deter them from their most determined mission.

Today is the first coolish day (although you still need your hanky) and I spent this visiting Gelati monastary. No trip to Georgia would be complete without using the local transport (minibuses known here as marshrutkas) and I decided today would be the day that I would immerse myself in another Georgian experience. What an experience. I was one of the lucky ones that managed to nab a seat at the back but as we stopped to take on more and more passengers the inside of the bus resembled a bizarre game of Twister as people contorted their bodies to accommodate what seemed to be an endless stream of people. And oh, to keep the bus "air-conditioned" the driver thought nothing of driving along with his door wide open. And if that was not enough, he was also carrying on a conversation with the person behind him which included many, many turns of the head. All this as we were going up hairpin bends.

The Georgians as a whole, are extremely pious people and cross themselves fervently at the first site of a church which continues upon entering the grounds of a church, and doesn't seem to stop until one leaves a church. On reaching Gelati a service was being undertaken and it was very moving to be listening to the beautiful voices of the women's choir in such an old, spiritual setting. The complex of Gelati dates back to the 1100's and is situated beautifully on a hilltop (as most Georgian monasteries are).

I walked down to Motsameta which is another monastery set in a gorge above the Tskhaltsitela River. There was no comparison with the size of the Gelati complex but it was again very beautifully situated with the trees leading up to the church full of little scraps of fabric (another use for the hanky?). Each little scrap of fabric representing one wish. So many wishes...

Walking back along the small road towards the main road I heard a lot of dogs barking. Most dogs here in Georgia seem to be behind fences and the ones that aren't seem to be suffering from the same lethargy affecting the people and so move about very slowly, if at all. It was surprising then to see a couple of dogs out and about and one doing her best to bark me on. I was not perturbed although there was a woman who was coming in the opposite direction who was absolutely terror stricken. She had wanted to get to the monastery but these dogs it seemed would not let her pass. I offered to walk with her and "protect" her by being her go-between of sorts. Big mistake. She was so terrified that before too long she was screaming and had the dogs snarling. It was quite interesting (admittedly also scary) to see how these 3 dogs reacted to her, surrounding us with their attention firmly planted on her. I was trying to calm her down but it was no use. She had lost it and in the end I called on some men I saw in a yard to come and attempt to pacify the dogs so she could walk away in peace. I think in the end it was mission accomplished. Maybe she should make a wish for the way back.

It was back to Kutaisi with the other Georgian mode of transport - the public bus. These run on goodness knows what and spill out big, billowing plumes of smoke. You can see the smoke for miles, and smell it for miles as well. I am thinking of going to Racha tomorrow with a Georgian woman I met today and I think it will be a ride in one of these... Four hours of it. Hope it's cool.

I will end now. I cannot take any more of the Georgian shouting in this internet cafe. They do tend to shout a fair bit but all they are really doing is talking - loudly at a level I'm not used to.

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