Blogs from Georgia, Asia - page 38

The old man tries to speak to me in Russian - I try to respond. My minimal Slovene glossary come in handy now. He asks me where I am from. I answer Daniya. He says something about Daniya and gori (mountain). I laugh and make the motion of flat. He gives up and leaves me to my own thoughts. I sit quietly and rest while looking down upon the village of Kazbegi. I sit at Tsminda Sameba, the church that represents Georgia in every tourist brochure. Mt Kazbeg is on the West site of the church and the village at the East, - right under my feet. 14 kilometers to the North lies Russia. I am in the heart of the Caucasus Mountains. On the border between Europe and Asia. The drive to Kazbegi As I ... read more

I left off between countries - a strange place indeed to be waiting around... Time zones, languages, climates, cultures, and dogs were are swirling together there in between Anatolia and the Caucasus, Europe and Asia (or perhaps Asia and Europe?), the former Ottoman Empire and the former Soviet Union, the day and the night, the Lira and the Lari, and a bunch of relaxed guards who were almost as confused about the fact that we were there as we were confused about where "there" actually was... or something like that. If eastern Turkey is at times a strange place, Georgia is even stranger, and this was evident before our passports were even stamped. We spent a fair bit of time waiting around after immigration and before customs because the X-ray machine operator was somewhere else eating... ... read more

Day 5 Today I decided to go to Gori to check out the Stalin museum and the fortress. Gori is the town that Stalin was born and raised in and is located 1 and a bit hours east of Tbilisi. I had to take a Marshrukte (minibus) from Tbilisi's Didube bus "station" (read: giant car park). Which was an adventure in itself trying to find the right one as Georgian isn't written in Cyrilic i found it quite difficult. After getting to Gori and going round the Stalin museum (rip off!! $10!!!) which paints Stalin as not quite as bad as everyone says and has the largest still standing statue of Uncle Joe, I went up to gori fortress to have lunch. Despite being windy it has stunning views! Took a marshrukte back to Tbilisi ... read more

I confidently wave goodbye to my hosts and step outside, hoping to catch the 1oclock marshrutka (it's 1:15) if I'm not too late. An overcast day in Sukhum(i), a few drops of rain. I've spent the morning at the museum, then at the botanical gardens, then buying stamps and other souvenirs to bribe the Abkhazia-lovers back home. Pretty full day so far. Now I need to catch a marshrutka to Gal(i), another to the "border" at Ingur(i), deal with the Russian soldiers there, walk across the bridge and into Georgia, then take a marshrutka to Zugdidi in time for the market to buy some rolling tobacco, use the internet and catch the night train to Tbilisi. A finely worked out plan and exactly enough money and time to execute it. I'm already thinking about the ... read more

Sitting on Nino's balcony It's past midnight. I hear voices, distant TVs. I see headlights race up the hill on the far side of the river. I read, write, contemplate. I'm reading The Moor's Last Sigh by (Sir) Rushdie. I copy passages that speak to me into my journal: (She) drank her own bitterness and called it sweet, walked in her own desert and called it lush ... If Nino were here there would be endless Georgian toasts and bottomless glasses of strong liquor. Suddenly, skyrockets explode in the sky. I am literally thrilled by my private show. Traveler Tales Getting here from Yerevan was easy, at least for some of us. Originally four people wanted to come to Tbilisi with me this weekend. One couldn't get out of a dinner party and had to cancel. ... read more