2003-07-05
Today we get picked up by Achi and his cousin Dato who takes a day off from his marschrutka job, letting us use his minibus to get to some interresting sites. We start by visiting the Jvari church, situated on a hill overlooking the former Georgian capital Mtskheta. The trip continues down to the city to see the old cathedral built where the two rivers Aragvi and Mtkvari joins. A legend tells that the church was built where a sacred tree once stood. Read up on the legend here It is getting very hot today, and it feels nice to get some wind blowing into the mini bus as we enter the highway heading for Gori. Suddenly we are stopped by the police, and Dato gets fined 2 euros for overtaking on a blind corner. Maybe he did, but it might as well be the policeman simply needing some cash for the weekend... In Gori we head for the Stalin Museum, built where he was once born. At the museum we are assigned a Georgian/Russian speaking guide, so Tamuna helps us translating some of the 10 words/s that flows out of her mouth. The guide speaks vividly about all the heroic acts performed by the dictator, and nothing is mentioned about Gulag, death sentences or other misconducts. Half way into the tour we hear a Swedish voice speaking from the other end of the big hall. It's Robert Larsson. Hobbe have had some mail contact with him before leaving Sweden. Robert is studying and doing research in Tbilisi, but today he is guiding Tracy, a freind of his visiting from the US. Robert & Tracy decides to join us for the rest of the day. When the tour inside the museum is over, it continues outdoors, where Stalin's train carriage is open for exploration. Stalin's parent's house, where he once was born, is also intact and on display in front of the museum. Now it's time for lunch, and we drive around Gori, passing the Stalin statue at the main square, while looking for a place to eat. After an excellent lunch with Gori local beer (praised by Hobbe and HJ) Dato drives us to the 7th century church Atenis Sioni some 40 km north of Gori. The church lies beatifully on the side of a large valley. While waiting for the verger to show up, we drink a liter or two from a water spring in front of the church gates, and practice on eating sun flower seeds as fast as the taxi driver in Azerbaijan. After admiring the wall paintings in the church we board the mini bus again, heading for Uplistsikhe, which is a 2600 years old cave complex. The caves are spectacular, but the site is worth visiting just for its magnificent views. After a long day, we head back to Tbilisi for a couple of hours of rest before tonight's activites take off. The evening starts with a couple of beers and a plate of Georgian sausage snacks at a downtown pub. At midnight we continue to an open-air discoteque by the river, where we toast in vodka and dance till break of dawn.
Today we get picked up by Achi and his cousin Dato who takes a day off from his marschrutka job, letting us use his minibus to get to some interresting sites. We start by visiting the Jvari church, situated on a hill overlooking the former Georgian capital Mtskheta. The trip continues down to the city to see the old cathedral built where the two rivers Aragvi and Mtkvari joins. A legend tells that the church was built where a sacred tree once stood. Read up on the legend here It is getting very hot today, and it feels nice to get some wind blowing into the mini bus as we enter the highway heading for Gori. Suddenly we are stopped by the police, and Dato gets fined 2 euros for overtaking on a blind corner. Maybe he did, but it might as well be the policeman simply needing some cash for the weekend... In Gori we head for the Stalin Museum, built where he was once born. At the museum we are assigned a Georgian/Russian speaking guide, so Tamuna helps us translating some of the 10 words/s that flows out of her mouth. The guide speaks vividly about all the heroic acts performed by the dictator, and nothing is mentioned about Gulag, death sentences or other misconducts. Half way into the tour we hear a Swedish voice speaking from the other end of the big hall. It's Robert Larsson. Hobbe have had some mail contact with him before leaving Sweden. Robert is studying and doing research in Tbilisi, but today he is guiding Tracy, a freind of his visiting from the US. Robert & Tracy decides to join us for the rest of the day. When the tour inside the museum is over, it continues outdoors, where Stalin's train carriage is open for exploration. Stalin's parent's house, where he once was born, is also intact and on display in front of the museum. Now it's time for lunch, and we drive around Gori, passing the Stalin statue at the main square, while looking for a place to eat. After an excellent lunch with Gori local beer (praised by Hobbe and HJ) Dato drives us to the 7th century church Atenis Sioni some 40 km north of Gori. The church lies beatifully on the side of a large valley. While waiting for the verger to show up, we drink a liter or two from a water spring in front of the church gates, and practice on eating sun flower seeds as fast as the taxi driver in Azerbaijan. After admiring the wall paintings in the church we board the mini bus again, heading for Uplistsikhe, which is a 2600 years old cave complex. The caves are spectacular, but the site is worth visiting just for its magnificent views. After a long day, we head back to Tbilisi for a couple of hours of rest before tonight's activites take off. The evening starts with a couple of beers and a plate of Georgian sausage snacks at a downtown pub. At midnight we continue to an open-air discoteque by the river, where we toast in vodka and dance till break of dawn.