Biking trip: Zhinvali, Tianeti og Ghulelebi, 18 Ocktober 2009

Vlado and I decided that our next biking trip should be away from the chaotic and unpleasant car traffic in Tbilisi, so we asked our driver Dima to give us and our bikes a lift to the Zhinvali reservoir north of Tbilisi.

We had planned to bike along the reservoir to its start, but we had no specific plans on what to do next.

The weather was beautiful with sunshine and autumn colours. We had reached the north end of the reservoir, where we observed a lot of cormorants and herons with their own heron tree.

Then we took a decision that we were going to regret. We took a jeep track up in the mountains that the local told us would lead to Tianeti, the centre in the Tianeti district. The road was were bad steep and not suited for cycling, and in the end it totally disappeared. After 2 hours of dragging the bike we finally reached the top where a dirt road was going down. Soon we reached the first village which seemed to be very poor and with a lot of drunken men.

As 2003 studies of poverty in Georgia suggest that Mtskheta-Mtianeti Region, and Tianeti district in particular, are among the poorest regions and districts of Georgia. In 2003, 63% of the population of Tianeti was below the poverty line, compared to 47% of the Georgian population. 14% of Tianeti families were receiving social assistance in December 2008, compared to 8% countrywide . During the Soviet times, Tianeti was a district (‘rayon’) center. Several food processing enterprises, factories, as well poultry and meat producing farms were functioning in the district, providing employment opportunities for the local population.

From Tianeti with its ruins from the glorious the soviet past (intourist hotel etc.) and a beautiful newly painted statue of good old Stalin we continued direction Tbilisi.

We thought that now we could drive downhill the whole way, but we were soon found out that we were totally mistaken. We had to crass several mountain passes (or hills) on our way. So after a couple of hours cycling we decided to call Dima and ask if he could pick us up. Unfortunately there was no signal for our Mobil phones, so we had to continue over a couple of hills before we could ask him to come and pick us up.

He missed us in the dark, bur some help from friendly locals we succeeded to find each other.

Tbilisi Reservoir, 18 October

The Sunday bike trip was once again going to the Tbilisi Sea, this time we started along the Kura River biked upstream. An impressive amount of fishermen along and in the river were busy socialising and fishing, and also seemed to catch a lot of small fish. The strong smell of sewage originated from the many small outlets of untreated wastewater along the river did not seem to bother them.

On our way Vlado and I decided to visit the gigantic monument at the northwest end of the lake, visible form nearly all over Tbilisi. It was made in 1982 according some local policemen, but it not popular place to visit for neither tourists nor Georgians. Even though it sis very impressive with its gigantic bronze sculptures. The present regime is probably not so proud of the the soviet past of Georgia.

On the way down from the Reservoir we passed several cemeteries, one especially for military persons, judging from the old tank just after the entrance.

Uplistsikhe, Gori and Mtskheta, 10 October

Uplistsikhe is an ancient town in eastern Georgia, some 10 kilometers east of Gori.
Built on a high rocky left bank of the Kura or Mtkvari River, it contains various structures dating from the Early Iron Age to the Late Middle Ages,
Uplistsikhe is identified by archaeologists as one of the oldest urban settlements in Georgia. Strategically located in the heartland of ancient kingdom of Kartli, it emerged as a major political and religious center of the country.
With the Christianization of Kartli early in the 4th century, Uplistsikhe seems to have declined in its importance and lost its position to the new centers of Christian culture – Mtskheta and, later Tbilisi.
Gori has a population of 50,500 and is known as the birthplace of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. It is still proud of its famous son. Joseph Stalin Museum and the Stalin monument in front of the City Hall is in place, one of the few such monuments to survive Khrushchev's de-Stalinization program.
Mtskheta is the former capital of Georgia before Tbilisi took over, and is still the religious centre. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (11th century) and Jvari Monastery (6th century) in Mtskheta are amongst the most significant monuments of Georgian Christian architecture.
It was peak season for wedding so we had some problems in getting to the church as the narrow streets were filled with the cars of the wedding guests, but in the end we succeeded.

Batumi 3 -5 October

Lisbeth and I took a weekend trip to Batumi. Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. It has a population of 120,000.
We found a nice restaurant with a good view over the Black Sea where we could enjoy the sunset each evening. We took the marshrutka to the famous botanical garden of Batumi and enjoyed the lush vegetation and the nice views over the Black Sea.
Batumi, with its large port and commercial center, is also the last stop of the Transcaucasian Railway and the Baku oil pipeline. It is situated some 20 km from the Turkish border, in a subtropical zone, rich in citrus fruit and tea.