Caucasus Day 6: Telavi > Gori

/ alliwanders

The weather gods have not been kind to us again.  100% chance of rain for most of the day.  Fortunately our first sightseeing stop was under cover: Telavi Market.  Smaller than the last we saw, and some of the stalls were designed for tourists (spice packs and dried fruit/nut “candles”) but still very much a place for locals. In fact, I saw a scrum over a farmer’s fresh tomatoes and corn!

Although they look like sausages these are favorite Georgian sweets – a string of nuts dipped in fruit juice and dried so it’s ~ fruit leather on the outside

Back in the bus for an hour’s drive to the 18thC, once fortified with a 6km wall, hilltop town of Sighnagh. 

In WWII Georgia lost 400,000 out of its 2 million person population.  Every town has a war memorial. This wall lists the WWII soldiers lost in each village in the district.

We are in the wine making region of Georgia so almost every available plot of land has been planted with vineyards (or hazelnut trees, the other big crop here). Another hours’ drive to lunch but this is the best photo I could take thru the rain-streaked window.

It’s thought that wine production in Georgia goes back 8,000 years; ancient clay pots & grape seeds found here are the earliest archaeological evidence of winemaking found anywhere.  Everyone makes wine, from those on farms that grow their own grapes to city folk that make it in plastic tubs.

We visited a local vintner for a tour, then lunch and wine tasting. He makes it in the traditional Georgian way in huge clay jars in the ground and it’s not pressed.  The fruit goes right in and fermented in the jars.  They export it all – 20,000 bottles to US, Canada, Japan, etc.

Huge fabulous lunch. I thought the food in Azerbaijan was great but so far Georgia has surpassed it. Sophie taught us some Georgian words on the bus ride to lunch and my favorite word is: Shemomechama: = “I didn’t want to eat but I accidentally ate everything” 🤭 

Another long, long drive in the bus right into the heart of Tblisi , fighting traffic and rain to get to the National Museum. We arrived at 4:45pm so only had an hour to visit.  Half of us followed a museum guide down to the Treasury exhibit which showcased incredible gold and silver finds from 1500 BC on.  That left me with 30 minutes to see 3 more floors. I did a quick whip around and glimpsed at everything, even took a few photos!

Why a pic of old bones? These are part of a stash of the oldest humans ever found in Eurasia. 1.77 million years old!

Then, because of horrible traffic, it took us 2 more hours to get to our hotel in Gori. A long day driving. Arriving at 8pm we dropped our bags in our rooms, hit the dinner buffet, then called it a night.