ONE of the highlights of our 10-day, Qatar Airways-sponsored working visit to the Republic of Georgia was our three-day tour of the Georgian countryside sponsored by the Georgia National Tourism Administration (GNTA). For this purpose, the GNTA provided us with a coach, a driver and a guide—the affable Sopho Makashvili. Our party consisted of Thelmo O. Cunanan Jr. (honorary consul of Georgia in the Philippines), Pancho Piano (the first Filipino artist to officially present his work in Georgia and the entire Caucasus Region), Riva M. Galveztan (health food advocate), Prof. Melissa Dizon-Dulalia and yours truly.
Day One saw us traveling along eastern Georgia at Mtskheta, one of the country’s oldest cities and the former capital of the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli—Iberia. Here, we visited the hilltop Jvari Monastery, known for the exceptional relief sculptures decorating its façade, and Svetitskhoveli (the Living Pillar Cathedral), known as the burial site of Christ’s mantle and the site for the coronation and burial of Georgian kings. In the afternoon, after lunch at Gori, we dropped by the Joseph Stalin Museum which contains a memorial house (where native son Stalin was born), exposition building with tower and Stalin’s personal railway coach by which he had traveled to Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam.
From here, we also made a 10-kilometer drive to visit Uplistsikhe, an ancient, abandoned rock-hewn town identified as one of the oldest urban settlements in Georgia.
We started Day Two by traveling 157 kms to the northeastern Georgian town of Stepantsminda (formerly Kazbegi) with a short stopover at the scenic Ananuri Fortress which stands spectacularly above a reservoir on the Aragvi River. While waiting for our transfer at snowy Gudauri, I had fun experiencing my first snowball fight with my companions. Upon arrival at Stepantsminda, we had lunch at the beautiful Rooms Hotel prior to our 30-minute drive up a rough mountain trail, to the 14th-century Gergeti Trinity Church, the only cross-cupola church in Khevi province and a symbol of Georgia.
Day Three again brought us back to the east, this time to the postcard-pretty town of Sighnaghi, with stopovers at the Badiauri Village in Sagarejo, where we observed the baking of the delicious, canoe-shaped Georgian shoti (bread) in a tone (deep, circular clay oven); and the Bodbe Monastery, the burial place of the revered Saint Nino, a fourth-century female evangelist who preached Christianity in Georgia.
Upon arrival at Sighnaghi town proper, Sopho took us on a walking of the town’s defensive wall where we climbed one of the towers for a panoramic view of the town. We were also enthralled by its two- to three-story tiled-roof houses with their wooden, lacy balconies and bow-backed windows. A delightful lunch of Georgian cuisine awaited us at Pheasant’s Tears, a winery that produces artisanal natural wines according to ancient Georgian traditions.
After lunch, we moved on to the village of Tsinandali in the Kakheti region. Here, we visited the estate and the historic winery which once belonged to the 19th-century aristocratic poet Alexander Chavchavadze (1786-1846). The house-museum, which often hosts various exhibitions of prominent Georgian and foreign artists, is surrounded by a beautiful park with a unique and interesting layout.
The next day, Riva and I, together with our guide Sopho and driver Giorgi, drove to David Gareja, near the border with Azerbaijan, unique for its wild nature, mural masterpieces and rock-hewn monasteries. Prior to our GNTA-sponsored tour, Riva and I also joined Filipino expat, Ruby Bebita, on a visit to the south-central resort town of Borjomi, famous for its mineral water industry. The next day, we continued on to explore Vardzia, another cave monastery site in Southern Georgia.