Gamarjoba Georgia!

Hello again! For those of you who know us, this is old news, but for those who don’t, HumSafars moved out of Bangalore (India) to Dubai (UAE) towards the end of 2019 (just before Covid shut the world down). Won’t go into details of the transition, job hunting etc., but future HumSafar adventures would be from Dubai (especially the cost aspect).

They say unplanned trips with friends are the best kind, and our trip to Georgia was just that.

First long weekend in Dubai after the Covid travel restrictions eased (Apr’21), and we were looking to book a nice staycation with friends. Considering the busy Eid season, obviously those prices were through the roof! During our research and negotiations with different hotels, I came across a fixed departure package from one of the local holiday service providers, and after a couple of calls and some convincing, our plan was set, we were going to Georgia for the Eid vacations! No PCR test for entry, a not-so-long flight, Visa free entry (for UAE residents), and a very economical offer, what was not to like? 

Since our flights, hotel and transfers were already sorted with the package, we started researching local travel agents for a private tour (none of us wanted to be part of a big group bus tours). Finalized a tentative itinerary and booked a private minivan to accommodate the 5 of us.

Day 1– Flight from Dubai to Tbilisi was around 3.5 hours and quite comfortable, or maybe we were just too excited for our first trip in over 2 years (excluding Dubai, that’s home now). As it’s a small airport, there wasn’t any bus/walkway and we walked right into the best possible welcome, RAIN! Maybe that’s not a big deal for most, but for us staying in Dubai, it had been ages since we saw this natural phenomenon. 

After waiting at the airport for the entire group to assemble (yes, there are drawbacks of a group package), we headed towards the hotel and freshened up. The guide/driver we were speaking to was there for us already (with our bottles of Georgian wine to welcome us), and we went for our evening tour of the city in our private van.

We started off by driving through the Freedom square and Rustaveli street which is the busiest and most commercial part of the city with malls, shopping complexes, and restaurants all around. Since we had had enough of these in Dubai, we didn’t stop or get off the car here.

Our walking city tour started off at the Bridge of peace (sorry, no idea why it was called so). The design of the bridge is quite unique, and obviously a very good picture spot (very instagrammable 😉). There is also an option of boating there, with packages including unlimited wine and so on, but we didn’t opt for that and decided to walk around instead.

After a steep walk uphill, we arrived at the statue of Mother of Georgia. On normal days there is a cable car service to reach this spot, but since this was still peak covid times, that was closed. The statue is symbolic, with a wine chalice in one hand for welcoming guests, and a sword in the other, for enemies. Clicked many photos there, and kind of lost our way while climbing down owing to a genius idea from one of the group members to try a short cut (yes, it was me)

Next on today’s agenda was Turtle Lake. A small lake in the middle of a park, which apparently has a lot of turtles living in it. Somehow, we didn’t see many, and were also quite tired from all the trekking. Having clicked a few pictures there, we made our way back to the hotel to chill and recoup before the next day.

Day 2– Today was reserved for the most anticipated part of the trip, the snow-capped mountains of Gudauri! 

Since we had a long drive ahead of us, and some stops planned enroute, we made our way after an early breakfast.

Our first stop on the way was at the Ananuri fortress, which also had a church. Imagine an old, magnificent fortress, atop a cliff, overseeing a beautiful river-truly a one of a kind church experience! That’s in short what the place looked like. We were also luckily in time for the choir, which made the experience even more beautiful.

Next, our driver stopped near a bubbling river stream. There was another group which was rafting there, but we didn’t delve into that due to the cold weather. We did, however, play around a bit in the water and clicked some nice photographs before we were on our way again.

Next stop was Gadauri, with a mind-blowing view of the Kazbegi mountains. There were a couple of fabulous viewpoints, but make sure you stop at the Friendship monument. We spent a lot of time just soaking in the beauty and clicking many many pictures while enjoying hot mulled wine in the cold. Our driver even took us a bit further up, where we found an entire untouched area, filled with snow! All of our inner children came out, and we started a small snow-ball fight. Apparently, the Russia border was just a small drive away from there. Once we were done playing around, and the numbness in our hands was almost gone, we headed back to our hotel to retire for the night after a peaceful dinner.

Day 3– This day greeted us with beautiful weather once again, which made it even more difficult to get out of bed and head towards our plan for the day. But since today’s destination was also a bit far off, we put our laziness aside and headed off after a filling breakfast.

We drove past the Svetitskhoveli cathedral at Mtskheta, which is one of the oldest cities in the country. While it did seem really beautiful, we didn’t really stop and spend time there. At our first stop, Jvari Monastery, which is atop a cliff, surrounded by the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers. It’s a very serene and beautiful sight, where 2 rivers meet, and you can actually see the different shades of water. Clicked some pictures there, admired the artwork in the monastery and made our way to the next stop.

Borjomi national park is one the biggest parks in Georgia, spread to ~1% of the total country’s size. We visited one portion of it under the Borjomi Central Park. This park is famous for its natural springs, which are believed to have healing and medicinal properties. Not sure about the healing part, but the water was very very refreshing! (Even felt a bit sweet!) There are also a lot of small waterfalls within the park. Seeing that while we were surrounded by lush green trees, was a sight we all missed the past 1.5 years in Dubai.

The park also has a cable car for a more aerial view of the park. Since the cable car in Tbilisi was closed, we went ahead to enjoy the experience here. A small ride to the top, and we had an overhead view of the trees and waterfalls which we were just admiring on the ground. Spent some time there, took some more pictures before making our way back to the hotel for a nice dinner (decided to pack Indian food on the way) and a good night’s sleep.

Day 4– Today was a bit more relaxed, we just had a couple of places in our itinerary, and they weren’t as far as our previous locations. Since we had our private car, we left at our leisure after a hearty breakfast and our Covid test at the hotel (yes, it was mandatory then). 

On the way, our driver took us to a flea market of sorts, where we could pick up some local souvenirs or try more Georgian wine if we wished during a small wine tour with the locals. Obviously, we picked up a few items to carry back and made our way to the next stop, Bodbe Monastery. The country’s patron saint, St. Nino is buried there and thus it’s considered a very important pilgrimage spot. Very close to the actual monastery building, is a water spring which is believed to have miraculous healing properties and considered holy by the locals. While we were in line filling our bottles, we also saw a couple who were visiting with their newborn baby to seek the blessings at the spring, which reconfirmed what our guide was telling us.

After a short drive from there, we reached Sighnaghi, also called the “City of Love”. It’s a small town, atop a small hill at Kakheti. The reason it’s named so is that apparently couples can get married at any time of the day here, around the clock! While we had no requirement for that, we just walked around exploring the city’s stone walkways and small narrow lanes. Our guide took us to a couple of local stores, where they made their own wines and alcohol, and we had a tasting session before buying some to carry back. After the city tour, we made our way to a beautiful restaurant there, called “The Terrace”. This place had literally the best Kachapuri we had tasted in Georgia so far, and the view was to die for! Enjoyed the view, the food while clicking loads of selfies and photos, before making our way back for our last night in Georgia before catching an early morning flight the next day to conclude our first post-Covid, post- Dubai trip.

Few Pointers-

• English works to get you around, but learn a few words and phrases of the local language. Also, most signs are in local language, so keep online maps handy

• Vegetarian food is a little difficult to come by, but the fruits/salads are extremely fresh! Also, the Khachapuri is AMAZING! We had the cheese one (go for the fried egg option if you eat eggs), but even the meat one was great from what we heard.

• We went in mid-April, so found snow only in a few places in Gadauri/Kazbegi and greenery in general. If you go during peak winter season, there could be snow all around, so plan accordingly. Also, we couldn’t do Batumi as it was too far, but have heard the beaches there are amazing!

• If you enjoy wines, you are in for a treat in Georgia. Enjoy the wine tasting at the tours, and also wineries if you have time. We found the other local liquor quite raw and strong, but really enjoyed the almond and pomegranate liqueur along with the wines

• Approx. costs of trip (all prices for 2)

o Flight and Hotel Package- USD 550

o Tour package- USD 200

o Overheads- USD 200

• Hotel we stayed at- Iveria Inn, Tbilisi

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