Georgia: Homestay Cities and Towns

Date: 19 July 2009 08:22:29

Apart from the capital, Tbilisi, we stayed in 2 towns and one other city [loose definitions from me given size]: Sighnaghi, Telavi and Stepantsminda [Kazbegi]. The joy of discovering and staying in these places was enhanced by the fact we stayed at homestays in each of these places. It was truly a great inclusion in the tour to stay at someone's home: I do feel it helped to get a sense of the 'real' Georgia, as well as each place being a simply wonderful place to stay at not only in terms of comfort but also the most lovely, gracious and hospitable hosts. In Stepantsminda we all stayed in the same home; in Sighnaghi we were in two locations, this being mine [also where we had breakfast], and in Telavi we were spread across three locations -- mine here -- but had breakfast and dinner together in this house, with the most wondrous grape-vine-covered front yard [where we had dinner one night; the internal dining room not being used as the lights were out].

[On the tour group, I have a set of photos here, as well as my remembrances of each person in a few group photos starting from this one if you are interested. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my 8 fellow travellers and the 3 leaders were the most wonderful and inspirational people you could ever hope to meet: if I was given a list before I left to fill in of my "perfect group", there is no way I could have thought up the fantastic group we had: thanks be to God.]

The town of Sighnaghi, in Georgia's easternmost region of Kakheti and a centre of wine [this region is said to be where wine production started, between 7000 and 5000 BC] and carpet [yes, where I got mine] production, was the first town we were stopping overnight at on the tour. As can be seen, it is a very beautiful town, and with a wonderful position on a hill overlooking the valley and towards the mountains [which were not visible for most of our time there]. The town is ringed by walls, which you can walk along and climb the fortification towers - and how is this for a restaurant location? Even walking the streets was beautiful: buildings, parks, statues and art. That said, however, Sighnaghi did not "grab" me. Perhaps it was the re-construction effort [which is wonderful - do not misunderstand me] that makes it seem "too perfect"; perhaps it was as I did not spend a long time there walking its streets and meeting locals as I did in later cities [it is quite a small town -- and has the "tourist influx" [and departure] many 'tourist' places have]; perhaps something else... I liked it: I liked it a lot -- the Ethnographic and Archaeological Museum is a delight and must-see; but when looking back, I feel much more of a draw back to the other cities we stayed in. My fond memories here, apart from the great museum, are my first Supra (feast) [more on these in a future post: lovely as they are I must confess they are not something I can handle often -- perhaps once every 6 months would do me -- as I prefer dinner with 1 or 2 friends, not a large [to me 10+ is large] group] and a wonderful and reasonably lengthy discussion with one of the tour members after we bumped into each other while wandering and decided to wander together.

After 3 nights in Sighnaghi, it was off to Telavi, the largest and the administrative city of the eastern province of Kakheti, where we would spend 2 nights. I found Telavi a most wonderful city to wander: and so I did -- at night after dinner and in the morning before breakfast [the first day stumbling upon a food market; the second finding a sports field where people exercised while I wrote in my diary]. I want to hold this over to another post, but one of the most moving experiences I had occured in Telavi: I will share it with you soon -- suffice to say for now it was a chance encounter with a local in the cemetery. If you cannot wait, one of the photos in my Telavi set has the details. I also found the locals exceptionally friendly and inquisitive wherever I went: in shops, in the streets...people were curious as to this strange fair-skinned tourist. And while verbal conversation was nigh impossible most times [though a customer at a local shop called his daughter in to translate!], actions and gestures speak volumes.
The main feature of Telavi is King Herekle [Erekle?] II's Palace, which the tour group went to on the morning of the last day -- I had some things to take care of, and wanted some time on my own anyway, so I wandered through Telavi before making my way back to meet them. I looked around the Palace [I got an individual guided tour by a mightily nice staff member!] and the Palace Grounds, which include two churches and which had great views on my own, before wandering past a fellow tour member who was taking some time out too. Telavi also has an 800 year old plane tree which we stopped by. A small city, with perhaps not a great deal for the tourist [in the city: the surrounds are a treasure-trove of sites!], but deeply moving for me given the encounter of which I will speak in a later post.

The final homestay town was Stepantminda, formerly Kazbegi, in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of north-eastern Georgia. It is at an elevation of 1,740 metres, and the grand Mt Kazbek [5,047 metres: and the associated with the legend of Amirani, the Georgian version of Prometheus], when not covered by clouds, is a dramatic site to the west. Also to the west is the Gegeti Trinity Church, at a much more pleasant 2,170 metres [400m or so climb from town], and which we hiked to one glorious day [click here for a photo of me -- I do warn you my white legs are visible as I unzipped my hiking pants at the knee during the hike]. Another town where I wandered in the afternoon and early mornings, taking in the small town and its church, as well as heading east up the hills where beautiful and variously coloured wildlflowers were in abundance after some recent rain, and where two small churches were present [the higher one having a bell-tower constructed]. Also, on my wanderings, I got to see cattle being driven through the streets and up to the river and fields for the day [and their return]: for a city-dweller like me it was wonderful. I also had quite a lengthy conversation with one of the cattle owners, where we discussed, in gestures, where I was from, my family background, where I had been in Georgia, and where I was headed. Such wonderful experiences. In the region around Stepantsminda, a number of defence towers were prominent onn our drive there [and even the remains of some in Stepantsminda]. On our first afternoon we went back to a town we passed to climb one and to look around. We visited a church as well, and on the way back encountered pigs in the street. A unique experience every day.

With Tbilisi, Stepantsminda was probably my favourite location: simply given the jaw-dropping views wherever I turned, it was simply magical for me. Telavi and Mtskheta [for another day] were towns that impacted me spiritually due to encounters or experiences. I feel blessed to have visited such beautiful, and moving, places.