Every week we plan on going to Mestia, a little town in the
heart of the Svaneti region deep in the Caucus Mountains. It is supposedly the
most beautiful place in all of Georgia (and by Georgian logic, that means the
most beautiful place in the world). I am fortunate enough to live in Samgrelo,
the region just next to Svaneti, but nevertheless, every time we plan a trip
up there, something happens and we are unable to go.
The first weekend we very nearly made it up there, but we stupidly
accepted an invitation to a wedding instead at the last minute. Then the next
weekend we were going to go but my friend was invited to meet up with some of
her friends in Kutaisi. Which, when we got there, it turns out they couldn’t
meet anyway, which is how we ended up in Batumi that weekend. We were going to
try again this past weekend, but it was raining here, snowing there and with
the perilous mountain roads that I have heard about, I was not willing to risk
it in bad weather (not to mention we would have been wet and miserable up there
anyway). This weekend I have planned to go to Armenia. Will we make it next
weekend? Who knows.
I’m realizing I don’t have many weekends left before I’m
done with Georgia. I’ll be finishing teaching after the 2nd or 3rd
week of December, planning a trip to Turkey for about 2 weeks, and then heading
back to America for a belated Christmas, then, if all goes to plan, back to
Korea two weeks later to start a new job, for which I am signing my contract
for this week.
I wish I had more time to do all the things I want to do
here. I still want to go to Mestia, Vardzia, Gori and to a ski resort. A friend of mine invited me to go with her
to Abkhazia, one of the Russian occupied regions of Georgia, because she has
some friends working up there with an NGO. Not to mention there are still a few
places in Tbilisi that I still need to see, like the sulfer baths, the huge
cathedral, the fortress, etc etc etc. And every day I’m hearing about more
beautiful places I must see before I leave. So much to do and so little time.
And of course, though it’s a small country, there are no highways, no high
speed trains and you must rely on marshutkas for transportation which are
unpredictable about time tables, prices, and just finding them. Just getting
anywhere in this country is half the battle and half the adventure, which means
lots of time wasted when you’re trying to get from point A to point B, and when
you only have 2 days a week to explore, it’s just not enough time to see everything
you want.
If you come to teach in Georgia, be sure to come with enough
time to see everything you want to see, so you don’t leave here disappointed.
The week long orientation in Tbilisi affords little time for actual exploration
of the city as you’re locked in the hotel from 9am-8pm most days. Then, once
you’re placed, if you’re lucky you’ll be somewhere central where you can
explore easily on the weekends. If you’re unlucky, you could be in a village
where marshutkas only come every few hours to take you to another small city
where marshutkas to where you want to go also come infrequently, and you could
spend a whole day just getting to your destination. My trip to Armenia this
weekend will be about 13 hours of travel. 6 hours to Tbilisi, then another 6
hours to Armenia. For me to get to Khaheti, it’s 6 hours to Tbilisi and 1.5
hours to Khaheti. And I’m in a major city! Just be sure to plan your trips
carefully!
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